Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

My name is Xavier and I picked up my first Honduran Milk snake this past weekend at the Anaheim NARBC. It was sold to me as a Terry Dunham possible hybino produced by possible hybino x possible hybino. Its already a year old produced in 07 and seems like a superb animal its roughly 24-28'' set up in a 12'' square cage with some reptile bark, two cork bark slabs & a water bowl, a small heating tape with thermostat is set up in one corner with one hiding area over it.

I've searched many sites over the last 2 days looking for good reading material and forum/s with little luck so far this one seems to be the most active forum yet I'd love to find some good books and online articles. If anyone has any info they'd like to share it would be great. I'm also trying to find out out I can determine what morph I have. I checked out albino tricolors.com ye its doesn't seem to have been updated within the last couple years.

Thanks
Xavier

IMO, keeping a 2 foot snake in a 1 foot cage seems pretty insufficient. All mine are kept in aquariums and I keep upgrading them every time they reach a length in which they can no longer stretch out fully. Maybe I am at the other end of the spectrum, but I'd have that snake in a 20 long minimum. Probably a 29L.
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1.0 C/B Brooks
0.1 C/B Pueblan
0.0.1 W/C Scarlet King
0.0.1 W/C Eastern Milk
0.0.1 W/C Yellow Rat
0.0.1 W/C Western Garter
1.0 C/B Black Lab
1.0 C/B Min. PoodleXAmer. Eskimo hybrid
1.0 C/B Goofy Cat
1.2 C/B Children
0.1 W/C wife

Thanks for your reply. I'll admit that I wasn't planning on purchasing a snake at the show so wasn't properly prepared. I wasn't sure what size would be good and didn't want to go too large in fear of causing stress. I figured this size might be similar to those keeping snakes in rack systems. I intend to only keep it in this cage for a short time, enough to get it established and then move it in a 20 or 30L. I'm moving in early November and figured I could get away with having in this cage till then. I also don't have an exact measurement yet last night while it was roaming it seemed to cover 2 sides of the cage. I was initially surprised to find it was so long as it fit in a small deli cup from the show nicely.

Thanks
Xavier

well, I don't have any hondurans, so I'd wait for a response from a honduran guy/gal. I know it's different for each species, for example: my scarlet king prefers tight quarters (even though I still keep it in a 10gallon), while my Brooks is a roamer and resides in a 29L. I assume you'll be handling your new guy quite a bit while you become "aquainted" with each other, so he's probably fine in that 12" x 12" for a spell.

Good luck with your new buddy
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1.0 C/B Brooks
0.1 C/B Pueblan
0.0.1 W/C Scarlet King
0.0.1 W/C Eastern Milk
0.0.1 W/C Yellow Rat
0.0.1 W/C Western Garter
1.0 C/B Black Lab
1.0 C/B Min. PoodleXAmer. Eskimo hybrid
1.0 C/B Goofy Cat
1.2 C/B Children
0.1 W/C wife

Thanks

Yeah talking with one person on them seems they might be rather active he said that they can escape in a flash if dropped for even a second. I did read one source which said they only need cage the circumference equal to their length which would mean my cage is big enough for a 4' snake. That seems extreme to me but I don't plan on keeping him in it for 2-3 months. For now I'm only concerned with it doing and eating well not really sure if I'll be holding it too much.

Xavier

Bob Applegate's book "The General Care and Maintenance of Milk Snakes" is online and you can read it on his website. He's listed in the Breeder's section on kingsnake.com's homepage under "Applegate Reptiles."

Tim

Third Eye

Thanks much for the link

I have never kept hondurensis, but a 2 1/2-foot milk snake should have at least a 3 ft by 1 ft cage. Height isn't too important as most lampropeltines are not very good climbers. However, you will definitely need at least 3 inches of substrate. And one more thing - next time you buy any snake, but especially a milk snake, you should ask to handle it before purchase. Most are fairly nice, but a few Hondurans can be a little snappy.

Best of luck with your milk snake!

Thanks Didn't know I needed so much substrate. I did get a chance hold it but I only did for a brief moment. When reading an online article I realized how little I actually took a look at it. I guess I was too excited. I guess I'll get it a larger cage sometime this month, I'll allow it a few meals and get a 30L
Thanks

Xavier

A 30-gallon tank would be perfect - just make sure it locks! You will not necessarily need 3 in of substrate yet - that is for when it gets 4 ft long or more. But in my experience with mexican subspecies the more the better.

>>Hello,
>>
>>My name is Xavier and I picked up my first Honduran Milk snake this past weekend at the Anaheim NARBC. It was sold to me as a Terry Dunham possible hybino produced by possible hybino x possible hybino. Its already a year old produced in 07 and seems like a superb animal its roughly 24-28'' set up in a 12'' square cage with some reptile bark, two cork bark slabs & a water bowl, a small heating tape with thermostat is set up in one corner with one hiding area over it.
>>
>>I've searched many sites over the last 2 days looking for good reading material and forum/s with little luck so far this one seems to be the most active forum yet I'd love to find some good books and online articles. If anyone has any info they'd like to share it would be great. I'm also trying to find out out I can determine what morph I have. I checked out albino tricolors.com ye its doesn't seem to have been updated within the last couple years.
>>
>>Thanks
>>Xavier

Hello and welcome to the forums.

Bob's book "Kingsnakes & Milksnakes In Captivity" is a great read, also Milksnakes and Tricolored Kingsnakes (Bartlett, R. D., Reptile Keeper's Guides.) is one I would recommend as well.
A cage roughly a half to 1/3rd the snakes length is a general rule to follow. Most of the breeders that I have met including me use 32quart sterlite/Rubbermaid cages to house adults in(or 28quarts).

30L is 30" long about? That is plenty of room...
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Jason A.
"Long time Herper, first year Breeder `07."
My 2008 Care Sheet & The BRB Stats. Username: brb@kingsnake.com