With the reptile show coming up, and knowing we cant leave a reptile show without a "few" more reptiles, we decided that it is high time we build some more racks. After a flurry of unpacking and digging for all our tools and supplies, we make the trip into town and pick up the wood we will need. We had already ordered heat tape and a thermometer from The Bean Farm, so our snakes will be nice and warm. Once we get all the supplies home we start building away! Here is a pretty crappy picture of me putting screws in to hold the shelves in place.
And here is a picture of the heat tape we bought. Derek wired it all up and installed it on the back panel of the rack. He did a pretty wicked job too!
We built 2 racks, they turned out beautifully! Here is a picture of the completed racks.
You can even see the snakes in there, checking out thier new apartments! lol Lots of room left for more snakes! Eventually I want to put the racks on castors, but it's not really a priority at the moment.
On the 26th of October we decided to go check out the Colorado game at the bar, wearing our Colorado jerseys in a canuck-friendly bar...lol While we were there we got a call from a reptile rescue begging us to take in their iguana. So of course, beyond all reason and sense, we agree. lol So we gotta build some more! First thing we have to figure out is how big we are gonna make the iguanas enclosure. Iguanas can get big, but this one is 5 feet long! Then we have to figure out what kind of window we are going to put in and where we are going to get it. We don't want to spend a fortune buying supplies, but we also want good quality.
Once we decide on measurements, and find a window, which Derek's dad just happened to have one we could use, we build the frame. Unfortunately I had to go to work and we had to put the project on hold. I really didn't want to go to work because I wanted to get this thing built!
Derek was working graveyards, and so i figured he would be sleeping while I was at work. After work I stopped and picked up some fake plants we had stored at the warehouse so We could decorate the enclosure. I get a call from Derek wondering if I had been home yet, of course I hadn't because I stopped at the warehouse. I told him i was heading home and he said he would call me back in 15 minutes. I thought it was odd, but whatever, Home I went!
I walked in the door and I almost fell over in shock! Derek hadn't been sleeping at all, he finished building the whole enclosure! Well, all I had to do was hang the door and clean up the windows. But WOW! was I ever impressed! That was a LOT of work! plus the window is very thick and heavy! I hung the door and cleaned up the windows. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of what it looked like that day, but here is a picture of it all done with the Iguana in it.
After all that building we started looking at a few of our other snakes enclosures. Some of them were lacking, one was falling apart and we needed 2 for some amazon tree boas. So, back to the ideas stage!
One of the enclosures we got from a guy in yaletown Vancouver was getting pretty beat up, it has gotten some moisture in it at once point and the board swelled up and we had some tape on it holding it together. The snake could have gotten out at any time if he had only tried!
The other enclosure we had to replace we built as a temporary enclosure for a snake that we took in. He wasn't happy in the temporary enclosure, it was made of an odd mix of 2x4s, melamine, and osb. Not a pretty enclosure to be sure!
We got a great deal on the supplies and so it didn't cost us much, and we were able to re use the windows from one of the enclosures. Here is what we came up with!
Its the white ones in the middle that we made. Well, we made the black one on the bottom as well, but that was when we still lived in Chilliwack. They turned out really well! The more things Derek and I build the better we get! We went looking for any spare building supplies at the warehouse to build enclosures for the tree boas. Well, there wasn't much left in the way of building supplies, but we did find some ready made cabinets, all we had to do was make a door. So we managed to somehow load an 8 foot piano hinge, a 6 foot dowel, 2 cabinets and a glass tank into the truck, i mean cavalier. lol You have no idea what we have managed to haul in our cars before, its...interesting. lol At times, its even gravity-defying! well, almost...
Now that all the snakes were happy we had some very unhappy turtles in a Rubbermaid bin that needed a new home. They used to live in a bottle cap kiddie pool, but that wasn't very feasible in our new home. So, we managed to get a pond. I cleaned it up and Derek and I briefly discussed ideas of what to do with it because you cant just leave a pond unsupported in your house. I had to go to work again, and so I figured I could think of ideas while I worked. When Derek picked me up from work he told me that the dog had left me a "surprise" in the spare room. So, feeling a bit miffed that I have to clean dog poop up AGAIN because he refuses to use the pee-mats, I walked into the spare room and almost fell over in shock! actually it was more like wonder and amazement at the amazing handiwork my super-awesome boyfriend did while I was at work. He was a buys boy!!! Here is what I came home to.
Now is that not awesome or what?!?!
Well that is all for this blog post, I have more news to post but I have to take a bunch more pictures. :)
