# First time RUB user :)



## snakess (Sep 3, 2012)

Hi guys, 
Just a few questions about using RUBs.
So far I have only owned rat and corn snakes and kept them in vivs and faunariums. 
I picked up my first boa from donny yesterday and I'm keeping him in a 35L RUB from staples. 
I've read a couple of threads on here but just want to make sure of a few things. 
I'm borrowing a drill today to put some air holes in, planning to put them at the top on the cool end and bottom of the warm end (is this ok?) are the air holes entirely essential? I'm being a bit paranoid and opening the lid to let some air in but don't wanna disturb him. 
I have a digital thermometer and its resting on top of the substrate at the warm end at 31 degrees C. The cool end seems to stay a lot cooler, I wanted it to be above 25, but it just hovers above room temp. Not sure how to keep it warmer without making the warm end a lot warmer. Is my thermometer position right? Should it go under the substrate?
I chose a RUB to keep the humidity up a bit as I know boas need a little higher humidity than a corn or rat snake. i have a hydrometer, but not convinced of its accuracy, when I first set up the RUB it stayed at about 70% and the RUB was really steamed up, right now its down to 40 - 50% so I'm less concerned but if it goes higher again how can I reduce it? I have the water on the cool side and aside from giving him a smaller water bowl I don't know how to lower the humidity. 

One last slightly unrelated question, since I put him (no name yet) in the RUB he hasn't touched the bottom at all, he's spent the last 24 hours hanging round the edge at the top, occasionally falling off and immediately climbs back up. He hasn't explored the bottom at all, not looked in his hides although he has stretched down to have a good long drink. Does he just like climbing or could it be another problem? 
Here's a photo of him to explain, sorry not great quality. 









Thanks for any help.


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## AilsaM (May 18, 2011)

I have 3 of my snakes in rubs and I just melt the air holes into the rub and I just do about 6 holes in each corner, I prefer not to put too many holes in as if required I can always melt a few more holes into the rub, I have my rubs sitting on top of the heat mat, the stat probe directly on top of the mat held in place by the weight of the rub and the digital thermometer probe underneath the substrate, warm end temp for my crawl cay is between 30-33*C and the cool end temp is between 22-28*C, I keep the ambient room temp warm with either an oil filled radiator or my central heating.

Which species of boa is it? If it's a dwarf then the rub will last a while, if it's a common boa then I believe they grow pretty quick so the rub may not last all they long.


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## XFile (Apr 13, 2008)

I'd guess air-holes are essential as its clipped shut so that'd be air tight wouldn't it? 

My 18L RUB has x9 air holes at the bottom front left and bottom back left and I have x10 air holes on the right-hand side of the lid.

I also have x2 air holes next to the ones at the bottom to feed my thermometer probe and thermastat probe into... both are held down by the weight of the hide on the warm side.

As mentioned you don't necessarily need a drill - I just held the end of a screwdriver over the hob and used that heated up to push through the holes... nice and easy and only takes about 15mins to do the lid holes and bottom holes...

Kelfezond from here has a YouTube channel and one of his videos on there talks you through setting up RUBs etc :2thumb:


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## snakess (Sep 3, 2012)

XFile said:


> I'd guess air-holes are essential as its clipped shut so that'd be air tight wouldn't it?
> 
> As mentioned you don't necessarily need a drill - I just held the end of a screwdriver over the hob and used that heated up to push through the holes... nice and easy and only takes about 15mins to do the lid holes and bottom holes...
> 
> Kelfezond from here has a YouTube channel and one of his videos on there talks you through setting up RUBs etc :2thumb:





AilsaM said:


> Which species of boa is it? If it's a dwarf then the rub will last a while, if it's a common boa then I believe they grow pretty quick so the rub may not last all they long.


X-file: I thought it was completely air tight but my thermometer cable fits between the tub and lid so there is a very tiny gap.
The screw driver idea is pretty cool so i'll attempt that. 
I'll try and find kelfezonds video too  Thanks

AilsaM: Its a BCI so shouldn't be in the RUB for too long, but I will have a 3 foot viv empty fairly soon so he will go in there when he's a bit bigger, and ordering a 4 foot stack too so after that he will go in there. See how big he grows to see if he'll need a bigger one than that, a year or two away i expect.


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## AilsaM (May 18, 2011)

snakess said:


> AilsaM: Its a BCI so shouldn't be in the RUB for too long, but I will have a 3 foot viv empty fairly soon so he will go in there when he's a bit bigger, and ordering a 4 foot stack too so after that he will go in there. See how big he grows to see if he'll need a bigger one than that, a year or two away i expect.


Cool, I went for a crawl cay as I didn't want a snake over 6 foot, my girl will reach a nice 4.5 or 5 foot.


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## snakess (Sep 3, 2012)

AilsaM said:


> Cool, I went for a crawl cay as I didn't want a snake over 6 foot, my girl will reach a nice 4.5 or 5 foot.


I went for a male in the hope that he wont get too big, I want to be able to handle him comfortably on my own, but we'll see how he grows.


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## snakess (Sep 3, 2012)

Kelfezond - How to set up a RUB - YouTube

Found kelfezonds video, here it is for anyone else interested.

At the moment my stat sensor is fixed to the heat mat, but he suggest drilling a hole through the box and having the sensor inside, any preferences on this? or is it just as good on the mat?


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## AilsaM (May 18, 2011)

snakess said:


> Kelfezond - How to set up a RUB - YouTube
> 
> Found kelfezonds video, here it is for anyone else interested.
> 
> At the moment my stat sensor is fixed to the heat mat, but he suggest drilling a hole through the box and having the sensor inside, any preferences on this? or is it just as good on the mat?


I prefer my stat probes in direct contact with the heat mat but some people do keep the stat probe on the bottom of the rub, if the temp needs adjusting I go by the reading on the digi thermom probe and not the thermostat dial.


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## snakess (Sep 3, 2012)

AilsaM said:


> I prefer my stat probes in direct contact with the heat mat but some people do keep the stat probe on the bottom of the rub, if the temp needs adjusting I go by the reading on the digi thermom probe and not the thermostat dial.


Yeah! could not survive without digital thermometers.


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## exotic candy (Jun 20, 2012)

what i find usefull is a hole over where the waterbowl is that keeps humidity down if it goes up.... but if its 50% i wouldn't bother! also holes are essential for air circulation and if ya paranoid just lift the lid once a day to allow fresh air exchange


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