Waited long enough

NavyVet83

NavyVet83

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So like most kids, Ive always wanted an unusual pet. In my case, its snakes. Mommy always said, when I have my own house I can do what I want. Well, me and my wife finally bought a house. Closed a few weeks ago (posted in here) and been moving and getting settled since. Now a finishing touch. I finally got the large snake I've always wanted. This girl has another 2ft or so of growing left, and I intend to feed her to support that growth lol...
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NavyVet83 said:
This girl has another 2ft or so of growing left, and I intend to feed her to support that growth lol...
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Then what? :unsure: ;)

I'm at a party in my youth and a couple guys walk in with smaller constrictors resting on their shoulders, coiled up. :unsure: I ask why don't they choke you out and one guy answers "they like the warmth of your body" as he peels the snake off his shoulders and puts it over my head. :eek: I was alarmed as the snake "readjusted" :eek: but then it just laid there as I walked around for about 5min before giving it back. It was about 20lbs or so.

I caught and collected local snakes when I was a tween. There was a large undeveloped area near a cement plant near my house I would walk to. There were a few random boards laying on the ground that would almost certainly have snakes under them when lifted in the afternoon. Nothing over 1' long. I had green and decay (brown) and garter snakes, occasionally a milk snake but they were not as "tame" as the others. My mom was deathly afraid of snakes and wouldn't let me keep them in the house so I had an insulated terrarium under the porch. I would play with them inside when mom wasn't around. :cool:

Once while playing with a snake, letting it slither on the floor, it ducked under a closed door and by the time I got the door open it had made its way into the baseboard heating and was lost. :rolleyes: About a month later I heard my mom screaming from the basement and there it was, still alive, coiled around the basket of my bicycle... I had never told her I "lost" a snake inside... :D
 
One about that size got loose in a buddys house. Ended up living in the couch for a month before it would come out to eat.
 
Pretty cool to sit down and watch a movie, while a 7ft snake, finds a warm spot on ya, and just chills out..
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Found an old Lattice wall in my backyard today that was about 12ft long and 6ft tall. Realized the studs used to build it were still in great shape, so I disassembled it to repurpose the wood for a larger enclosure for my snake. This is my first attempt and any type of carpentry project, but so far its all square, measurements are where I wanted them, and its pretty solid. Obviously there will be wood filler and sanding involved, but i THINK im off to a good start
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NavyVet83 said:
Found an old Lattice wall in my backyard today that was about 12ft long and 6ft tall. Realized the studs used to build it were still in great shape, so I disassembled it to repurpose the wood for a larger enclosure for my snake. This is my first attempt and any type of carpentry project, but so far its all square, measurements are where I wanted them, and its pretty solid. Obviously there will be wood filler and sanding involved, but i THINK im off to a good start
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Wood was my first love until I discovered fire and alchemy... :)
 
Im no carpenter by any means. Hell, not even a hobbyist of wood working to be honest. But I do want to give the snake a larger home and dont have $2k+ to buy what I want. So Im kind of figuring this out as I go. I made a good bit of progress on it this evening when I got home from work. Id say the frame work is pretty much done. Once I close in the sides and lay the floor, I'll I get wood filler to fill in the seams/cracks and then start sanding/prepping for stain/sealer.. Im setting it up to open from the top. The back opening will be a window of tempered glass to allow natural sunlight in from the kitchen window it will be in front of and the front will be all tempered glass. I left a 1.5" face on the inside so that I can glue/silicone the glass in place.
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Well, I got the form work done, and started sanding it tonight. Im thinking I want to leave a, I guess ill call it, "slightly unfinished" look, so once the sanding is done, Im gonna stain it with Coach Black stain, then seal it. Once its sealed, then Im guessing Ill be ready to have the tempered glass made for it.
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So im not sure how many people realize, but snakes do actually learn their people and will develop trust.. im watching a movie, and once she settled down, she refused to move lol. Especially once i started petting her head
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So my wife tells me today, that she is beginning to get much more comfortable around the snake and wants one of her own. So once this larger enclosure is done, we will be prepping the 120 gal aquarium for a smaller snake for her. She wants a western hognose...... guess ill have 2 snakes to feed. Lol
 
So I still need to stain the bottom half, and build a top, add hinges, etc.. but I threw together a stand for the enclosure this morning. Took me about an hour. As I said, Im no carpenter, but its square, all joints are flush, and its rock solid. Im pretty sure I overbuilt it mainly due to lack of experience. Lol..
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NavyVet83 said:
So I still need to stain the bottom half, and build a top, add hinges, etc.. but I threw together a stand for the enclosure this morning. Took me about an hour. As I said, Im no carpenter, but its square, all joints are flush, and its rock solid. Im pretty sure I overbuilt it mainly due to lack of experience. Lol.. View attachment 40597
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How heavy? And will you be able to move it?? LOL!
 
I can pick up one side of the combo myself. Prolly about the same weigh as an average lower end/cheap couch.
 
NavyVet83 said:
Im no carpenter, but its square, all joints are flush, and its rock solid. Im pretty sure I overbuilt it mainly due to lack of experience. Lol..
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I'm not here to bust your balls but to save your snake. ;)

In the grand scheme of wood construction framing (which is sort of what you are doing here), nails or screws should not be used as the main support members. In other words, if the screws were removed, would the structure collapse? Look at this random web pic. If you were to recreate it without nails/screws and assuming no wind or ground shake, it could conceivably stand on its own. That is how you should build your base.

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Another thing I'm noticing is there is no triangulation going on to account for side loading like when you go to move it. Just trying to help, bro... :)

PS: and screwing into the end grain of a stud is the least strong way of doing it...
 
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Bobster said:
I'm not here to bust your balls but to save your snake. ;)

In the grand scheme of wood construction framing (which is sort of what you are doing here), nails or screws should not be used as the main support members. In other words, if the screws were removed, would the structure collapse? Look at this random web pic. If you were to recreate it without nails/screws and assuming no wind or ground shake, it could conceivably stand on its own. That is how you should build your base.

View attachment 40598

Another thing I'm noticing is there is no triangulation going on to account for side loading like when you go to move it. Just trying to help, bro... :)

PS: and screwing into the end grain of a stud is the least strong way of doing it...
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You mean like these support pieces I put in for side to side support?
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Bobster said:
I didn't notice them in the first pic...
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Thanks for the tips. Its definitely a learning ordeal for me. Im seeing now that I look at it later, I prolly should've put the legs under the top part completely instead of screwing to the side for sure. I dunno why I did it like that. Its only gotta last a year or 2 though, and Ill be building a bigger one anyway due to snake growth, so as long as it lasts that long, we shall be ok... i think... it is pretty solid and doesnt budget no matter how rough i treat it.
 
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