I am going to be switching from aquariums to sterilite containers. I've read a lot about it and it seems the way to go, especially for species that need higher humidity. What I'm confused about is the ventilation holes. Where should they be and how many??? The "How to" section shows putting a screened top, but wouldn't that be defeating the purpose for humidity reasons??? I will also be using human heating pad for heating. Using this type of system is all new to me so I want to make sure I have it right. Thanks!!!

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Steph
<t><
I am too blessed to be stressed! The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything!

1.0.0 Husband; 3.1.0 Children; 1.1.0 Corns; 0.1.0 BP; 1.0.0 C/BRB; 0.1.0 Rabbit

Hi Steph!
I don't know what you read and why did the authors favor sterilite for species with high humidity requirements. The way I see it there isn't any difference when it comes to keep humidity up. Personally, I prefer glass to plastic for a large number of reasons but sterilite boxes have a lot going on for them: they're cheap, easily replaceable, easily configurable and you have a fair large margin for error.

About your questions... I don't know what you plan to keep on them but the number of ventilation holes and their placement should be different according to what's kept inside, orientation of the box and substrate.
Either way it's always better to have a lot of small ones than a few to many large ones.

As for the screened top in the how to article let me remind you that you must not sacrifice ventilation to keep humidity up. You'll soon get mold and fungus.

But what do you plan to house on sterilites?

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Wish list: Blue Tongue Skinks and Uruplatus =)

I use sterilites, I place my ventilation holes in two rows The first row is about an inch below the lid and the second row is a half inch below that. The holes are drilled about 1 inch apart and staggered. In other words if you draw a line going from top hole to bottom hole and back you are making a zig zag pattern. The holes are approx 1/4 inch in diameter unless using them for hatchlings. Make sure the snake can't get its head thru them.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

The sterilite "how to" was not specifically written for high humidity animals, its for animals in general for those that dont want to use aquariums...As Merlin said above, you can use the sterilite lid for the enclosure, just drill holes.

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MARSHA
A man without a woman is a bachelor, A woman without a man is a genius!.

We have enough youth, how about a fountain of smart!

Hello,

The sterilite container article is how I build them for my hatchling Leopard Geckos. Those actually go in my breeding rack. lol

The humidity for the Leopard Geckos is maintained in the humid hides that each of the enclosures have. I like the top ventilation like I described for the very reason that Ricardo listed. It gives them greatventilation, reduces the chances of bacteria/mold forming, and removes any chance of condensation.

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.:: Rich ::.

+ Spread The Info

Thanks for the information everyone!!! I have a rainbow boa and have been having trouble keeping humidity up. It's only at 30% and it's only at that from frequent misting. He is doing very well and I do provide a humid hide. He always sheds in one piece. I was under the impression that sterilites are better at keeping the humidity. He's 8 months old and I have him in a 20g L aquarium. Should I just keep things the way they are since they're not "broke"??? I am planning on adopting a ball python at the Reptile Show in April, too, so I was thinking about a sterilite for that, too. But you have me thinking, rbl, that I should just stick to aquariums.

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Steph
<t><
I am too blessed to be stressed! The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything!

1.0.0 Husband; 3.1.0 Children; 1.1.0 Corns; 0.1.0 BP; 1.0.0 C/BRB; 0.1.0 Rabbit

The sterilites are better for holding humidity if you use the top intact and drill the holes for ventiltion. They don't have near the moisture loss that an aquarium with a screen top has.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Thanks for the advice Merlin! So if I do the ventilation holes like you said I shouldn't have to worry about mold??? I think I'm going to try it with the BP when I get it. And I'm going to use a human heating pad, too!!! I've been cautious about using them, but I trust your opinion!!! And I've been nervous about moving my RB to a totally new home when he's doing so well where he is. You know that old saying, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"...

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Steph
<t><
I am too blessed to be stressed! The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything!

1.0.0 Husband; 3.1.0 Children; 1.1.0 Corns; 0.1.0 BP; 1.0.0 C/BRB; 0.1.0 Rabbit

I've used the human heating pads under sterilites for years without problem. And with the air holes as I described I have never had a mold problem. Mind you that I am using them for colubrids. But even when they dumped their water I had no mold problems.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Great! Thanks! I'll let you know how things go. The Reptile Show is coming April 22nd. I'm so excited!!! I'm getting a BP and another Corn snake. I just don't know what kind of corn snake to get. I have an Oketee now. They're all so beautiful, it's hard to decide!!!

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Steph
<t><
I am too blessed to be stressed! The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything!

1.0.0 Husband; 3.1.0 Children; 1.1.0 Corns; 0.1.0 BP; 1.0.0 C/BRB; 0.1.0 Rabbit