Warning about plastic tubs

[Alan Hyde]

Hi all,

We all sometimes keep snakes in tubs especially neonates and I would recommend that all keepers have clear or at least opaque lids. The reason being , after I had cleaned out one of my b.nasicornis I hooked the snake and returned her to her freshly cleaned home. I clipped the lid down and replaced the tub back into the vivarium. It was lucky for the snake that I took a second look before walking away as she was sitting with her nose pressed up against the lid with her tongue firmly trapped underneath . I unclipped the lid quickly and fortunately she recovered 100% , although she did not tongue flick for a few days.

Just thought i'd warn other keepers to watch out for this.
Al

[Bushbaby]

It happened to me once. It's a terrible feeling. I ALWAYS make sure there are no heads in the way before I close tub completely.

[Gabi]

I've had similar happen to me. But it was a tail and a waterbowl. I felt aweful. Luckily no long term damage

[Alan Hyde]

Good to hear i'm not the only one this has happened to.
It certainly does make you feel quite bad

[Serpy]

Clear lids would be great, i accidentally got my only male brown house snakes head stuck in the lid a few weeks ago, unfortunlely i only found this out the next morning. I felt like a murderer. Now my girls are lonely

[dendroaspis]

I have hide boxes in my tubs too, and touch wood, no problems yet

[SarkkaS]

Haven't squished any reptiles [yet, knock on wood], but I have had mice tails caught between a lid and the box a few times.


-Sale

[mm069]

I'm ashamed to admit this, but about 8 or so years ago, I used to get some of my pinks in little boxes with little elastic bands around them to prevent the box from opening. All my cages back then opened from the top, and somehow one of these elastics fell into my big kingsnakes cage without me noticing. I am not sure how long after that I noticed that my snake had crawled through the elastic band and that it had become surprisingly tight around his body. I am sure that I do not need to inform any of you how dangerous this is for a snake (consider the fact that it could have been constricting it's blood flow and lungs). Anyway, I cut it off him the second I saw it and he was fine, but I felt so guilty.
I guess there is no point in having these experiences uless you share them and let others learn from the mistakes you have made. Needless to say, I never let another elastic band come near my snakes again. Before this happened I never realised how dangerous something like that could be! Live and learn!

[Bushbaby]

Yup, this kinda info is always useful. Others can learn from our mistakes. I almost lost my ball python in a similar way, except I used a waterbowl. We had bought a guys cages with all the accesories and he used t keep only carnsnakes and kingsnakes. I used the one water bowl and only a few days later I saw that my Ball Python was stuck in a hole in the side of the waterbowl. It had been drilled so the waterbowl could double up as a hide. Well the whole was not big enough for my Ball Python.

I have no idea how long it was stuck, but she now has permanent scarring. She also stopped eating for about 2 or 3 months. Rather nerve wracking and now I check EVERY waterbowl.

[mm069]

It's amazing how pedantic keepers become about certain things once they have made that kind of mistake, it's good ofcourse!

[Alan Hyde]

This thread has become quite an interesting read, like bushbaby say's, it's good to read about others mistakes and learn from them.

Using duck tape must be another mistake that many keepers have made.
I once stuck a thermostat sensor to the back of a vivarium only to find that the heat had made it peel away slightly and my juvenile burm was stuck to it. I did manage to get the snake free unharmed except for stress.

[Bushviper]

I have seen snakes trying to get through the holes of plastic seedling trays and when they get stuck they have noting to pull back on and as a result they die.

I have taken snakes off sellotape on more than one occassion and the worst is this brown packing tape. That stuff does not even come off with alcohol or oil.

I have also seen a snake that lost his tongue in a sliding door which clipped it off like a scissors.

The cages with hinged doors on top have been killers and the worst one is when the door slides up and down like a guillotine.

[mm069]

This topic might be good to get the sticky tag. Definately plenty of good tips for beginners.

[neko]

Good point. Stickied..

[Trayton]

What warrants a topic to be "sticky" and what does it mean?