Been Recently Considering an ATB...

[exwizard]

...and not sure where to go with this.

First off, some background is in order. When I first got GI Jane, she came with a Neodesha Arboreal. She proved to be quite cage agressive which was why I decided to move her to a rack and put Popeye, my 10 yr old Dum in the Arboreal because he needed more room than what he had. Jane's cage agression is gone now and Popeye seems to be happier in an enclosure which gives him more room to move around.

Then there's my repeated mantra of "if I cant handle a snake, I don't want it". For the most part that is still true. I handle every one of my snakes especially during cleaning time.

Now more recently, I ordered a new rack that will give my bigger snakes more room than they have now; my 3 biggest Macks and 3 of the bigger Dums. In another thread, I have already said that I will not catch "Empty Tub Syndrome" after I've moved these snakes into the new rack and yes, moving these snakes will create 5 empty tubs plus the empty Arboreal and I still have no desire to fill these tubs with anything anytime soon.

I can't stop thinking about that Arboreal though. It makes a great display enclosure and the snakes I've had in it don't quite fit the bill for the purpose of this enclosure. It will be empty once I get Popeye moved into the new rack. That leaves me to consider what an ATB would be like in it. Yes ATBs are more display type snakes and I would be ok with that if I was to get one but the question I have is how would that work when it came time to clean it? Do you clean it while the snake is perched? I normally use rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle to disinfect the enclosures as part of the cleaning process. Do I need a different way of applying of the alcohol? What are the chances of getting tagged while cleaning and what can I do to minimize that?

I know this is a few months away still because the new rack needs to get set up and the snakes need to get moved into it first but Im looking ahead to the details I will need to face when that time comes. Any tips from current ATB keepers would be appreciated.