I’ve just purchased a baby A. mississippiensis, female, around 30cm long and roughly 11 months old.
I decided to make a cage that would fit in the same style as my snake cages, but trying to work out how to do it in wood and steel took a bit of thinking. I got it done though, building the steel-framed wooden cage, then using fibreglass to waterproof 2/3 of it, giving me a wet area of around 110cmX60cmx20cm. I then bordered this with slate roofing tiles, made up some artificial plants using offcuts of some decent plants I bought really cheap, and some left over grapevine that I had lying around and fixed them in place. I made an artificial vibe which runs along the back of the tank, and carries the water from the pump to the filter, branching off onto the tree branches.
The water is circulated through a bio-mechanical filter which lies under the “dry” area of the cage, lighting is provided by two 40w Philips bulbs and a 50w fluorescent “daylight spectrum” light (which gives off a slight pink colour). The water is heated with a 60w fishtank heaterand the pump circulates the whole water volume (roughly 120l) three time an hour. I have put in some live plants in the water, Dwarf Anubias and Java Fern, which are both pretty hardy and can tolerate a pounding if needed, they also do fairly well in low-light conditions. The bottom of the water is covered with a fine gravel, and large pebbles with the odd rock. I’ve stocked it up with a bunch of small crabs and plenty of dragon fly larvae and other aquatic insects, which should give the little gal something to chase after.
She should be arriving this week, just in time for me to see her settle in before I fly out again for 5 weeks… I’ll put up some pics of her when she arrives.