Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm considering getting a Western Pigmy Rattlesnake, Sistrurus miliarius streckeri, someday. I have kept non hots for 15 yrs, but never dealt with hots. I have built many of my own snake enclosures, but would like to get some ideas for building the "ideal" hot snake enclosure. I'd appreciate any ideas or designs you would like to share with me.

Well, I hate to sidestep your question, although I'll say that Sistrurus make good starters. What I want to know is WHERE DID YOU FIND A WESTERN PYGMY!!!!!!!?????
I love those little guys, how can I get one?
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Tom
TCJ Herps
"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

You're "considering" one, my literacy skills drop when I get excited, sorry. let me know if you get one and where you got it!
I've had no issues with keeping pygmy's in 10 or 20 gal "Critter Cages". This is gonna depend on other residents in your house of course, if you have kids or lots of traffic ie. friends and family at your house. This cage has a built in screen top that works just great, and for a pygmy, a 20 long is plenty of space. You'll probably get other recommendations for building your own, or looking for Neodeshas or what have you, but for me, the Critter Cages work just fine.
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Tom
TCJ Herps
"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

I'm more looking for ideas on how to keep one with MINIMUM handling, as safe as possible, such has having two halves, so you can block him on on one side while you add water or clean, etc. I seem to remember seeing a hot enclosure with a box built on the side for safely introducing food into the enclosure. And no I haven't found a pygmy recently, but I've had the opportunity to buy them in the past, I just wasn't prepared yet, with the enclosure and experience. Personally, I wouldn't keep a kingsnake in a 10 gal. aquarium with a screen top because of the chance of escape. My wife isn't a snake fan. If I keep a hot it has to be escape proof and I'd like to incorporate every safety feature I can think of! I've built my cages out of melamine with sliding glass doors on the front and pegboard backs for ventilation, they are lockable and escape proof. I wouldn't want a hot cage that opens from the front though. If someone can't give me a complete design at least list the safety features like the couple I mentioned above, that I haven't considered yet. And lastly, pics of any hot enclosures would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

The screen top slides and you can put a lock on them. The locks are small but cna be effective to an extent. I have a few of them with licks and I have had no trouble. I also think the top opening cage is pretty nice for a small rattle snake like a pigmy. You can use a piece of plexyglass which fits sung along the walls of the cgae to divide it when performing cage maintenance. You can also use your own trap boxes if you need to remove the snake. Good luck.

Tom....

Call Glades Herps.. Just saw that they're available on their website. They can bring them up for the April Hamburg Show.

Al
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The more people I meet...the better I like my venomous snakes.

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Tom
TCJ Herps
"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

Im looking for Streckeri, and all I see on Gherps is Tergimenus. Both Westerns though.......is there something I dont know about? I signed up for their mailing list. Are they listed in there?
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Tom
TCJ Herps
"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

I was at Glades today...yeah they don't have that subspecies...dang!! I tried

Al
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The more people I meet...the better I like my venomous snakes.

Tom, are you interested in just the western pygmies? atrox182

email me at guttersnacks@cox.net Im at work, but I'll check on it throughout the day.
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Tom
TCJ Herps
"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

Tom, might try Glades Herp Inc. 352-568-1713, Diamond Reptiles 352-303-1745 or Coastal Reptiles 864-421-2658, I have seen Sistrurus Miliarius listed recently on their list.atrox182

All I've seen listed thru most of those folks are just Tergimenus.
I've checked Glades and Diamond online today and didnt see any Streckeri.
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Tom
TCJ Herps
"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

I'm glad I helped you guys find the snake you're looking for, but does anyone feel like taking a shot at the original question.....Please!

HEEE, sorry, I know this thread got out of hand, and I was ready to call it quits pretty early out of respect for your original question, but it hasnt stopped.
So, I'll give it a crack, based on what you asked about originally.
First you have to decide if you have the time and tools to build your own enclosure, or if you just want to buy one. To build your own, most folks go with either melamine or plywood. Melamine is cheap, but not lightweight, is easy to clean, as long as exposed cut edges dont get wet.
A lot of folks like glass in the front, and either the sliding glass function like you'd see in big pet store displays, or stationary glass with a hinged top. Those are some quick basics. If you want to buy, many folks might recommend going with a Visions cage or looking for a Neodesha cage, which are no longer in production, so used is your only shot. These are plastic cages with glass fronts, and each has it's pro's and con's. Many hot keepers like the Neodeshas. This syle has one big sliding glass front, as opposed to the Visions which have 2 doors which slide back and forth along a track.
So, for further clarification, narrow down the info for us and let us know if you want to buy one or make.
We'll be able to help you more after that.
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Tom
TCJ Herps
"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

Oh my god, if I'd take the time to read your question, I'd be SOOO much better off. Sorry, Im at work and Im juggling tech support and snake posts at the same time. hehehe
Ok, so you're building, and what some "IDEAL" recommendations. This is a taller order for me to fill. But, I say stationary glass in the front and a hinged lid is way better than a door that opens from the front. With hots, a front opening door just sounds like trouble to me, theres a lunging risk there. Having a hide box is a plus too with a closeable door for cleaning, although Im a fan of hooking the snake and keeping it in an empty 5 gal bucket. Lighting in a cage with no way for a snake to get into it can be tricky, and this is a consideration, although I dont have any solutions for it when building a custom cage.
Someone who has spent more time building cages is better suited to answer your question, it might help to just post the question again in the cage building forum, you'll get a better response there.
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Tom
TCJ Herps
"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

Cage building forum, I wasn't aware there was one, now that's a good tip. I'm not interested in economical really, as I'm only planning to build one, I have the tools and time to build one too. What I'm really interested in is "ideal", you know, if you could dream up the perfect hot snake enclosure, and and the resources to build it any way you would want it, exactly what all "safety" features would you include. I've attached a picture of a jungle carpet python enclosure that I built myself, I think it's a example of what I'm looking for as far the the ultimate enclosure, but it's for a jungle, and with this next cage, I want it to be the ultimate for a pygmy rattler. Since I have no experience with hots, I want the handling to be a minimum and escape impossible (I would like to stay married). Maybe that helps explain a little better what I'm looking for.

My mistake, i have built my own cages and i have bought cages, i have found that it is just about as ecomonical to buy, i use Vision cages, they work great for the snakes that i keep, you could get the correct size for about 100.00, by the time you bought lumber glass, tracks for the doors and your time it just about evens out. only thing with Vision is the space between the sliding glass doors, but this can be fixed with stick on foam tape, hope this helps you out.atrox182