hi i'm planning on getting a pair of western massasaugas and was wondering what care i should take? mainly humidity wise its so hard to find caresheets for venomous online anything helps thanks!
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western massasauga rattlesnake care?
masterfun40
Dec 06, 2009 05:37 PM
Replies (1)
jgragg
Dec 11, 2009 10:49 AM
I can't answer your question precisely. But I have quite a bit of first-hand experience with tergeminus and I consider them "the cornsnake or Cal king of rattlesnakes". They are just rock-solid hardy, feed great, hibernate great, breed like rats, etc. They just don't give you a lot of drama. Good choice.
So I never really worried a lot about humidity, temps, etc with my tergeminus - the fundamental principles of snake keeping (gradients, choice of hides, good ventilation, good substrate choice, don't overfeed, careful!!! with the venomous, etc) will keep you and the massas on good terms. Except that they will definitely always want to bite you, ha ha. This is actually not bad, because you're much less likely to get complacent, which contributes to many of the bites in our hobby.
I don't mean to be flippant about environmental control. I have always (except the last year and a half...) had a well-regulated hot room with a variety of species. The really touchy ones (Wagler's, some of the berus-group Vipera, etc) got the "mother hen" temp & humidity attention, the rest just got a warm side/cool side choice with appropriate hides. Again, tergeminus are NOT "really touchy". You will be able to enjoy them a long, long time! Again, good choice.
Cheers,
Jimi
