Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I see a lot of rack designs that use plastic sweater boxes to hold animals. I'm sure I'm missing something, but as a casual pet keeper, aren't those containers bad for snakes? Corn snakes like to climb, and I'm sure the pythons do too, so wouldn't being in such a short cage make them stressed?

I'll assume that the snakes in sweater boxes are for breeding rather than display, but I'm confused about the height of the boxes and the stress of the snakes, in addition to heating and humidity concerns. How do you manage that?

I have nothing against sweater boxes if they work, I'm just wondering how you use them and keep the snakes from stressing.

Plastic tubs are used mainly because they are cheap (relativly) easy to keep clean and provide all the basic needs to the inhabitant.

Granted I'm sure there those that frown on tubs due to the same points you mentioned but I myself have never had any negative side effects from using the plastic tubs in a rack.

Exactly the oppisite my BP's did better in the tubs/rack than in traditional caging. Partly due to the fact that most BP's are elusive in nature.

There are always the taller tubs and one could even add branches and decor but I think that is getting away from the idea of the rack in the first place.

Chris H uses the taller CB-70 with great success so maybe he will chime in and share is view.

As far as Heating and Humidity both are really easy to control in aplastic tub/rack situation. I myself heat the one end of the tu to the hot spot and situate the water bowl so that it creates the humidity. Situational misting adds what is missed by the evaporation of the water source.

As far as stress the opaque tubs provide a sancuary from the hustle and bustle that is the reptile room.

But to each their own.
My 2 Cents
Jeremy

I use traditional caging for larger animals.

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"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

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I'm not as anti-sweaterbox as some people here but I do have issues with the way they are utilized. It pains me, for example, to see adult cornsnakes in a plastic box that has 5" of height and only 20"x14" of floorspace.

But anecdotally it would seem to make the snakes less stressed as they often feed better in these tighter cages.

I'll note that many keepers in Europe have the opposite view. A snake that is more aggressive and less likely to feed is the sign of more natural behavior. That's quite a paradigm shift. They have very different attitudes. There are parts of Northern Europe where an adult cornsnake is required by humanitarian laws to be kept in a 5' x 5' x 5' cage. Yes, a five foot cube.

But before getting too far into that debate, Bighurt is right, I have built racks around boxes that are 12" and even 17" tall. So there are other choices.

plastic boxes in a rack allow a better control of the temp and humidity. Also, they are less stressfull for the animal because they also act like a hide place. You have to understand that a snake in an aquarium that see people pass by and look at it most of the day is a lot more stressed than a snake hidden in his little plastic boxe. Like ball pythons by example, in nature, are know to pass most of their time hidden waiting for they prey. You can juste make a try and take a ball that doesnt want to eat in an quarium and put it in a plastic tub in a rack, and 90% of the time he will start heating like a pig after a week or two.

Iam not a big fan of breeding racks, but i think they allow breeders to give their animals the proper conditions while being easier for them to manage. They are also easier to clean and allow them to house a lot more animals than other type of enclosures wich is significant when you try to make a bit of profit out of breeding.

The hobby shifted to become about having as many snakes as possible in the smallest possible area while still meeting basic needs. This is called efficiency. It is great for breeders, and some types of snakes probably don't require more than these efficient cages to do well in captivity. Most kings and milks come to mind, as do ball pythons and rosyboas.

Racks meet basic needs, but racks may not provide an environment that allows a certain species to use all of their innate behaviors, like taking refuge in hides up off the ground as cornsnakes often do. I shun the use of 5 1/2" high cages for adult cornsnakes for their whole lives. It just isn't in their nature to never climb.

I urge you and others to use caging that you think suits the snake's behaviors. If a rack can do that, then so be it.

All of my adults and yearlings BRB's get "real" cages. I use my racks to house the many hatchlings. Last year I produced 136 babies, would not be practical for me to have 136 cages for them.

Like the other posters commented, they seem to do vary well in the closed quarters, not bothered by any activity in their vicinity. My yearlings are always hiding and rarely seen. I have a dozen babies from last year and they hide most of the time, except when their hungry
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Thanks,

Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"

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