custom made divider...

[Nicky]

Hey all,
Well being the clumsy person i am last week while picking up my 20 gal from my friends house ( who was borrowing it for her turtle until she could get a bigger tank) my mom slammed on the breaks thus throwing the tank forward hitting into my seat and smash( I know I know we should of made sure it couldn't slid:S) So at the show i picked up a 35 gal because it was the smallest size i could afford. I relise that it is to big for my 8 month old ( 2 foot long) ball python. So I was thinking that I could just make a custom divider and turn the 35 gal more into a 15-20 gal to allow starburst to feel secure and the divider can always be taking out down the road when shes a bit bigger. The only thing is i'm not quite sure how to build one. If i can get a piece of pexi glass that is of appropriate size i can slide it in place and use something to keep it in place. Does anyone see any flaws to this plan or have another idea? Just want to do it right the first time.
Open to any suggestions
Thx alot
Kayla

[m1k3_88]

y not just use a rubbermaid?

[mykee]

How do you propose to divide it, length-wise? width-wise? If you were to divide it length-wise, then your ball would have a space measuring 36x6. Not the greatest idea. If you were to divide it width-wise, you would have a space measuring 18x12. Again, not a good idea. Get a rubbermaid until your ball is large enough to enjoy the entire aquarium. Good luck.

[sapphire_moon]

or instead of dividing it right in the middle. Divide it to the proper length for your bp. Go to home depot or something and look for something that you can slide a piece of plexiglass into, and that can easily be moved and removed (something with like velcro or something, not sure).

Or go get a rubbermaid till your bp gets bigger. :)

[Nicky]

I would use a rubbermaid but they never seem to work for me.. I've tried it in the past but it just didn; work out to well, i couldn;t get the temp high enough without melting the rubbermaid, so once i can get better control of the heat i might get one. If i were to divide it i'd probably divided verticaly and cut off( just an expresion not really) about 7 inches length wise to make the tank an equvalent of a tall 20 gal which i think would be ok for her or would i be better to go with the equvilant of a 15 gal i;'m not sure how i'll build it yet going to canadian tire and home depot today to check out some of my options i'll keep u guys updated if any problems arise. ALso i have a 10 gal which i could put her in except it seems so small fo her i;m not sure yet. Still deciding
thx though
Kayla

[Big Mike]

Originally posted by Nicky

i couldn;t get the temp high enough without melting the rubbermaid,

The snake only needs 85-90 degrees (F)...human body temp is about 98. There should be no risk of melting anything at those temps.

The main concern about putting young ball pythons into large enclosures...is that they don't seem to like the open space. Rather than mucking around trying to make a divider...just put in lots of places to hide. It can be as simple as putting in some tissue boxes, some cereal boxes, even just a few layers of newspaper.

Anyway, a 35 gal tank is not too big for a two foot long snake.

[Nicky]

Thx Mike, i currently have three hides in there for her, 2 on the warm end spaced 10 inchs apart or so and one on the cool end with 3 inches of bark for her to dig in so she feels secure. I'm gonna leave her for 2 weeks and when i get back from newfoudland try feeding and if she does multiple times in a row then i'll assume that shes not too stressed and has settled in nicely if not I'll switch her to a smaller size .
Thx alot again
Kayla:)

[sapphire_moon]

if your melting the rubbermaid, then you need to find out what the temps really are, and how are you measuring them?

I thought bp's need 90-95 degrees.

[Nicky]

I used a thermometer on the ground of the rubbermaid ( this was when my ball was still in her 10 gal and i was planning to switch her to a larger rubbermaid) I can;t rember the excact temps( i'm sorry I have a terrible memory at times) but i rember it was deffently above 80 and the rubbermaid was getting soft and very maluble. Regardless i'm gonna buy a rubbermaid from the doller store soon or zellers and test a heat pad on it and
get the excact temps and so on and observes what happens. Hopefully I can figure it out and in the future just use rubbermaids as they are much more affordable.
thx again for everyone who helped it's always appriciaited
Kayla

[m1k3_88]

what kind of thermometer were you using? and was it a human heat pad with a temp setting, or a reptile heat pad?

[sapphire_moon]

I don't think your digi thermometer was reading it very well. Try putting a new battery in it!

I've had my temps spike (On a VERY hot day) to about 105-108 degrees, EVEN then the rubbermaid was still regular hardness/softness.

[Nicky]

wow talk about bad reading that or it was the cheapest made rubbermaid in the world:S:S Well i'll find out soon what the1 real temps are and post them.
Kayla

[mykee]

You sure your melting "rubbermaid" wasn't a ribbermaid, or a rubbermode? LOL. I've actually tested out the temps that rubbermaids can sustain without mooshing into a giant blob of plastic, and that was whe I tested out my very first strip of 11" heat tape and a Helix. I got the rubbermaid to 138 degrees for over an hour without any damage whatsoever. Seems when the 'end' comes, it'll be cockroaches living in rubbermaids.

[sapphire_moon]

lol mykee