Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The 03 female I got from Keith last year escaped for the 2nd time... First time she popped the lid off the 20 qt. rubbermaid and was gone for a week, and was found in the backyard. Last night she popped the lid again, and was found in the basement hiding in the part of the freezer where the motor is. After trying to lure her out with a mouse, and repeated poking and proding for an hour, she finally came out.

Right now I have her in the same 20 qt. rubbermaid but with tape on the lid... Which has worked for me after some cali kings I had got loose and were found...

What do you guys keep them in?

-----
Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake
www.captivebredforum.com

there are some tubs with snaps on either end

Hey!, This is what works for me.I don't have kingsnakes in them but I do use them for my larger corns and ball pythons.The black this are Four Paws brand clips for screen tops that are turned up-side down.

Are you serious?? You are not a newbe man. Put some freaking weight on the lid. I have all my kings in aquaria with other aquaria on top of them. I have the females in a 30 long with a 20 long with the males above and a ten gallon on that with other snakes (gray band or nelsons) in them. On top of that I have a larger reptile ranch with a brick on the pop up end. Of course this won't work for most people and the height gets to high to deal with but I don't have escapes like this and I am tall enough to reach the top. Metal lids are a must as well.

I would say for someone with a bunch of micro snakes and a couple of the real snakes you would be better served building a rack or buying some larger aquarium. While I use 20 longs right now I am not happy with them as far as the size is concerned for kings, nor do I like the 28 quart containers cuz they are way to small for a adult king. If you are going to use rubber maid type containers go for the wrapping paper type that are like 3 or 4 feet long and 12 -15 inches wide. You can stack them and have weight on the top one to secure the lids. They are like $6-10 each and you can put a 10 gallon tank or three on the top of 3-4 of them and have decent weight to prevent escapes. I just would worry about tipping cuz they are plastic.

later Jason

First off, that is one nice looking getula! As to your dilemna with escaped snakes here is a suggestion that has worked for me. I also use plastic tubs to a large extent and some of my racks are not lidless set ups. It is a little time consuming but well worth the effort to use large rubber bands on the lids of these boxes. Boxes that snap on either end are not effective for keeping powerful snakes such as kings inside. The addition of these bands prevent escape. These are not regular rubber bands but rather very thick and large rubber bands that are available at some of the office supply outlets. This set up may sound primitive by most standards but I can assure you it is very effective. Bottom line is I have not had a snake ever escape from a plastic tub using this approach in the ten years or so that I have employed it. Not as convenient as a lidless system but the result is the same. I do examine the bands while cage cleaning for wear and tear and replace on average once every year or so.

Phil