Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i know alot of keepers keep snakes in show boxes with a hide and a water dish

right now i have a tank with a carpet, a water dish that doubls as a hide, and one of those "rodent logs" that is hollow and has big holes.
it's simple and asthetically pleasing..
but would plants and stuff be better for her?
i mean, would she feel "more at home?"

i know snakes aren't like cats or dogs, where they need toys to be entertained...but still. i feel kinda like i am jipping her out of what she would expirience if she were born wild. (plants, rocks, burrows etc)

opinions?

your snake would feel a lot more secure with more cage decoration... what I reccomend are some silk plant leaves from Micheals. My snakes love them...they crawl up them (they're suspended from the screen top), and hide under them. I had reptile carpet for a while, recently went to Aspen shavings and it's a lot better. They burrow in it, and seem to be more active. That's my feeling on the subject.

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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 (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)

I use live plants in many of my cages with no problems at all....they look really good and alot of my snake they climb all over them..I use potting soil as a substrate for alot of my snakes and it work great.....Just make sure it doesnt have any fertilizers or anything like that and microwave it....looks good is cheap...

Jason

my snakes would crush any live plants i put in the cage...lol. also i'm too obsessed with keeping as close to a sterile environment as i can for my snakes...so I dont believe i could ever use dirt no matter how much it was radiated lol.
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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 (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)

I'm considering using potting soil or the bagged "forest floor" I can get a petshops. What sort of potting soil do you use? (The brand name would be great, if you recall.) Does it have the little white granules (vermiculate?)? No problem with the snake ingesting these?

Do you plant directly into the substrate? Water it? Since corn snakes come from the southeast, they must be able to handle more moisture than is commonly found in aspen substrates.

Thanks!
Leslie

i use stuff called supersoil...i get it from walmart, it doesnt have those white things...cant think of what they are called at the moment....you can plant them directly into the soil or just put the pots in...thats what i do....its easier to clean that way...i microwave the soil before i use it..

jason

I use plastic plants on the cool end of all my tanks. I just use suction cups to keep them in place. It makes a great hide spot. This is a pic of a one. All my tanks are similar to this one. It is the only one with a brick on it though.

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1,0 snow
1,0 amel

1,0 aney stripe motley
0,1 normal
0,1 anery
0,1 motley
1,1 oketee
1,1 tx rat
4,4 ball python
1,1 dumerils boa
1,0 columbian red tail boa
1,1 green iguana
1,0 leopard gecko
1,3 dogs
freezer full of mice & rats

'cause it sort of looks like cedar or pine chips. Not trying to be a jerk or anything... but make sure you don't use either of those, they could be deadly to a snake.
-Will

its kinda looks like aspen...i bought a bag that looked like that once...didnt really like it though

Jason

Trust me it is aspen. It is not as fine as I would prefer, but it was all they had and was a good deal. When you have 16 tanks to clean it does make a difference. The reason it has a brick on it is because it is on the top shelf of the rack I made. My wife who does most of the feeding had a hard time with the clips. As far as the other snakes kicking its a$$, yes there are few in our collection that could.

cedar would have some darker parts chipped in with it...unless he meticulously removed all of those...lol.

but why do you only have a brick on that one? are you saying something about the other snakes? are you calling them WHIMPS? you think they couldn't kick that snake's @$$ (if it had one)...lol. sorry its late and im tired.
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

My Website
Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Neonate Black Rat (het for Lic Stk's) (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)