Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know I need a better camera...and the glass needs cleaning

There is a fern in the corner with a golden pothos growing on a stump I was lucky enough to find

I'm looking for a less-fabricated looking water dish...any suggestions?

there are many types of rock water dishes out there. Some are very bland, some are made for the corners of tanks. They all come in different shapes and sizes. You should be able to find them at any pet retailer or definitly a show. They generally don't cost a lot but the bigger you go the more the cost would be.

Nice looking king!
Bob
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R.Bichlers Colubrids
http://www.webspawner.com/users/rbichler/index.html

opposite side with another fern and a ficas

another shot

further shot

view from above

side view

some of the foliage..........I kinda want to get rid of the pothos because it doesn't represent the type of plants in a temperate forest, but it does fit nicely in there.

other side view

dirty, dirty glass

a little better shot

from up top

the natural stump doubles as a hide box

she's just about 2 feet long

"a snake in the grass"

just climbing around

Nice set up, but I don't see those live plants lasting very long with a snake big enough. Perhaps they'll last a little longer with that king because of his size.

Aww!, c'mon!,....you didn't take several pics from the inside looking out from different angles???..LOL! (a little humor!)

Nice viv!,...must be tough to hunt around and clean though!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

haha ...I tried taking pics from inside, but to no avail.

Actually I have only found two droppings since I have had her (4 months).....I think most of her food intake is being efficiently utilized because she is growing like crazy but producing little waste. That might change in a few years, but I plan on moving her into a 55 gallon and putting my copperhead in here with some fine leaf-litter. The pics make it look more crowded than it really is....all of the plants are on the perimeter and w/out the stump it would be nearly empty.

Well,..yes, I'm sure the youngster is utilizing the food to grow rapidly, as all kings do, but kingsnakes when fed regularly will deficate quite freguently(at least a couple times a week), so my guess is those nice plants in the vivarium are getting some good fertilization from the Cal. King..LOL!.

If you could breed some kings that had a trait for pooping only twice in four months when fed regularly, and were otherwise healthy,....you'd make some HEAVY DUTY sales!..LOL!

best regards, ~Doug

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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

yeah I know, I just wanted to have fun with the tank while I she was still small....kinda surprised she hasn't trampled them (assuming snakes can ""trample". Like I said...out goes the Cal King (into a 55 gal) and in goes a copperhead

Either the Cal king will kill the Copperhead or vise versa. Unless you plan on watching the cage match for fun... its not worth losing one of your pets...

Chris Flowers

No, he means he will transfer the cal king to the 55 gallon and the copperhead will be in this tank instead. Correct me if I am wrong also!

Nice setup by the way!

~Tony
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You can never have only one snake!

My bad! I just worried for the Copperhead. I just love copperheads... though my wife would never let me have one I have to life vicariously through others.

Actually I have only found two droppings since I have had her (4 months).....

I will start by saying I think your setup looks great! But, in time you will find that it's really not a great way to keep a snake. This is due to the statement that you made above, which is exactly what I was thinking when I first saw your pics this morning..

I can assure you, and ill bet everyone here will agree that your snake has defecated WAYYY more than twice in the past 4 months; you just have not found it to clean it up.. This is a problem that will certainly lead to either bugs or infection in time.

Like I said the tank looks great!!!! But, that type of setup lends itself to spot cleaning which will eventually lead to problems for you in the future.. I would keep that tank as a terrarium and move the animal to an enclosure that is easier to clean.. A clean snake is a happy snake!

~ Mike Russo

Does anybody know anything about having a substrate thjat will decompose any waste...sorta like those tropical vivariums with the Dendrobates frogs? Or does this require a much higher humidity?

On a side note...I make it a pretty good point to collect as much waste as I can as soon as I can. From my experience with my Prairie King (8 years old)...I feel it should be pretty easy to maintain a clean enclosure for the Cali. I tend to spend around an hour a day just tending to the basic maintenance and feeding of my four pets.

As for the comment about me not finding all of the waste.....do CalKings usually poop while they are burrowing? All my other snakes seem to make a point to surface before defecating (usually in one specific area repeatidly). I am seriously asking (not questioning your knowledge/EXP). I need to know if I should start sifting through the bottom layers of substrate. Thanks!

Usually surface, in fact I do not remember any under surface
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Radim Soukup
www.kingsnake.cz
Czech Republic, EU

I find it under the surface, but it's usually above the surface.

I should also add, it's not a rare thing to find it under the surface, so I would always check through the substrate.

Interesting. Me never. Not counting cases when it was originaly on surface but within later burowing it got under surface by accident. My kings are : Ltc, Lpp, Lpk, Lr and Pastels.

Radim
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Radim Soukup
www.kingsnake.cz
Czech Republic, EU

That just might be the reason, it is hidden a lot of the time. If anyone fails to sift through the substrate once in a while, they'll mis some.

I cannot recommend substrate that will decompose waste.. I have never heard of one and am not sure that there is one available?

As far as where he is defecating, I can assure you that if you’re not finding it on top of the substrate that he is going in the substrate...

Like I said it's a great looking enclosure, but in my opinion it is not practical for long term use unless you plan to completely break it down, clean everything, and set it back up 3 or 4 times a month.. I understand that you devote a lot of time to keeping things clean and we can see that in your photos, but with the amount of waste you said that you have found in the past 4 months I think things are going to go south very quickly.

Either way good luck with your animals..

~ Mike Russo

I enjoy making natural terrariums too. I guess I should get the camera back out and take pictures of the ones I did this weekend. I had a massive issue with gnats early in the summer (lots of unfound poo) and had to put the boys all on paper towels with plastic hides (Blech). Since summer is nearly over, I went ahead and brought the plants back inside and got all my boys into their tanks. I'll snap some pictures today and share them. ^_^

Pothos (though it doesn't look like a woodland plant) grows extremely well in terrariums and really does stand up to a heavy snake. I have two 2-year-old cornsnakes I rescued and had to put really sturdy plants in with them. One has a bonsai tree in the middle. ^_^

Like I said, I'll take pictures today and put them up for you guys to see. Four natural terrariums designed this weekend... 3 20-gallons and one 10-gallon. I bought a fire skink to put in the ten gallon, he's just a baby so he'll probably do well in the smaller tank for now.
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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake (Eddie Gein)
0.0.2 Cornsnakes (Lyle & Erik Menendez)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Black Cat (Shadowfax)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan) (Deceased )
1.0 Tennessee Walking Horse (Durango)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

Not that it matters so much in captivity, but still, you are portraying a non-woodland snake in a woodland setting.. Cals live underground much of the time, either in grassland habitat or desert.

My advice is to listen to the others about simplicity. That cage is hard to clean, and all that foilage is not indicative of Cal king habitat. They like to burrow in the substrate or hide under a board or cereal box or piece of 2" PVC pipe or piece of cork bark or ...

A cage with either soil or coir fiber or wood chip substrate and a few hides as described above will be really easy to maintain (the benefit to you) and easily satisfy the snake's security needs.
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Mark

Not that it matters so much in captivity, but still, you are portraying a non-woodland snake in a woodland setting.. Cals live underground much of the time, either in grassland habitat or desert. I know and I really thought about this matter before hand. I decided to avoid the sand/rocky substrates
and go with something resembling perhaps an eastern-chained or a mountain king's habitat. I tried posting a quation in the Cal-King subforum but that place is pretty much dead. I would really like to find someone who has used a sand/rock/soil mix and see how it has worked for them.

My advice is to listen to the others about simplicity. That cage is hard to clean, and all that foilage is not indicative of Cal king habitat. They like to burrow in the substrate or hide under a board or cereal box or piece of 2" PVC pipe or piece of cork bark or ... I understand what a lot of people say about simplicity (a lot of you guys have a huge collection and thus it benefits you), but I do have the time to properly clean the tank. My kingsnake has plenty of room to burrow in the substrate and actually enjoys taking residence near the roots of the plants. Like I said earlier, after I remove the stump (which doubles as a hide)the tank is almost empty. The plants are all one the back wall. So....theoretically I guess I could have a problem if my snake decides to crap only underneath te substrate along the back wall (it doesn't--besides I check every day)

A cage with either soil or coir fiber or wood chip substrate and a few hides as described above will be really easy to maintain (the benefit to you) and easily satisfy the snake's security needs. Uhhhh....the substate I have right now is practicaly wood chips mixed with fir and it is really easy to maintain (hence why I chose it).

The set up looks great to me and if you have time to clean it I wouldn't change a thing. I have used vivariums in the past with no ill effects, besides Cal Kings are very hardy snakes.

Matt Kauffman

I like the natural viv idea. Sure breeders and those interested in keeping numerous snakes may find the cleaning a bit much but if you can keep it up it sure looks a lot better than a rubbermaid tote. If you were concerned about the need to change the substrate more often you could put the plants in removable tubs and hide the tubs with substrate. Then just pull the tubs out every so often and change the substrate. Simple enough.