Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Almost two years ago I began working at a state park in MN. There resides a 6' long gopher snake by the name of Ripley. Being afraid of snakes when coming upon them outside, I gave Ripley and his cage a wwwwiiiddddeee berth.

I was never pressured into handling Ripley, well... Only a little. Things first started with one finger touching while Ripley was being held by the naturalist. You know the rest - eventually I was holding Ripley.

Today I love Ripley! He's a sweetie and I can even feed him now (f/t newborn rabbits) without passing out.

Last late summer I caught a small garter snake and did, "See what followed me home? Can we keep her? PLEASE?!" and we added Winnie (Winnie The Poo... Garter snakes poo on you? Get it?) who is my beloved baby that I ADORE! Every one - and that's Minnesotans it seems - are amazed at what a calm little girl she is when I hold her. Yeah. She's my baby and we sure have bonded.

So, I asked if I could make a home for Winnie at my house and then take her home on Sundays and bring her back the following Saturday as I just love her and want her with me all the time. I was very nicely told, "Get your own garter snake."

And a light bulb went off! Get a snake! YEAH! I could get my OWN snake and then take it to work with me! What a novel idea.

Since we have a garter and a gopher both indiginous to MN and native to the area I've decided to get a hog nose - Western. We'd have liked to get an Eastern but there's some question as to whether or not a diet of mainly rodents leads to fatty liver disease.

In just three months I'll be the proud mama of a brand spankin' new BABY WESTERN HOG NOSE!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited and happy. I'm doing things a bit differently than the majority of you - my cage is going to be 90g as Kenabec (Ojibway for 'snake') is going to (eventually, as he grows) have a playland so he can get excercise. There will be different things to dig in - small polished river rocks, bark chips, and timothy since in nature these guys are found in the prairie. There will be all kinds of hidey holes and different levels with sticks and logs and larger rocks to crawl over and bask on if he chooses.

I realize I'm going against conventual thinking here, but I am NOT going to keep my pet in a plastic sweater box. I prefer to mimic as close as possible a natural environment so I can give my snake the best I possibly can. As time goes on he'll adjust and eventually will know his boundaries and feel safe.

Thanks for listening. Glad to have found this place.

green

big homes are ok as long as you provide lots of tight spaces and hide spaces so they feel secure. Big openness can actually stress a snake. Good luck though!

Thanks, Justin. I think things will go well.

I'm not breeding or intending to keep quite a few snakes so I don't need the shoe or sweater box stack of cages one can get. Just looking at the tank with the fake log and the hidey-hole-fake-rock-one's-supposed-to-put-moss and a "heat rock in," there's only 18" between them. That's about 2.5 squiggles for an adult Western Hoggie.

I've read one should approximate as closely as possible a snake's natural environment and that's what I'm trying to do. I've also read to set up a home that will comfortably accomodate the full grown snake. That's what I'm doing.

When you look at a 90g tank as you begin to set it up properly for a snake, it's not that large a space. Given I've still yet to get in there different temp areas, a water dish and an additional area for water to 'soak' in if wanted for shedding purposes.

Kenabec's going to do fine. He'll be safe and comfy and secure.

Thanks for the good wishes!