I keep my Taiwans in a vertical setup. It measures 29x29x72 [inches]. Hide spots in both the top and bottom of cage with heat source coming from 150 watt white incandescent infrared bulb with supplemental lighting from a two bulb 4' fluorescent fixture with two Verilux full spectrum [color spectrum not UV] bulbs. Climbing branches give access from the top to the bottom of the cage. I also have a pothos plant hanging from the top of each cage which they frequently curl up on. Nothing like seeing a 6 1/2 foot snake curled up on a plant in an 8 inch pot. It's a good thing that pothos are tough and can take the punishment. Oh yeah, each cage has a single mister head that comes on twice a day for 5 minutes from Monday through Friday. As for Blues, I think I'm going to experiment with them some since they're still juveniles. I'll give them a cage big enough to choose between higher vertical spaces and lower horizontal spaces. Depending on their preferences will dictate how I set up a larger cage later on. As far as Blues go I do know of a couple people who've said anecdotally that given a choice of elevated perches their Blues tend to seek out those perches. Also, I've noticed with these Blues I just acquired and those larger individuals that I've seen - they all have tails that are proportionally as long as on Taiwans. Long tail lengths in proportion to body length is often a characteristic of arboreal snakes as is the taller than wide body plan that seemingly all Orthriophis seem to have. I won't say they're all arboreal snakes but I will say they are strongly adapted to moving about off the ground, probably even better than many of our native ratsnakes. I think also, if you set up an enclosure with multiple spots for a snake to bask or hang out [no pun intended] at different levels you pretty much have all the bases covered. I've noticed with my Taiwans that they will frequently lay coiled on the elevated perches but just as often they will arrange themselves stretched out over the bracing tubes that run around the cage perimeter halfway up. The last thing is to think outside the box, literally when looking at cages. Too many snake keepers I think are stuck on keeping all snakes in rack boxes or at best in traditional long-and-low cage layouts that are little more than slight improvements on traditional glass aquaria that are best suited to fish, not herps.
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Matt Campbell
Animal Keeper, Small Mammal/Reptile House
Lincoln Park Zoo Chicago, Illinois
Assistant Curator
Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, Illinois
