Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just thought I'd add one more little tidbit.

I kept a juvi cal king in this 10 gal tank for months with no water. The tank was half full of dirt, and I watered the plants deeply once per week. Screen cover, VHO flourescent bulbs, and a UTH under one side. The snake would occasionally come out and drink droplets. He grew just as well as his "traditionally" kept siblings. Never had a health problem in any way.

(ignore the water bowl in the picture, it was temporary)

And FR, if you read this I would love to see some pics of the setups you are using to raise those 2 kings you mentioned below without water.

Good posts Zack.
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Darwin Rocks!

How long did it take the king to UNPOT the plants? Without "available" water the proper humidity was likely within the root systems of the plants. I know the one time I tried a planted vivarium the king would burrow in the softer(wet) substrate.

He was in there for about 7 months and all the plants did great. Never lost one and they all grew OK considering the minimal light set up I had. When I finally broke it down he had excavated quite an extensive tunnel system throughout the rocks.

Out of curiosity, did any of those tunnels go all the way to the bottom of the tank?
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Darwin Rocks!

The bottom layer of the tank was large gravel. Then a layer of screen mesh followed by a layer of fine gravel and then covered in variable amounts of dirt. He went down below all of the rocks until he hit the gravel. Also, despite having numerous cracks in which to enter the rocks, he chose to dig his own entry/exit tunnel in one of the rear corners. And he would maintain it when it colapsed during plant watering.