Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Greetings,
My name is Mark and I'm new to the forum. I found my milk snake on June 11, 2012 when leaving work in Newburyport, Massachusetts. I estimated his length at 8 1/2". He, I think it's a male, ate his 1st pinkie on June 3rd and shed on July 31st @ 12 3/4". He shed again on August 28th @ 15 1/2. He spends a lot of time hiding and seems quite timid when approached in his terrarium. I will post a pic as soon as I upload some.
Mark
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1999 Green Suzuki 1200 Bandit
2000 Red Suzuki 1200 Bandit
"Why build one when you can have two for twice the price?"
CONTACT the movie
Best 1/4 mile: 11.003 @ 128.45 MPH w/5.01 light & 1.6 60'er

Welcome to the forum, Mark!

Yes, young milks are typically very nervous and shy. BTW, do you have some small dark colored low profile tight hides for it to hide and feel secure in?. This is VERY important to provide milksnakes, especially hatchlings and juveniles in their more nervous and vulnerable stages of life. This lowers stress in a BIG WAY and allows them to be far more relaxed in a captive environment and be themselves. Carefully placing their meals in front of the notch opening of the hide is also a great way to get a natural "ambush" feeding response too from some otherwise reluctant feeders. One hide on the cooler side (ambient air mid-high 70's) were the small water bowl is, and one on the warmer side (mid 80's at the enclosure's belly SURFACE, not air temp.) so it can choose it's own thermoregulation at any given time to properly digest, or move to the cooler end to relax and conserve calories and body mass is good optimum husbandry. Don't guess at the temps though, as that can be fatal in small enclosure quarters if they cannot escape to a cooler area...

Best of luck with your new milk!

cheers, ~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Welcome to the forum. Dougs advice was so sound I have nothing to add!!! Glad to see you like Eastern Milks and wheelie bikes!!!! I too have a wheelie problem, even when nobody is around.

Joe

Thanks for the welcome, Joe.
Yes, Doug's advice was all spot on. My only concerns right now are his feeding schedule and a new terrarium. For a while before his first shed he was taking a pinkie every other day. I was worried about 'power feeding' him, then he went almost two weeks without eating. I think that's too long for a juvie, but what do I know? As far as the new terrarium goes, I've been looking at the Exo-Terra stuff, but it's very expensive, so I might just try to build one myself.
Mark
-----
1999 Green Suzuki 1200 Bandit
2000 Red Suzuki 1200 Bandit
"Why build one when you can have two for twice the price?"
CONTACT the movie
Best 1/4 mile: 11.003 @ 128.45 MPH w/5.01 light & 1.6 60'er

Thanks for the welcome, Doug.
I bought two books and read them, mostly Corn and King Snake info, but I thinks it's all good stuff. Although I think my terrarium is going to bee too small soon, it has a warm and cool side that he travels between. On the cool side is his water dish, an unglazed clay saucer that slowly sweats and keeps the strata moist and a plastic plant for him to climb to the top of the terrarium where it is well vented. On the warm side is a half round log for him to hide under and he can climb onto the temperature and humidity indicators where it is also well vented. My wife, Joyce, likes him and is not afraid to handle him which I think is a big plus.
Mark
-----
1999 Green Suzuki 1200 Bandit
2000 Red Suzuki 1200 Bandit
"Why build one when you can have two for twice the price?"
CONTACT the movie
Best 1/4 mile: 11.003 @ 128.45 MPH w/5.01 light & 1.6 60'er

Cool,......good for you on reading some books. This is something not NEARLY enough people do now days to get a decent foundation knowledge to build on. You can always refer to them whenever you want, and they prevent many problems BEFORE they can arise. Books generally put things in an organized order too which can make things easier to retain compared to random bits and pieces of information found here and there on the internet.

Hatchling and juvenile milks generally do best in smaller containers as opposed to larger ones, so keep this in mind and don't be too quick on the idea of putting it in a larger vivarium. Large, spacious vivs certainly looks more interesting to people than a simple little plastic container, but secretive types like milksnakes like much less open quarters for feeling secure. Most breeders of hatchling and juvenile milks (including myself) put them in shoebox sized containers until they are a bit larger.

Whatever you do though, please take this advice to the bank............MAKE SURE the lid, doors, and edges to whatever it is kept in has NO small questionable gaps and is secure as Fort Knox, because believe me, your snake WILL find these and escape....many times never to be seen again!!. Snakes are born escape artists, and you just wouldn't believe how many COUNTLESS escape stories I have heard about over the years. I have experienced my fair share of these first-hand mishaps myself..LOL!!

cheers, ~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

First of all welcome to the forum... hope you find it enjoyable.

As the latest victim of the many stories Doug's has heard on escaped snakes I will say this... heed his advice!

My son raises Black Milk snakes... I help him work a table at a reptile expo... the one thing we emphasis to customers is secure that cage. When you think it's escape proof... look again.

Despite having given that advice countless times... despite knowing how sneaky those little b@st@rds can be... I still had one escape. I was lucky as it turned back up 4 days later... but it was 4 days of pure agony and kicking myself in the butt.

Gerry