I feel like a fish outta water lol

[hornfrog2011]

[FONT=Arial, helvetica, verdana, times new roman]Hi Everyone! So, as my corny title suggests, I am out of my element and figured people on this forum could help! I do not own any fish or turtles, hence my vast inexperience. I own big pythons, and am adding to my collection and thus building new enclosures. I am preparing a large, custom made semi-aquatic enclosure for a new addition and I have no idea whether or not I can use a filter and if so then what type to use. I mean, I know people use filters for turtles but I have never heard of use with snakes before. However, it seems to me that a filter would discourage bacteria growth (a big problem in water of big snakes). I currently use those large plastic pre-formed ponds from home depot as a water source. Could I set up some sort of filtration system (sort of like they use in the "turtle tubs") with these ponds? I know this is soooo random and not a snake forum but if I could get any input I would appreciate it soooo much! Thanks [/FONT]​

 

[Garrett.turbo]

I dont know anything about snakes but there are quite a few people on here who do, so I'm sure they'll help you out, as for the filter I wouldn't see why not, You could probably use a cannister filter, but Ill let people who know about snakes answer this so dont take my word for it.

 

[chloe]

im assuming you have an annie on the way? lol.
id use a fluval 204, 405 or fx5 depending on the amount of water you have in the enclosure. its been a while since iv kept fish so unsure of the newer filters that are on the market, but iv never had a problem with these and they are what i use in the snake enclosures.
providing you make sure your filter is at the end of the viv u can drill straight through the wood and feed the input/output hoses through in to the pond. the canister will be outside of the viv and hidden from plain sight.

hope this helps
x

 

[hornfrog2011]

Thank you so much that is sooo helpful! I am a pretty new D.I.Y er since my snakes are getting big (aka too big for anything but a custom enclosure lol). And yes, I do have an annie on the way! I can't decide on green or yellow, but I am kinda leanin towards the green. Regardless, my burm's cage should be ALOT less stinky after I get one set up for her, too, so I am pretty excited about that hehe Thanks again!

 

[ceeej31]

Thank you so much that is sooo helpful! I am a pretty new D.I.Y er since my snakes are getting big (aka too big for anything but a custom enclosure lol). And yes, I do have an annie on the way! I can't decide on green or yellow, but I am kinda leanin towards the green. Regardless, my burm's cage should be ALOT less stinky after I get one set up for her, too, so I am pretty excited about that hehe Thanks again!

Go for the green, just remeber that they are a different snake then other large constrictors. Forgive me for anthropomorphising but they tend to be more on the anxious/sensitive side. The ones I work with, especially the WC ones are very prone to going on hunger stikes if they get stressed out from a move or a major change in their enclosure.

As for filtration, depending on the size of the water area (I would reccomend as large as possible but no deeper than about 2' or so, while they will use deeper water from what I have seen and been taught they are far more comfortable in shallow water) I would go with as much biofiltration as possible. Big snakes produce a lot of waste. I would consider getting a UV or even Ozone system as well to deal with the bacteria blooms that will occur everytime the snake takes a dump.

If you have any other questions feel free to shoot me a pm.

 

[hornfrog2011]

Thanks a ton! I am so glad I at least have a direction to start at because I know what I want, just not what I need for it! lol CeeeJ, Ill totally pm you (once I figure out how, lol) because I am more drawn towards the green but can't seem to find anyone who has personal experience that I can ask some questions! I mean, care sheets have that basic info, and forums you can occasionally find some facts but for the most part people just get reallllly heated over the topic! lol Also, if anyone has any pics or websites that relate to the kind of semi aquatic enclosure/set-up we've been talking about, that would be great!

 

[brooklynboy521]

Thanks a ton! I am so glad I at least have a direction to start at because I know what I want, just not what I need for it! lol CeeeJ, Ill totally pm you (once I figure out how, lol) because I am more drawn towards the green but can't seem to find anyone who has personal experience that I can ask some questions! I mean, care sheets have that basic info, and forums you can occasionally find some facts but for the most part people just get reallllly heated over the topic! lol Also, if anyone has any pics or websites that relate to the kind of semi aquatic enclosure/set-up we've been talking about, that would be great!

Go with the green annie. And pleaseee post picsd of everything you have and your cage building plans lol!

 

[hornfrog2011]

Go with the green annie. And pleaseee post picsd of everything you have and your cage building plans lol!

Yeahhh I think Im gonna go with the green annie First I wanted to get everyone's opinions on the stuff I found today, then below this one Im postin pics of the snakes (sorry, Im pretty OCD! Just be glad I'm not posting in bullet points lol).

1st is the actual water thing. It's 2 1/2 X 3 1/2 and approx 2 ft deep. It holds 40 gal total



For filters I was able to find the Fluval 205 and it seems like an ideal set-up. I also found a filter at home-depot (where the pond thing is) that I think may work. I also found this other thing (see pic) designed for turtles and runs at 55 gph. It's by tetra and called the "Reptofilter", but like I said these are just jumping off points since I don't know a lot on the subject


Once again any input is eagerly accepted Thanks guys!

 

[hornfrog2011]

My avatar is my female Jampea Reticulated Python baby, I got as a hatchling from Bob Clark the momma reproduced via parthenogenesis. So, little pippers here had only female siblings that were all determined to be clones of their momma. Twinkie is my albino burm whose about 8 ft by now and was my first love I also rescue and rehabiliate snakes and rehome them for free. In the past year my rescues included: 2 ball pythons and 3 red tail boas (one was a 9ft 35lbs lady who had been powerfed). Annnyways, here is twinkie's digs from the Dallas Zoo. They're 2 enclosures but I took the glass top off the bottom one and cut out the divider then, my bf cut a hole in the bottom of the top one. Little pippers is in a 30 gal for now.
First here's the bottom one:


Now here they are put together:

and here's twinkie when we went to the elementary school for our annual reptile education thingy

 

[ceeej31]

I would say that the water feature is too small, but the fluval filter should work while the snake is small, as it gets larger it might not be able to keep up with the bioload. Get a hold of the member z-trip, he has a green and a yellow annie