We recently got a new BRB and I wanted to share with you guys his enclosure. He’s only 6 months old so we are starting him in a 40gallon front opening terrarium. I am using an Arcadia DHP for temp, a reptizoo thermostat/ hygrostat combo, a reptizoo fogger for humidity, and a led light bar for day night cycle. We had issues keeping him humidity up so over the weekend I cut up some clear lexan and caulked it into the top to trap the humidity. It has been working awesome since then. Currently sitting at 82deg on the warm side and 90%RH. Pics in the comments below.
This is my 10th snake, but my first BRB. If any of you have any suggestions or tweaks I can make to my husbandry please let me know.
Amazing snake! BRB’s are a personal favorite, for sure. If you’re interested in alternative tops for that Exo Terra, I recommend looking into Focus³ and seeing what they have to offer, these or options like these will definitely help with keeping steady humidity, which is extremely important for this species, and overall, maintaining the enclosure long-term, so you don’t end up rusting the stock screen top, for example.
@wrai those are awesome! Definitely on the pricey side, but for sure going to look into them more. I was looking for something like that when the pecan idea came to me. Didn’t really consider the rust issue.
Western hognose are my personal favorite, but I had a few other species that I enjoy keeping. Next on my list is a Green Tree Python.
Yep, I definitely agree with you there. Probably worth the investment over buying a PVC enclosure with similar accommodations, considering you already have the enclosure, though, is my thoughts. Very cool though, looking forward to seeing it grow!
Don’t BRBs (especially babies) need perma-damp bedding? I seen Snake Discovery mention that in one of their videos with their eyeless BRB. It will be extremely hard to maintain that is such a big open enclosure for sure so a misting system (and better top) is a must.
Adults are supposed to be at about 75-90%, while neonates are supposed to be kept at around 95-100%, without the substrate being wet, so they definitely have a high humidity requirement. Definitely my reasoning behind what seems like such a steep investment in accomodations, otherwise I’d never recommend an enclosure like that for them, you’ll never reach the proper levels without oversaturation of the substrate and eventual damage to the original equipment/enclosure.
I use bioactive vivariums, with plants that help regulate and maintain the right level of humidity. So the substrate isn’t saturated to create humidity, it comes from the environment.
In the wild mold growth isn’t a problem because of fresh air, sunlight, rainfall, microorganisms, etc. whereas in an enclosure perma-wet substrate very easily leads to growth of harmful molds and bacteria. In my experience with owning 3 of these guys, BRB can easily contract respiratory infection or scale blisters from sitting in a less-than-clean wet enclosure.
I remedy this by using a vivarium set up, water table with clay beads as a bottom layer keeps my beneficial bugs alive, and the top layer is a mixed substrate of orchid bark sphagnum moss charcoal and peat “dirt”. I’ve got a water filter/pump circulating the water, and infrared heat panels attached to the lid that heat the surface of the water and creates even more humidity. His daytime temp on the warm side is set for 80 as you can see, and the panels are at 37%output (my other sensors aren’t working and I haven’t replaced them yet )
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