Hi! I'm usually over in the US rat snake forum, but I decided to hop over here to see what's news. I almost jumped up for joy when I read that you have a Bubblegum ratsnake! I recently (the beginning of February) adopted a 2 year old Bubblegum myself. I have Aida in a 30 gal. long aquarium, with an undertank heat pad on the side of the tank and a ceramic heat bulb on top (there's a wire screen with clips that hold the lid securely in place and the lamp is raised up a bit so she won't burn herself when she goes climbing.

My experiences with Aida have been similar to what you're saying with your bubblegum. I have a hide box on both ends of the tank, one on the warm side (about 82 degrees) and one on the cool side (about 75 degrees). If she's feeling particularly active, she climbs up the edge of the tank and tries to crawl around the lid. I think she's just looking for a way out to cure some boredom, rat snakes are naturally very inquisitive and good climbers. Eventually she falls off and goes back to sleeping during the day. If she just ate, she tends to sleep in the box on the warm end but otherwise she stays on the cooler end. The only thing you have to watch is the humidity, but they're pretty adaptable snakes. As long as you've got a bowl of water that he can completely soak himself in, you should be fine.

Does your bubblegum like to swim? I've put Aida in a room temp. tub before and she takes off like a rocket. She puts her head under the water and goes for quite some time. They are excellent swimmers like most snakes.

How old is yours? I've been trying to find pictures of an adult bubblegum, but I can't seem to find any.

Here's a picture of my girl (my first pet snake, although I take care of many at the wildlife sanctuary I intern at)

Cheers!
Sarah

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