My outdoor pits

Andrew-Yeah they look so much more content, have more room to move around in & being local snakes from the southern parts of Australia they can handle the different climates that occur down here. As for escapes not yet but could not find a tiger for a week. Because i didn't pack under 1 of the rocks with sand instead of river stones the tiger decided he could slither between them & under the rock. The rock is about 45kilo's, being the only "stone left unturned" it was a relief to find him there. I try to limit the hiding places so that when i come along if i can't see them then they have to be in their under ground hide. Did throw in some grass seeds ('one year on pics' in this thread) which i think made them feel more secure but were getting a bit out of hand & overcrowding the plants in there.

Spectacular setup!

If something like that was possible with the Canadian climate I'd build some this weekend!! Alas, I think my snakes would freeze!

How long did they take to construct? What do you secure the lids with?

Luke Halstead wrote:: Spectacular setup!

If something like that was possible with the Canadian climate I'd build some this weekend!! Alas, I think my snakes would freeze!

How long did they take to construct? What do you secure the lids with?

Luke; Took me about 3 weekends to do, my son helped out with the digging & landscaping. Lids clamp down with strap & staple with padlock fitted. Still need to fine tune a couple of things, but that's the joy of experimenting in doing new things.

Merry Xmas to me, my new Kangaroo Island Tiger (Notechis ater niger?)
in the "playpen" today.
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Cool photos, and I love the cages outdoors. Me and Graeme Skinner found a DOR "Dajarra region" adder in November - 1 car in front, and we would have found it basking on the road. Looks like you are keen on the tiger snakes, I'll post a couple of the ones we found in Perth.

Cheers,

Dave

Thats a pretty shot dave!
Looks pretty happy too!

Only thing missing from that picture David is my pit around it! Love the westerns, black & gold luv it. I will have to get more.

Fantastic set-up, one of the best I've seen!

I would love to be able to do that myself with Puff Adders, Rattlesnakes and Lanceheads!
Way too cold here in the UK though I'm afraid.....

Mark Truesdale wrote:: Fantastic set-up, one of the best I've seen!

I would love to be able to do that myself with Puff Adders, Rattlesnakes and Lanceheads!
Way too cold here in the UK though I'm afraid.....

Thanks, currently playing around with an idea of putting my adult adders outside (only on a daily basis) in some sort of playpen. Maybe use a glasshouse type area in a pit where the temps could increase to their liking but not to dangerously high levels. There must be a way of capturing the suns rays to provide the temps necessary for those animals that like the higher temps. Easy with our local animals but will come up with something for those whom like it warmer (Adders). On 30plus degree days here the rocks get to 45 plus & the panels go 65 plus in these pits! Don't see the snakes then too hot for them, they stay in their hides with the bottom level in there being a constant 22/23 during those high temps. At night they all start cruising around. Currently the adult adders use the "playpen" on warm/hot days for around 4/5 hours-I think they like "the day out". Oh it's neverending the different ideas i'm coming up with. Wonder if i could do something for Puffy's & Rattlers outside here in melbourne!!! lol lol lol.

Nigel,

Syd Commons would be fine outside as would Spotted Blacks.....elevated bathtubs with a mesh top and deep leaf litter base would work very well. You would need to insulate the sides from excessive heat and cold though.

Cheers,
Scott

Oh good one Scott now my mind will be doing overtime!

Got 1 of these, a 1500litre aquaculture tank & am getting another 4 of these this week which hold 3000litres each (roughly 2.1 x 2.1 x 1.2 high).
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Won't be putting fish in them! Will have 3 pairs of notechis ater humphreysi, 2 pairs of notechis scutatus scutatus, 2 pairs of notechis scutatus occidentalis, 1 pair of notechis ater niger & 2 pairs of pseudechis porphyriacus all looking for outdoor enclosures. I think i will be 1 enclosure short having already 4 pits & soon to be 5 tanks. From now till spring i am going to be kept busy. I'll make this 1 the new "playpen".

Nigel Sowter wrote:: 'Got 1 of these, a 1500litre aquaculture tank & am getting another 4 of these this week which hold 3000litres each (roughly 2.1 x 2.1 x 1.2 high)'.
... 'Won't be putting fish in them'!

Hmmm... This is an interesting and innovative idea, Mr. Sowter(... and suitable for both indoor and outdoors, as well). If you can, please keep us updated on these new enclosures. I'm sure that that would be much appreciated by all the members here. Thanks for posting this. Sincerely, Jon Davidson .

That is most excellent!

fantastic ideas man,wish you the best of luck with yur playpens, keep posting pics pleas.

OMG! got them 2day, look bigger than the 2.1 x 2.1 x 900high that they are.
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Will give them a clean, place 1 in the garden bed there & see what amount of sun it catches from between the fence & pergola. Sun is getting lower in the sky this time of year but if i can get even a little bit captured would benefit the notechis that will be going in them. May have to elevate some area for increase basking but won't know till i see how much sun the pit will capture.
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From now till around august the suns rays don't reach the bottom of my pits (blocked by the roofline of house). At the moment the sun covers about 1/3 of the lid, so am experimenting with the idea of placing a sheet of polycarb over the back half of the pit & seeing what sort of temps i will get. Currently around 23c & am getting around 25/26c when they bask on the log & 28c when i caught 1 basking up in the plants 15cm from the roof. I think that is acceptable for the elapids that i keep out there. Will monitor the temps as we get closer to winter & am curious as to what they may be. Did cover 1 pit with 2 sheets of polycarb but noticed after a couple of days condensation was an issue but on the plus side it was warm in their but with alot of humidity.

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Currently bring all snakes inside to garage/herproom with males about to be cooled & females on 26/27c. Depending on what temps are recorded during our winter period I might take the risk & house them outdoors all year round. Time will tell. If anyone has some ideas on this type of set up please post, whether positive or negative-always learning will never conquer this addiction-Cheers.

Topic has been splitted . please continue with discussions about breeding and selling of Oxyuranus temporalis here:
http://www.venomland.net/t4042-oxyuranus-temporalis-breeding#28677

GREAT

I like that
Regards Mike

Finally made a start, cleared the garden bed as best i could.
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Sealed all drainage holes.
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Got 1 more to set up in the garden bed. Will continue with sleepers to enclose the other 2 tubs that are on the concrete.
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Once the last tub is in place, will do the landscaping outside the tubs then start on painting the insides of the tubs, work out the lids, substrate, etc-oh the fun of it all. Got till august to finish them so better stop buying snakes & concentrate on the tubs. Ha! having said that got a hatchling pair of Notechis ater serventyi (Chappell Island Tigers) coming next week.

fantastic job man, do you have an update of your project, it looks really awesome.

regards

Gustav Eloy wrote:: fantastic job man, do you have an update of your project, it looks really awesome.

regards

Just working on the 3 tubs at the moment, (have $$$ & time issues!), bit of paint on the inside, some platforms & playing around with "fake rock" dens to keep them happy. Being getting bits'n'pieces from work to help in thee project. Got heaps of polystyrene for fake rocks, plastic pallets to be used for "platforms" with timber over the top & some lengths of aluminum & steel to assist in the construction of the lids for these & my "outdoor pits". Speaking of which the outdoor pits need some work done on them, new lids & the plants are thriving without the snakes in there-work, work & more work, it's never ending-but the rewards will be well worth it-Cheers!
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Male Notechis ater niger checking out my attempt at fake rock for my tubs.

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sr great fake rocks, pretty sure they are going to like it, by the way you are going to have a lot of room for your snakes, those are huge tanks.

best regadrs and keep posting
Very Happy

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