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we have just purchased a juvenile tangerine honduran milksnake for our 8 year old. for the cage (20 gal) substrate, we have used the brick of naturebed bedding brick, which is moist until it drys. we have a lamp mounted on top of the cage for heat. we have an old house with wood floors and crawl space underneath (we do live in sw florida). my question is - should we use an under cage heat pad?
thanx and have a good day!

swirvinirvin@comcast.net

hello. i have a tangerine dream honduran milk also. mine was hatched july 2003 so is over a year old. i house mine in a 20 gallon long with an under the tank heater (UTH)..that's it. they don't need a light and having a light shine on him 24/7 is not a good idea. snakes like a day/night cycle. milks are very secretive snakes and prefer a dim cage vs a bright light shining on them. the UTH will provide a temp gradiant. be sure to use those little gel things to raise the tank if you use an UTH.
i have several hiding places for 'zorro'. i place newpaper over the UTH then reptile bark for substrate. also couple of water bowls.
don't be alarmed if you never see yours out and about. it's taken mine over a year to come out and cruise his enclosure. he hides 24/7. i also take him out and handle him then place him in another container to feed him, otherwise i don't think he would come out to eat.
this is just what i do. hope you enjoy yours as much as i enjoy mine

A heat lamp will heat the whole cage no matter were you place it and the snake will just get stressed out?
He/she will not be able to thurmoregulate and we just stay hid under the substrate all the time.
Get a under tank heater and place it at one end of the tank so that there is a differance in both ends of the cage.
Place more than one hide spot in the cage and it should make for a happy milk,

You can read more on my site at :
http://www.westcoasthondurans.com

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