Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Long story aside I am now the proud owner of a 1/2 gopher 1/2 bull snake. I have never had a pet snake but I have been around them and had a few friends in the past that have owned them.

Right now the snake is approx. 36 inches long. It is housed in an "aquarium" that is 22W X 32L X 18H. It is all glass on the inside with a heat pad on the bottom. has a wood framed top with rabbit wire, and fir or cocunut bark for the substrate. room temp is 72-78 through the day with moderate humidity (20-30% it is currently in my fish room so the temp is well maintained).

furniture includes a water dish (carved rock), a chunk of rock, chunk of branch, and a (what I assume to be) terra-cotta trutle shell shaped "house".

the previous owner said that I would need to feed it a full grown mouse by about thursday, no problem my local pet shop sells them live and frozen, and I have a line on a local feed mouse breeder so I dont have to worry too much about bad food.

I need a quick crash course so that it can live happily for 1-2 weeks while I start learning more.

please respond soon.

Well, off the top of my head.....what are your warm side and cool side temps in the cage (surface/belly temps), and I'd add a second hide so that there is one on the warm side and one on the cool side.

Oh yeah, and I'd love to see pics!

Congrats on your new family member.
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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
1.0 San Felipe Rosy Boa "Legalos"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"
0.0.1 Crested Gecko
0.0.1 Irian Jaya BlueTongued Skink
0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer "Kira"

Again, congrats on the new family member.

You need to get yourself a thermometer...i'd go down to walmart and get an indoor/outdoor digital thermometer..you can get one that displays both temps for like $12.95 or so. You need to see the temperatures on both sides....if you hot spot is too hot (over about 85-90) go get yourself a table lamp dimmer from home depot, hook it up to the heating pad, and dim it down until you get to that temperature range.

Also how deep is your substrate? Now to clarify i'm a computer network tech and I always ask the stupid questions first to make sure thats not the problem (is it plugged in etc). These are not meant to make you look or feel like a moron, so please dont take them that way...you say you're a newbie so i'm presuming you know nothing. You do have the heating pad on the outside of the tank, correct? If your substrate is too thick the heat won't come through. Also snakes enjoy burrowing at times so I wouldn't keep it too thick...because the snake gets too close to a heat pad thats too hot it will burn itself. They can be serious.

I agree..get a second hiding spot. You should put one on the warm side and one on the cool side. This way the snake won't have to decide between if he wants to be warm/cool or comfy. I recently went down to winn dixie and bought a coconut and cut it in half, took the meat out...gave me 2 good looking hides for $3.

Your water bowl needs to be large enough so the snake can submerge himself in it if he so chooses. This may happen if the tank is too warm for it....the water tends to be about 5-10 degrees cooler than the ambient air temperature.

I would feed frozen/thawed mice. For full grown mice if they are alive in the tank they could get mad and scratch up your snake..causing vet bills...which arent exactly cheap. I order all my mice from www.bigcheeserodents.com. I havent ever had any problems with their service...and being vacuum packed they can last up to 2 years in your freezer...saves you on shipping!

I'd also research all the care sheets for these snakes. Read all you can find, too much knowledge is not something thats possible.

And yeah...post pics when you can!!!!

oh one other thing. make SURE that top is on TIGHT...and that the snake cant get through the holes...if there is a way the snake will find it to get out of there. Remember that a snake can escape through an opening as small as the smallest part of its body.

Any more questions dont be shy!
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

Battling ignorance one stupid person at a time.

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat(Lola)
1.0 Neonate Black Rat (het for Lic Stk's) (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds ("Bill" and "The Bride aka Beatrix Kiddo" )

thank you for the response and the note of intent (i've done all kinds of c.s. jobs from "no that isn't a roach, you ordered black olives on your pizza", to "look at the wall, is the cord for the computer in the wall or on the floor". At this point I have decided to forget all that was learned, and to learn and not assume. I currently keep dogs, cats, MANY fish (in live plant aquariums), and truely believe with pets and life that there is no such thing as too much knowledge. anyway...

thermometer -- tomarrow (friday) I plan on getting better equipment. I currently have outside the cage a digital thermometer that recordes high/low/current temp, it is currently outside of the cage. the temp I stated before has been stable for 2 months. but what is the IDEAL temp/humidity?

heating -- the cage has a wood framed bottom that is covered in glass. about 1/2 of it is cut out so there is only glass, that is where the heating pad is (yes on the outside). currently the pad is NOT pluged in because I can not tell the inside temp and I was advised by the previous owner that the temp range of 72-78 F would be fine for the snake with no heating pad. (once again I do not like fine I want "ideal comfort"

substrate -- substrate is approx. 1 inch deep on average. of course the snake has made particular high and low spots to suite her comfort.

escape -- I understand, i keep many fish that given the slighest hole in th etank cover, they would decide that flopping on the floor is a better idea than swimming in water. the cage is closed.

hiding hole -- I'll get another one tomarrow! done! I like throwing money at pets!

water -- if the temp is constant 72-78 degrees in the room and that is accetbale temp range does the water bowl need to be able for the whole snake to fit in? or should I just get a bigger bowl and let the snake decide what it wants (and put up with daily water changes)?

food -- thanks for a recomendation on a source of food. in the reeding that I have done so far i hear that there is a better chance of parisites from live food, not only that but a chance for harm to my pet.

pics -- currently I am an under-employed electronics engeeneir that is delivering pizza =( (and spelling and typing badly) As soon as I get money for a new scanner or a digital camera I will post them.

thank you for all the help and time! I love keeping animals, and I always want to make sure that in my care they do the best as possible.

thanks,
noco37

If you haven't already, you should jump over to the "Pine/Bull/Gopher Snakes" forum and they may be able to help out as well.

One of the other reasones for a larger water dish is so that the snake can soak if it wants - they sometimes do this not only to cool off but to also help with shedding.

Good thinking on the food - I think frozen/thawed is the best way to go. Can't harm your snake and kills parasites.

I don't recall - what kind of substrate are you using again?

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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
1.0 San Felipe Rosy Boa "Legalos"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"
0.0.1 Crested Gecko
0.0.1 Irian Jaya BlueTongued Skink
0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer "Kira"

the substrate is fir bark about 1 inch deep.

I am taking your advice and reposting in the gopher/bull/pine section. so if you have more advice/input I'll see ya over there

thanks again

noco37