Hi!

Good job doing your research first.

Piking up snakes- just like any other baby animal, you want its body supported- they will be very frightened if they are 'hanging'. When I pick up babies, I normally come at them from the side, and gently slide my fingers under them, 'scooping' them up. If it happens to be nippy, a decent way to get them out without getting stuck is by distracting them by waving and scoop them up with the other hand. Don't HOLD them still, allow them to crawl on your hands. Anyone who sells to you should be able to show you in person and allow you to try a few times until you get the hang of it.

Heating pads are great, but make sure you get a thermometer with a probe, and a thermostat- heating pads can get INSANELY hot and hurt an animal if they're not controlled.

Consider using newspaper or paper towel at first, so you can check for mites and healthy poops. After that, Aspen shavings are cheap and smell nice.

Your cage needs several hiding spots across the temperature gradient- if you're buying a baby, using tissue boxes, etc. can be better until later, as they'll just grow out of anything expensive. Hide spots should be just big enough to fit their body. A heavy water dish, and a few things for them to explore or climb on are all that's needed. Driftwood, manzanita, grape wood are all fine- if you use branches from outside, look for how to sterilize them on the internet. A wide cage is better, though they climb a bit, especially when they're young.

Use fake plants if any, they'll just get smooshed over time and soil in the cage is just more of a chance for pests to get to your pet, in my opinion. Fake plants are awesome for young snakes to hide in, though, and can look nice. If you ever switch to overhead heat (RHP or lamps) please use SILK plants, not plastic, as plastic ones can off-gas chemicals if heated.



Feeding once a week is totally fine until they're a year or two old. Power feeding often leads to early death and obesity.

[ Hide Replies ]

• hogs!!!!! - mshine92, Thu Jun 28 11:33:31 2012
• RE: hogs!!!!! - AnnaCB, Thu Jun 28 16:25:58 2012
• PS- - AnnaCB, Thu Jun 28 16:31:42 2012
• RE: PS- - mshine92, Thu Jun 28 18:28:18 2012
• RE: PS- - AnnaCB, Fri Jun 29 01:33:50 2012