Just Got New Vivarium...what To Put In It?

[Neon_Momma]

Hi All,

I have just been today to pick up a new vivarium, someone was giving it away and I couldn't resist, always wanting to add to my collection of animals

Now, what to put in it?

The No NO's are Spiders & Scorpions

I know this isn't 100% water related, but I thought it was a good place to find many other animal lovers.

The Viv is 36 long x 30 high x 18 deep, it is a solid & heavy pine cabinet with glass sliding doors to the front, and has been sealed on all edges, it has air vents near the top.

I am considering a Snake, with slight doubt coming from the 8yr old in the house.

I also fancy creating some kind of pond area and keeping something amphibean, but I think it would be a waste of all that height having turtles etc.

What I would dearly love is some frogs but would I be able to make this cabinet frog friendly?

 

[Nevergone815]

personally i have had great success with ball pythons. the males only grow 3-5 ft in length and the females 4-6 ft. they don't get really big and for the most part can live on small feeder mice (can eat small rats). it sounds like a big enough tank for one and the most (if it isn't properly fed) will bite and immediately let go. they can sense that a human hand is not normal food and they don't grow anywhere large enough to mistaken it as a meal (even the hand of an 8 yr old). they are easy keepers and if you get them young and handle them a lot while they are growing they will be the most people friendly creatures on the planet. i have 2 living in a tank together and got both while they were young. the 1st one we handled more often and is more people friendly than the other but still no big deals. the only time anyone has ever gotten bitten by one is my dad and that was all his fault! the snakes were hungry and so my dad fed them. well, the mouse hid behind a peice of branch that was in the tank, so my dad put his hand in the tank to get the mouse out. well, one of the snakes were hunting the mouse and as my dad picked it up to recenter the mouse he held it over the middle and the snake struck and missed. it bit my dad with tiny pinlike teeth and instantly let go. the moral of the story is... as long as you don't put your hand into the tank if they havn't eaten in a while or are feeding, you won't have a problem.

as for the frogs... i don't have good experience with them. every one that i kept (wild tree and aquatic frogs) they all died in days (they never ate). so i don't bother with them. hopefully someone on this site can help you with more.

i hope i helped!!!

 

[grahamsokel]

I wouldnt recomend a ball python for a starter snake.Its unbeliveable how many new owners over here get ball pythons and then go into Panic mode when they cant get them to feed.One of mine goes through non feeding stages and sometimes doesnt eat for 3-4 months but i know what he is like
As a starter snake i would go with a corn snake,they are easy to handle and i have never had a bad feeder in the 15 yrs i have been keeping them.
As for frogs whites tree frogs are great I have 5 of them but if the viv is wood it will eventualy start to rot because frogs need daily sprayings to keep the humidity up

 

[Neon_Momma]

Yeah we have been looking at Corn Snakes, and i think we have decided to get two babies, so they grow up together.

I am right in thinkin I need to get a much smaller vivarium (one of those plastic ones) until they grow bigger?

 

[grahamsokel]

Yeah we have been looking at Corn Snakes, and i think we have decided to get two babies, so they grow up together.

I am right in thinkin I need to get a much smaller vivarium (one of those plastic ones) until they grow bigger?

Yes a small geo flat would be ideal as babys.The only problem having 2 babys together unless you get guarenteed same sexed hatchlings is that they will prematurely breed and this is not good for a young female.i never let any of my corns breed untill they are over 2 yrs old and sometimes 3 yrs depending on size

 

[Nevergone815]

I wouldnt recomend a ball python for a starter snake.Its unbeliveable how many new owners over here get ball pythons and then go into Panic mode when they cant get them to feed.One of mine goes through non feeding stages and sometimes doesnt eat for 3-4 months but i know what he is like
As a starter snake i would go with a corn snake,they are easy to handle and i have never had a bad feeder in the 15 yrs i have been keeping them.
As for frogs whites tree frogs are great I have 5 of them but if the viv is wood it will eventualy start to rot because frogs need daily sprayings to keep the humidity up

yea i can see why you wouldn't recommend this snake now. i had that problem that i was sold such a juvenile that it wouldn't hunt on its own so i had to hand feed it (force pinky mice doen its throat) i learned a lot about this. they can go months without eating but usually it depends on the temperature with mine. if it gets too cold in their tank they get really hibernation-like. well ball pythons were my first snake and they worked out fine. corn snakes would probably be ideal. they are easy keepers of the snake world. i don't recommend any snake that really gets bigger than a ball python though (i.e. burmese python) as they can get 12 feet long and i don't know much about them. they could harm a young child... maybe... i can't really tell you for sure.

as for the white tree frogs, i remember my cousin keeping some of them. he said that they were easay to care for and good pets.

for you though i think a pair of young cornsnakes would be ideal.

maybe down the line try a ball python as they are my favorite snake. big snake that doesn't get toooo big!

 

[grahamsokel]

Yes i have 2 balls or as we call the over here Royal pythons one will eat anything theother hasnt ate since november but he is the same every winter but always starts again around march .The problem is there is thousands of Captive farmed and WC hatchlings get imported into the UK every year some have never had a first feed and have no idea what a defrosted mouse is.In the UK we do not live feed our snakes unless its a last resort and i have never had to go down that line.

 

[Dany]

chamelion!!!!!

 

[Nevergone815]

Yes i have 2 balls or as we call the over here Royal pythons one will eat anything theother hasnt ate since november but he is the same every winter but always starts again around march .The problem is there is thousands of Captive farmed and WC hatchlings get imported into the UK every year some have never had a first feed and have no idea what a defrosted mouse is.In the UK we do not live feed our snakes unless its a last resort and i have never had to go down that line.

i always feed my snakes with live feeder mice. hmmm... just goes to show you how diferent regions do things diferently (i'm in the US). oh i bought my first one as an introduction animal at a petco and i bought it for $49.99 US and then a couple of months later i went back and now they were $89.99 US and still havn't looked back. its amazing how the market for them has skyrocketed. what is the price for them overseas (in the UK) and if you can i am not good at conversions so if you can give me a rough idea of the US dollar amount that would be great. if not than the UK value would be good too. i am sure i can figure out the conversion.

 

[SirMinion]

A water Dragon.

Looks a little like a slim iguana, climbs like an iguana but is also semi aquatic and doesn't get as big as an iguana.

They've got fantasic bright red insane looking eyes too.

I had one called Basil once.

 

[grahamsokel]

A water Dragon.

Looks a little like a slim iguana, climbs like an iguana but is also semi aquatic and doesn't get as big as an iguana.

They've got fantasic bright red insane looking eyes too.

I had one called Basil once.

A 3ft vivarium is no good for a waterdragon.they like to climb and it would be cruel to keep one in a normal 3ft vivarium

 

[Nevergone815]

also if i am not mistaken don't they get about 3' by themselves. or even larger? not sure. i remember they got big because my little brother wanted one and my parents wouldn't let him after they found out how big they got. they didn't want a giant lizard getting loose and running around the house

 

[SirMinion]

A 3ft vivarium is no good for a waterdragon.they like to climb and it would be cruel to keep one in a normal 3ft vivarium

Whoops, my mistake, I hadn't read the original post properly. You're right they get too big for a three foot viv. )

 

[Neon_Momma]

I think we are going to opt for a pair of Cor Snakes eventually, i'm still battleing with the tropcal tank atm

 

[Alix]

he he i had a burmese python for 3 years. got 15feet (5ft a year but i fed him ALOT) an i also have to ball pythons(males an are going on 7 years old) you should see about getting a bearded dragon i had one an really liked him but i sold it cuz i was going to stay the summer in germany an had no one to take care of it an snakes an go forever with out food(1 at the most thow )mhm...pets...beaded dragons, corn snakes, king snakes(yellow speckled are really pretty) chamilion, gecko(prolly a leopard) ball python...and an elephant ya i think that covers it kinda good.