Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello
I am going to get either a leucistic texas ratsnake or black ratsnake. I imagine care is same. The enclosure which I began to build is 5 feet long-3 wide and 6 high.
I am going to build some climbing shelves connected by branches.
The top will be screen. I wanted to know since these snakes enjoy climbing is overhead heat better than undertank?
thanks

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but if I read your post correctly, and your enclosure is going to be six feet high, I'd imagine you might have to do both in order to maintain the right temps through the entire enclosure.

Yeah, for a Leucistic Texas Rat you might be able to get away with such a big tank but i think for a Leu. Black Rat (which tend to be smaller than Texas Rats) it is too big. Leucistic Texas Rats can live fine in a 20 gallon long or 30 gallon aquarium.

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-Doug Daly

"Brian theres a message in my Alpha-Bits, it says: "OOOOOOOOOOOOHHH""
"Peter Those are Cheerios..."

0.1.0 Leucistic Texas Rat Snake

Yes 6ft high. I was building it now and took a break. I was thinking of heat from above and cooler below as thermal gradient.
The top I plan to use 100 watt ceramic heat emiter not far from top shelf area.

your problem putting a CHE on the top with a screen top is this. the heat will rise directly out of the cage. You need to put something on the top that's going to provide some sort of insulation, such as maybe 3/4" plywood or melamine or whatever you're constructing this cage out of. If you don't, you'll never heat the bottom of your cage. Head over to the caging forum, Chris Harper has a LOT of experience and we can all help you over there... we've all got experience with all sorts of construction.
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
N. American Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote
Information on substrates

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
0.1 Texas Bairdi (Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Monty)

>>Yes 6ft high. I was thinking of heat from above and cooler below as thermal gradient.

I like this idea, especially for a species that is primarily arboreal. For a North American Ratnsnake, however, maybe not ideal. I'd consider a Yellow or Everglades Ratsnake which I believe are more arboreal than their obsoleta relatives. One of my favorite snakes ever was an Everglades Ratsnake that spent all of its time in the upper perches of a 2'x2'x3' cage. I don't know if they're all like that.

But there are many more qualified than I to address that.

>> The top I plan to use 100 watt ceramic heat emiter not far from top shelf area.

Regarding heating large cages, I highly recommend some sort of reflective insulation. Either foil-covered poly-iso insulation board or the various foil/bubble insulations that come in rolls.

You definately need a radiant heat blocker, you just can't rely on the natural R values of the wood your using or of "normal" insulation.

I had a 7'x7' garage snake room for a while that only had insulation in the attic above. The two exterior walls and the two walls interior to the rest of the garage were hollow. The floor was bare concrete which is horrible when using radiant heat.

At any rate, I covered the hollow-core door, walls and ceiling with Reflectix insulation. It has a very low R value but is excellent at blocking radiant heat. I was able to heat that 7'x7'x8' room to 85* with only 600 watts of power, even when it was twenty below outside.

Before I ramble on, give us more details about your cage and I'll recommend how to insulate it. For sure you'll need to pay special attention to the floors and ceiling.

Regarding how to heat it, I recommend from above. You could include some form of floor heat but don't do so at the expense of proper floor insulation.

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Current snakes:

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.3 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

3.3 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

Are you getting an adult or a juvie? Unless you are getting a grown snake (not as much fun IMHO & pricey, too), you may want to start out with a smaller cage.

As far as heat...It depends in part on the temperature range of the room in which the snake will be kept. I have kept both black rats and texas rats at room temperature without extra heat. Now my snakes have their own room, but the temps are only mid-70's and, again, no supplemental heat. They are doing great.
With those snakes, either will most likely be fine as long as your home is not kept too cold in the winter. Any warm area, uth or bulb, will be appreciated. Good choices, by the way. Very robust animals. Enjoy! Duffy

My night time temp is 68 degrees all yr round. I might use both uth and overhead guess have to check out temps before hand with them on.
I asked because imagine rat snakes climbing snakes from the wild ones I have seen anyway so thought overhead heat might be best.

I began to build is 5 feet long-3 wide and 6 high.

This is HUGE. I would definately get a black rat to put in that enclosure. Or if this isnt your first, you may want to consider a blue or taiwan beauty. (i wouldn't reccomend either for a first snake, however.) But as duffy said, you don't need to put a neonate (baby) in this enclosure. You would want to wait until it is near bout full grown before giving that big of an enclosure. I don't agree with doug about putting a full grown texas rat in a 20L/29 gallon tank, however i'ts done. I don't think it's very good.

A black rat will climb more than a texas rat. Texas rats like to squeeze in crevices more, blacks prefer trees. You can get a leucistic black rat snake, however go to the classifieds and check out the ad posted by micheal jolliff... he has a few pictures on there that have a lot of different morphs available.

I would heat from above, however in that size enclosure, you will probably need a couple CHE's in there... i'd put one at the top and one halfway up.
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
N. American Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote
Information on substrates

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
0.1 Texas Bairdi (Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Monty)

heehee yea it is big. I didnt realize how big till bought the wood,etc. My friend has same enclosure for his boa with branches,shelves,etc. I loved the way it looked and wanted same thing but not into boas so opted for ratsnake which I think great looking.
With his big boa in the enclosure it didnt look so big but either way I prefer to give more room to an animal and since its a pet and not into breeding I can give the extra room.
I have a 6 yr old Ca king with branches,etc in a 75 gallon and he does use the whole thing and loves to climb. I might be a bit anal about giving room.