Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When I first discovered this forum back in the fall of '05 and began reading about thayeri, I decided that I wanted to have one of these animals someday. At the time, I'd owned snakes for less than six months, so I wanted to be careful about overloading myself and not giving them adequate care. I was going to try to get an '06 someday, and I really liked one that vichris produced last year. I made the purchase, but we've had some delays. At long last, we were able to get everything together for shipping yesterday. I received him today, and he's a great little guy. Here are my first pictures of him.

When I returned home from work, I couldn't find him. I looked for a while without opening the cage, but I finally broke down and decided to lift a few things. I ended up removing almost everything from the cage before i discovered him hiding in a little wrinkle in the paper that I'm using for a substrate right now.

When I was certain that he had escaped, the only scenario that I could imagine was that he had climbed the thermostat probe cable that I've placed in his cage. The screen top on the aquarium makes a pretty tight fit against the aquarium, but he is a very small snake. If he was able to escape, I couldn't imagine any other way. Have any of you ever heard of a thayeri escaping this way? I'm not sure how I could make the screen top fit more closely, but should I look for something to use as a gasket?

Here's a picture of my intial setup. Obviously, I had the top off the aquarium for this picture. For now, he has three water bowls, but I'll end up removing one of them. I'll also replace the shredded packing "substrate" with Eco Earth at some point. I'll also remove the deli cup later, but I thought that he might like the paper towels inside because they already had his scent.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

Hey Bill, first off, Nice Choice on that guy. when snakes are little they are easily lost in a tank that size, sometime when i pull out a drawer on my rack it doesnt look like a snake is in there and i get the initial "oh crap" feeling ( i have had a few get out on me before i got the rack) but it is generally before i lift any paper or anything. you will probobly get that feeling a few more times, trust me. one thing my boss has told me that has saved me some good anxiety is when you do something just to make sure that you remember you did it, say it out loud and in a ridiclous manner so you know you did it, for example when you lock the back door of the store yell "door locked" or in your case "tank locked" its helps me atleast, that way you know in your mind that you did it. anyway enjoy that guy he should grow up to be even nicer than he already is, and make sure you share pics of him when he does

Adam

this is an 06 female i got from Chris last september i beleive

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6.6 THAYERI
1.2 SPLENDIDA
1.3 ALTERNA
0.0.1 CORN SNAKE
0.1.1 PYXIE FROG
0.0.1 MEXICAN RED KNEE
1.0 CHILEAN ROSE HAIR

She's beautiful.
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

What is the cord for? a thermo device? I would suggest using an infrared Tempgun for temps. www.tempgun.com

Nice looking snake.
Here's a couple of mine


one of my Knobbie

I kept pics of parents From Dan V.

Mother

Father

equals

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1 Eastern Blue Tongue Skink
2 Tarahumara Mountain Kingsnakes - Knoblochi
1 Thayer's Kingsnake - Thayeri
2 Golden Greek Tortoises
1 Pyxie Frog - 14 years old

Yes, the cord is for the probe for the thermostat. I've never had much luck controlling temperature by putting the probe against the heat pad itself. Instead, I run the cord into the cage and measure near where I want to control the temperature.

Those are beautiful animals.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

That is a big enclosure. dont count on seeing the snake too often. Mine at that size, only ventured out after lights out.
Paint a background on the sides/back...the enclosed feel will make the snake feel less vulnerable. The big cage in this pic was painted by some Art students at the school I teach at.

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1 Eastern Blue Tongue Skink
2 Tarahumara Mountain Kingsnakes - Knoblochi
1 Thayer's Kingsnake - Thayeri
2 Golden Greek Tortoises
1 Pyxie Frog - 14 years old

Thanks, I actually have a background that I bought and just haven't put on the cage yet. I'm trying to find the best way to attach it. My other cages are located in places where the tape doesn't show in a negative way. I'd like to find a little nicer way to put the background on this one. I've even considered trying to put it inside the cage.

Is your background painted on the inside of the cage or the outside? If it's on the inside, what kind of paints did you use and how did you ensure that they would be safe for the snake?
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

No... Acrylic paint on the outside, then sprayed with a hardener. An easy permanent solution rather than dealing with rolled backgrounds.
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1 Eastern Blue Tongue Skink
2 Tarahumara Mountain Kingsnakes - Knoblochi
1 Thayer's Kingsnake - Thayeri
2 Golden Greek Tortoises
1 Pyxie Frog - 14 years old

I never knew wftright was you Bill. I learn sumpthin new every day. Glad to see "Rocket" is happy in his new home. Keep those pics coming.
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Vichris
"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane"- Marcus Aurelius

Vichris Variables

Does your enclosure include a standard slide in from the side reptile lid?

If so then there is a much safer way to position it and eliminate that gap space. Instead of running it out the back, like it apears to be doing in the picture, run it out of the tank at a front corner. Position the cord so that it goes diagonaly out at the corner. this divides the gap caused by the cord between two directions instead of just one and creates less gap overall as instead of blocking a socket the li needs to enter you are exiting at a seem without a socket.

If your lid is like what I am used to seeing and you do what I mentioned about then there will not be any gap for the snake because the slight seperation caused by the cord is less then the overlap of the parts in the lid(theoretically there is still a tiny bit but not that you could spot). The only thing to be carefull of is if teh pegs you use to lock the lid don't seal tightly then you may need to tighten it up because having the cord there creates outward pressure.

Also if you are worried about the looks you could run the cord up the back corner, across the side just under the lid, out the front corner, and back along the side to the thermostat. Would want to be careful of what adhesive/securing agent you used though for toxicity reasons.

Hope was helpful.

Sean.

Thanks for the post. Actually, this top is one that clamps down on top of the aquarium directly and does not slide one way or the other. I may try to take a picture this weekend to show the fit, but I've had a busy night tonight with other things. The lid does have an opening at the corner position that will allow the cord to pass without disrupting the fit more than just a tiny bit.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

Great looking Thayeri Bill. I love his head pattern. While that is certainly a nice setup for him keep in mind that the more stuff you put in a tank the more there is to clean. I like to keep it simple with just aspen bedding, a water dish, and a small hide box. Congratulations on your new addiction. I'm sure there will be more Thayeri in your collection soon.
Ken

Thanks for the kind words. Rocket is a beautiful animal.

With my other snakes, I'm not convinced that having more stuff to clean means that I need any more time to do the cleaning. Typically, I put the stuff in a bucket and soak it in dilute bleach for a little bit. Then, I pour out the bleach and fill the bucket with water to rinse any remaining bleach. Typically, I repeat the rinse step several times and let the stuff soak in the water. I can't see how having more stuff in the bucket makes the process any slower.

The natural-looking water dish takes a little time to clean, but the ceramic water dishes wipe out easily with a paper towel. The little black plastic dish also wipes easily. Besides, I will remove that dish within a week or so.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.