escape proof hatchling housing

[erewegoagain]

Having read a lot of heart rending posts lately about people’s hatchling snakes escaping, I thought it was a good idea to share with you a method of keeping small hatchlings which I think represents a 100% escape proof method.
Step 1. Buy some food container boxes with lockable lids: I have 2.3l “Lock Lock” boxes, £5 from Waitrose and some smaller “Sistema” ones.
Step 2. Using a hole drilling attachment, drill some holes in the required places. I have put one in the lid and one at either end for good ventilation. The drilling process will create burrs which I removed with a blunt kitchen knife.

Step3. Cut some aluminium mesh with scissors to size bigger than the holes. (mesh available from Halfords for mending bodywork on cars) [IMG]http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss175/erewegoagain_2009/001.jpg[/IMG]
Step 4. Run a flat edged soldering iron around the edge slowly: this will melt the plastic into the mesh and bond the two together.
The finished boxes:

A series of boxes can be heated with one heat mat, with usually a third of the box over the mat. The best way of arranging the thermostat probe is to have a ‘dummy’ box exactly the same as the others containing animals and make a hole with a soldering iron in this one for the probe: that way, there are no gaps for your animals to escape from. So if you only have one hatchling, get a spare box and heat the two. And yes, I know it is more visually appealing to keep snakes in a naturalistic viv rather than a box, but they will be just as happy, and you won’t have any escapes while they are tiny.

[stephenie191]

Hate to burst your bubble lol But this method is used alread, alot!

Lol - Rub's and similar tubs are used in the same way, have a quick look around the site

I like the idea of adding mesh to them, i've seen that before, i'm too lazy and just put holes in with my soldering iron !

[erewegoagain]

No probs, my bubble (if i had one) has not been burst. When i looked at RUBS, there are some gaps around the lids, and also the mesh is smaller than a hole made with a soldering iron, so for smaller species, it is more secure: just wanted to add another option for people when considering how to house their animals. Ive been into this as want a baby rubber boa: they are tiny, smaller than baby corns!

[Paul B]

cadbury boxes and heated wire coat hangers to make the holes will defeat any hatchling.
Only about £3.00 each for the smaller variety which are big enough for most hatchlings.

[Sprocket]

When you melt the two together, i take it the soldering iron is run along the outer edge of the rectangular edge of the mesh ?, ie not around the inner circle ?

[erewegoagain]

Originally Posted by Sprocket

When you melt the two together, i take it the soldering iron is run along the outer edge of the rectangular edge of the mesh ?, ie not around the inner circle ?

Yes thats what i did, it seems to smooth out any sharp bits too

[erewegoagain]

Originally Posted by Paul B

cadbury boxes and heated wire coat hangers to make the holes will defeat any hatchling.
Only about £3.00 each for the smaller variety which are big enough for most hatchlings.

hmm worth investigating when i get loads of babies