Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello
I am looking at Arizona mt king and waiting for reptile show to arrive in next month.

I picked up a 30 long tank as enjoy giving them room with plans for larger tank in future but after reading several sites it seems the baby Arizona will do best in smaller enclosure such as 10 gallon tank?

Would also like to ask about cool area of tank as seems they prefer it bit cooler than most kings?

Any other info/suggestions would be great .

I have a 6 yr old corn so not new to snakes however seems the Ariz bit "trickier".

Thank you

Rita

>>Hello
>> I am looking at Arizona mt king and waiting for reptile show to arrive in next month.
>>
>> I picked up a 30 long tank as enjoy giving them room with plans for larger tank in future but after reading several sites it seems the baby Arizona will do best in smaller enclosure such as 10 gallon tank?
>>
>> Would also like to ask about cool area of tank as seems they prefer it bit cooler than most kings?
>>
>>Any other info/suggestions would be great .
>>
>>I have a 6 yr old corn so not new to snakes however seems the Ariz bit "trickier".
>>
>>Thank you
>>
>>Rita

I would keep the baby in a smaller tank to help with the ease of maintenance and care-taking. Pyros are a whole different ball game from most ratsnakes. Corns/Emory's are the easiest snakes to care for. You should have specific directions for keeping a pyro for the 1st time. Care sheets are in order, but I would suggest emailing an expert for help. This board doesn't seem very helpful...LOL!

TC
-----
Conserving reptiles by helping to protect habitat...
www.ratsnakehaven.com
www.scenicsantaritas.org

Thank you for the responce.

I think this board is mostly CA and Florida kings so posted the same question today in the Arizona sub forum which I did not know about till today .

I have looked at care sites but seems different care info and wanted info from someone here who has actually kept/keep them .

Thanks again

I don't blame you. First hand info can be better than care sheets sometimes, but depends on who you're asking too. I like to see a variety of opinions myself.

One reason I was interested in your questions is because I'm in a similar situation. I would like to keep a pair of pyros also, and have never kept them before. However, I do have lots of experience with other herps, including other kings and mtn kings. This is why I'm offering an opinion here.

Last year I started several new species, including Pseudelaphe flavirufus and Lampropeltis alterna. These aren't the easiest snakes to start off and I wouldn't recommend them to beginners. How you handle the babies is important.

The flavirufus weren't doing that well separately in shoe boxes, so I put them together in a ten gallon tank set up and they are thriving there. I separate them for feeding. The baby alterna female I put in a larger tank and it wasn't doing too well. I think it was too exposed and they like a lot of privacy; so I transferred her to a shoe box and she is doing well there.

I think it depends on the species as to what kind of care might be best. Pyros are very secretive, but also cold tolerant. The ten gal tank offers lots of advantages. You could make the set up with lots of hiding places and different types of hide boxes. You also could set up a temp regime easily (one reason I like 10 gal tanks.) I would keep the ambient temp cool, like 70's, and then have a UTH (under tank heater) at one end for a warm spot. That works for many of my snakes, like the Emory's rats.

PS: Try this link for more info...
http://southwesternherp.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?board=board9

Terry (www.southwesternherp.com)

>>Thank you for the responce.
>>
>>I think this board is mostly CA and Florida kings so posted the same question today in the Arizona sub forum which I did not know about till today .
>>
>> I have looked at care sites but seems different care info and wanted info from someone here who has actually kept/keep them .
>>
>> Thanks again

-----
Conserving reptiles by helping to protect habitat...
www.ratsnakehaven.com
www.scenicsantaritas.org

Yes this is more of a CA and Florida king crowd. I did post it in the Arizpna forum and got a reply from a breeder.

I am going to go with a 10 gallon as your right. It offers more options ,temp areas for a baby arizona . Will just place several hide areas as they seem to enjoy hiding.

I would have never thought that snakes would actually do better together like yours did.

I think those are "night snakes"?

They are night snakes. I only put them together because they are very young and have the same needs. Once they're well started I'll separate them.

TC

>>Yes this is more of a CA and Florida king crowd. I did post it in the Arizpna forum and got a reply from a breeder.
>>
>>I am going to go with a 10 gallon as your right. It offers more options ,temp areas for a baby arizona . Will just place several hide areas as they seem to enjoy hiding.
>>
>>I would have never thought that snakes would actually do better together like yours did.
>>
>>I think those are "night snakes"?
-----
Conserving reptiles by helping to protect habitat...
www.ratsnakehaven.com
www.scenicsantaritas.org

Oh and thanks for the link. For some reason I could not register will try again but was looking at the products review forum . Nice cages posted.

Thanks