Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My main care question involves the cage size as they grow. I have a small baby that is about 24" in size. Should he be kept in smaller enclosures and stepped up as he grows or can he be kept in the large enclosure that I have for him? Some snakes I see where they recommend using smaller enclosures and not just throwing it into the big one. Just wondering if that's a rule of thumb for all snakes or just the specific breeds I've seen it posted on.

He can be kept in a large enclosure with no problems. you might want to give him multiple hides just for his own comfort. I enjoy the big show cages too for my brooksi. They do grow quickly! dave.

I keep hundreds of Florida king and the babies and young adults definetly do better in smaller enclosers. To large and the neonates and sub-adults tend to "get lost" and some *dehydrate and others tend to slack off feeding perhaps due to feeling to vunerable at the smaller size.

I keep the subadults (up to 20" in showbox size tubs. Anything larger and they tend to not eat as well. IMO the smaller units gives them the security they need and they seem to thrive much better under those conditions.

Sometimes keeping things simple and not over complicate is just better for the snakes. We have to consider their ecolgy and not ours or mammalian species, lizards ect. They live in holes and spend most of their lives fossorial. Also they seek out the perfect temps to conserve calories and digest food and what is most lacking in Florida kingsnake care is proper humid conditions as neonates and especially *newborns get dehydrated very easily.
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"So I will end with, your now aware of the problem, what YOU do is entirely up to you. Now if you make THIS mistake, its not because you are ignorant."

Frank Retes