Here are a few photos of my facility. The "snake pit", as it is called by my non-herper friends, is the basement of my house. The room is about 25' x 18' and includes a 1/2 bathroom. When I moved in, the electrical system in the house was very old. Due to the large amount of power needed to run all of the equipment in the room, I had all of the wiring re-done, just to be on the safe side. I have quad outlets every 4' on center, most of them on their own dedicated circuit. Good air circulation is provided in the room by a floor fan. Due to frequent power outages in my area, I have also connected a generator.

Most of my adult animals are housed in Vision model 222 cages. They are each equipped with a Pro-Products radiant heat panel, a fluorescent light. Each bank of cages is controlled by a Helix thermostat. The snakes are given a hot spot of 88-90 degrees directly under the heat panel for 12 hours a day. The cool side of the cage fluctuates with the ambient room temperature. I also have one bank of Freedom Breeder glass display cages which are set up the same way. I use cypress mulch as a substrate in all adult enclosures.

I keep babies and sub-adults in racks built by Habitat Systems. The racks have heated shelves, and the heat area is maintained at 85 degrees by a thermostat. While I do leave the heat spot on all the time, the night time drop of ambient heat in the room, combined with good air circulation, cools the tubs considerably.

Ambient heat in the room is controlled by an oil radiator hooked up to a 1500W Helix thermostat. The thermostat is set on a timer for a day time temperature of 83 and a night time temperature of 79. During the winter months, when the snakes are being cycled for breeding, I lower the night temperature to 69-70 degrees.

For an incubator, I use a 160 qt Igloo marine cooler that I have outfitted with a few feet of heat tape and a Helix thermostat. I keep a few sealed jugs of water in the cooler to give it some mass and temperature stability. I keep one open shoebox of water in the cooler to keep humidity up. The eggs are placed in open shoeboxes with a 3'' - 4'' layer of damp vermiculite (mixed at a 1:1 ratio, by weight, with water). The egg boxes are left uncovered. I incubate at a constant temperature of around 87 degrees. At this temperature, eggs typically hatch in around 52-54 days. I have used this cooler for the past three breeding seasons with great sucess. All at a cost of under $200.

In my opinion, the keys to successful breeding are good control of ambient room tempertatures, and getting your animals on a yearly cycle. With a little equipment and a ton of patience, you can be hatching your own baby chondros in no time!