# New Emerald Tree Boa Enclosure



## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

Pretty much finished off a new tank for my emerald tree boa. Hers has gotten super tiny for her. So it's time for an upgrade! This will do her for a little while until I plan something bigger and permanent. Afterwards, I'm sure I'll find someone new to live in it.









The tank is an 18x18x24 Exoterra. I have Zoomed corkbark backgrounds installed on all 3 walls. I had to trim the side ones to fit, but they fit. (I used the 18x18 backgrounds instead of the 18x24 ones. This saved me money and ensures that the cork won't rot in the substrate. Win/win!) I put silicone along the outward facing edge to conceal the cork and then patted it down with some fairly dry cocofibre. I made the branch supports from pieces of corkbark. Man was that difficult since my branches are all so irregular. The branches are manzanita wood. I got a huge box of it a while back. Love the stuff. It looks great and is perfect for any tank with high humidity. All branches are removeable so if the snake is wrapped on one I can just take the whole branch out.

The substrate is multiple layers. I used Hydroton expanded clay pellets on the bottom for a drainage layer. I then sandwiched some cotton batting between this great plastic knitting/sewing screen stuff I found at Walmart once and used often to make dividers for fish tanks back when that was my main hobby. The top layer is a mix of cocofibre, cocohusk, Exoterra forest bark and Exoterra moss. I then topped this off with a layer of just moss. The plant is something I grabbed half price. Don't know the specific species, so if anyone can help that would be great.

The water dish is a TRex Bark Bowl that I thought would look great in the tank and in my opinion does. It takes up a LOT of space but is nice and shallow providing for lots of surface area. Good for humidity.

I'm going to be heating the tank using a radiant heat panel hooked up to a thermostat and dimmer for double insurance. Just making sure to be safe. The lighting is one of those nifty Exoterra hoods specifically designed for the tank. It holds two compact fluorescent bulbs to grow the plants.

ANYWAY... Here are the pics.














































To finish things off I want to find a nice shelf liner and attach it to the outside of the tank to hide the layers of substrate as well as the siliconed corkbark. And then I add the snake and I'm done.









Thanks for looking!


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## dark FrOsT (Sep 23, 2006)

that looks awesome !!!


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## MiGsTeR (Jan 19, 2008)

Thats pretty sweet man!


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

great looking setup. you sure do it well









post up some pics when the snake has settled in


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## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

Wow man,
That looks terrific!
he's going to love it.


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## ICEE (Feb 3, 2007)

sick enclosure mettle the snake will love it


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## THE BLACK PIRANHA (Dec 8, 2003)

What gave you the idea for that it is really nice. GOOD JOB


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## joey'd (Oct 26, 2005)

Hey mettle, great setup you have there for your amazingly beautiful ETB.
one question, how much of a pain in the butt will it be to clean the substrate when the snake poos or pees?
i know i have coco fibers and when he my ball does either, its a huge handful of fibers taken out of the tank.
whats yor take on this, and you did an f'in fantastic job on that tank man!


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

My snake relieves herself in the water dish, luckily. And for those times that she doesn't I will spot clean appropriately. Part of the reason of having live plants in there is also so that if I miss some here and there, when I turn the soil, it gets mixed in and made into fertilizer.


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## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

wow, you can tell a lot of time was spent on this cage.
looks amazing mettle


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