Housing a Vietnamese Blue Beauty snake - Custom made vivarium project

Hey!

One of my main concerns when I bought The Fury was setting up an appropriate environment for her. 

Vietnamese Blue Beauties are not exactly like Corn snakes or Ball pythons, if you know what I mean. Furia will eventually grow to an astonishing 260 cm. Just try to see this from my point of view: being an average Spanish woman, when my snake will reach her adult size she will be 100cm taller than me. It's shocking.

I addressed the topic of housing a VBB in this post, so definitely check that out if you're looking for more general information. On today's entry, I will address my plans and projects for this ever growing girl.

I am currently housing Furia in this ExoTerra glass terrarium (90 x 45 x 45 cm), and it's been perfect so far. High enough for her to climb and long enough for her to wander around and (hopefully) not getting bored of her surroundings. Given her current length (79 cm), this terrarium is going to last her some more time, but it's absolutely not a permanent solution.

So after putting some thought into this I concluded the best thing to do is to get a custom made vivarium, large enough to be her home when she's a full grown-up. Assuming she'll reach 260cm, I've settled on a terrarium that's 160cm long, 60 cm wide and 80 cm high. It sounds to me like the mother of all terrariums... It may of course be bigger, but that's already a pretty darn big enclosure.

As for the materials, I am willing to stick with glass because it's easy to clean and visually attractive. It lets the light through and works perfectly fine with under-tank heaters. If built properly, a glass terrarium can last a considerable time, and that's exactly what I am looking for. I will most probably buy from a local shop; after closely examining their work I found it neat and practically built, plus they can implement a couple of changes I requested. They actually sent me a picture of one of their biggest terrariums (still smaller than what I intend to get)            ==>

The thing with a monster terrarium like this is that you have to get a shitload of stuff to put in there: branches to climb, places to hide, plants, rocks, ledges, etc. And: (i) buying nice stuff (I am thinking Magnaturals) in Spain is impossible; (ii) buying it online from the UK or the US is quite expensive due to shipping costs.

And yet, having quite a full terrarium will be necessary when I'll first move The Fury from one terrarium to another, as being overly exposed in a place she isn't familiar with will be a considerable source of stress. 

I don't think I'll move the beast until she's over 100 cm, and I've noticed she's bulking up rather than growing in length, so I think I still have at least 6 months ahead of me to plan and think (and build?) everything I want to put inside the custom made terrarium. 

To be continued...

Scale up!

M.

How to clean a terrarium? How to spot cleaning and full-on cleaning.

After you get your enclosure pimped up with all you need it will eventually be time to clean. 

Excrements will need to be removed swiftly, so you need to be on the lookout a couple of days after feeding your Vietnamese Blue beauty. Snakes usually excrete one single time after digesting, though other biological/digestive rythms are not uncommon and should not be a source of concern. 

If you're a recent snake owner or just want to make sure your VBB's excrements are normal, there's a picture of what you should find in your tank: 

Spot-cleaning is enough for safely removing excrements from your terrarium. Just keep in mind to remove all dampened bedding; as always, it's better to be safe than sorry so I usually remove everything including 3cm of bedding around the excrements, to be sure everything is coming out. I then add some more fresh bedding and voilà!

But a massive clean-up will eventually be necessary; I usually get it done once a month and it takes me around an hour and a half because I like to be thorough. The more stuff you have on your terrarium, the longer it will take for you to clean; it's mathematical.

Here's what I do on a full clean-up day:

1. I take The Fury out of her terrarium and lock her in a RUB with one hide. In order not to stress her too much, I place that RUB in a room I won't be using during the clean-up process.                                                                                                                 
2. I pour cold water in my bath tub and add some bleach (the ratio should be around 1:10).                                                                                                                                                         
3. I remove every object I have in the terrarium: caves, hides, branches, statues, vines, pastic foliage, water bowl. I place them in the mix of bleach & water, making sure every part of those objects is wet or soaking in the mixture.                                                                                                                                         
4. I also take my feeding gear and let it soak in the tub: glass jar, thongs, feeding bowl.                                                                                                                           
5. In the meantime, I remove ALL the aspen bedding and throw it away. You may think this is a waste of bedding, but it's really not. Old shed skin, urates and excrements may be found in there, no matter how thorough you are while spot-cleaning. I'd rather not have bacteria growing up in my snakes' tank...                                                                                                                         
6. When my terrarium is empty, I prepare some more bleach & water mixture in a small bowl, and clean the whole enclosure with it and a cleaning sponge.                                                                                                                             
7. I then dry the terrarium with paper towels that I dispose of.                                                                                                                                
8. In order to make sure no bleach residue is left behind, I thorughly clean my sponge and give a couple more wipes to the tank with just water. Then, I re-dry it with new paper towels.                                                                                                                    
9. I like to let my tank to air-dry for a little while, with the doors open and the roof taken out.                                                                                                                                         
10. In the meanwhile, I thoroughly rinse the objects that had been soaking in my bath tub with plain water. This step is important in order to ensure no bleach will be left behind for your snake to be in contact with.                                                                                                                        
11. They can then be air-dried (e. g. for the plastic foliage, vines and branches) or dried with paper towels. When 100% dry, it's time to re-build a nice terrarium!

In order to avoid that The Fury gets bored of her surrounding I usually vary my terrarium's setting from one clean-up to the other by just changing the items' placement. That's really up to you, but in my opinion a healthy snake will need to have its curiosity triggered and its mind challenged by new landscapes...

Scale up!

M.

Housing a Vietnamese Beauty snake - Enclosure, requirements, tips and warnings.

You're thinking about getting a snake? Then the first think you're going to need is an enclosure. 

My advice is: get the enclosure before the snake. It will be extremely nervous and disoriented on its first day home, so you want to have its enclosure running correctly in order to minimize the stress.

There are many common requirements any snake enclosure should meet, some that are particular to every snake species and others that depend on the keeper's tastes and preferences.

Common requirements [what you NEED to have in a snake viv']:

• a source of heat
• a thermostat
• 2 or more hides
• 2 thermometers
• 1 hygrometer
• bedding
• 1 or more water bowls
• decoration

As a semi-arboreal species, the Vietnamese Beauty snake should have:

• enough space (according to its size)
• branches / something to climb

Depending on the keeper's preferences, there are many avaliable options regarding:

• the enclosure: glass vivarium / wooden vivarium / plastic RUB (really useful box)
• the heat source: heat mat / hot rock (not recommended) / heat lamp
• the thermometers and hygrometer: classic / digital
• the bedding: newspaper / aspen / coco husk / repti bark/ synthetic grass / etc. 
• hides: specifically designed reptile caves / plastic or custom made hides

Why 2 thermometers and 2 hides? Snakes are ectothermic (cold-blooded: they do not produce heat) and thermoregulate thanks to their environment. You will thus need to have a hot spot and a cold spot in your vivarium, creating a temperature gradient in between, so your snake can adequately regulate her body temperature.

Why do I need to get my vivarium running correctly before I put my snake in it? Leaving your snake's nervousness aside, temperature is very important for a snake's metabolism. It's best to have steady and correct temperatures so that you are not continuously roaming around the viv and your snake can focus on settling in. 

How big an enclosure do I need? For a VBB, I wouldn't recommend having a small enclosure, unless you're capable of acquiring bigger enclosures quite often. Hatching 25 cm long, a VBB is going to grow fast and eventually reach up to 2m60, so you can either: 1. get different sized RUBs throughout your snake's life; 2. get a big wooden / glass enclosure that can last you a while and then up to an adult enclosure; 3. get a RUB / wooden / glass enclosure big enough to house even an adult, or 4. use a combination of the above. 

Warning: If you decide to set an enclosure considerably bigger than your snake, you will probably need to provide it with many places to hide, be it caves, foliage or just plenty of bedding to tunnel into. A vast and bare enclosure will probably be a source of stress for your snake, and more so if it's a hatchling or yearling. Keep in mind that your snake is conscious of its own size and strength, you don't want to over-expose it or be a threat to it.

My gear

Enclosure: Right now I have an ExoTerra Natural Terrarium Large (90 x 45 x 45 cm) that is going to last me for a good year and a half or more, though it's obviously not going to be large enough for housing an adult Vietnamese Blue beauty. Here's the whole set up:

Bedding: Even as a hatchling, I never liked the idea of keeping The Fury on newspaper. I've tried repti bark and visually loved it, though finally settled on Aspen snake bedding. I find it less attractive but my snakes love to burrow and tunnel in it; it's crazy how bedding can influence on a snake's activity, ever since I use Aspen my corn and VBB are out and about in their viv. Trial and error.

How much bedding do I need? I like to provide my snakes with a lot of space to burrow in, so I have around 2,5cm of Aspen in the tank.

Heat source: I use a heat mat WITH a thermostat. Thermostats are not an option, so you need to get one. Unless it has an incorporated thermostat, a heat mat will continually and limitlessly produce heat, and may rise the temperature too much or even burn your snake. So you need a thermostat to control the hot end of your viv's temperature and turn off the heat source when the fixed temperature is reached. In order to get an accurate idea of the temperature your snake may be at, you will need to set the probe directly on the viv's floor, under the bedding, and secure it so your snake cannot move it around and mess with it.

I keep my hot spot between 28 and 30º Celsius and my cold spot at room temperature. 

Thermometers / hygrometer: You will need to have a thermometer at each end of your viv, so as to control the exact temperature of your hot and cold spots. You will also need to be able to control the humidity level to make sure your snake's environment is healthy: too humid, it may cause it to have respiratory issues; too dry and your snake will be prone to a bad shed. What I have is one classic thermometer / hygrometer in the cold end, and a more accurate digital thermometer in my hot end. 

TIP: for comfort, you can tie together your thermostat and digital thermometer probes.

Hides: Apart from the bedding and fake plants, that serve as unconventional hides for my snake, I have a hollow plastic branch and two types of caves: a regular cave (this one) and a box-type shelter like so. 

TIP: snakes feel secure in small places. If you're practical or are on a budget, there's no real need to buy all hides' sizes to match your snake's, you can always buy one or more sizes up and fill it with plants or bedding to make it feel smaller to your snake.

Branches: Although you can't really see them here, I have a plastic malleable branch (jungle vine) going up to 25 or 30 cm, so my snake can climb or rest "in the heights". To be completely honest with you, I absolutely dislike this vine: it is a pain in the butt to place after every clean up and don't seem to stay secured in a place. 

Warning: if you can get your hands on a natural branch to put in your snake's viv just go ahead. But be sure that: 1. it is completely smooth and your snake won't get hurt, and 2. it is properly disinfected. To disinfect it, you can either:

• put it in the oven over 150º for at least half an hour (and let it cool down)
• put it in a mix of water and bleach (or baby bottle disinfectant) for at least half an hour (and let it air dry in a safe place)
• combine or repeat the above

Water bowl: a large water bowl is always recommended when keeping a snake. For a VBB, the bigger the better. These snakes do not require specific humidity levels, but will gladly bathe in their water bowls. 

Warning: if you do not use a specific reptile water bowl, be sure to pick a heavy and steady one. If not, the snake may knock over the container and spill the water, getting the bedding wet. Remember that a very humid environment is not recommended for VBBs.

________

Okay. Now that you have all the stuff you need, your temperatures are stable and your snake is in its new home... be patient and let it settle in at its own pace. 

• For newly acquired snakes, there is a "7 days rule", according to which you should only disturb your snake to change its water for the first 7 days. I know, it's hard. 
• For snakes you are moving into a different enclosure, I'd leave it be for at least 2 days.

I hope this has been helpful. If you have any doubt or comment, feel free to let me know in the comments section below or to drop me an email.

Scale up!

M.