Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got Ab (for type AB blood, of course) in the shop a few months ago dehydrated & about dead. Soon after he got an RI. Lots of nursing later he is now one of the tamest snakes I've ever had. He has now been named the shop pet.

Let your imaginations loose. What would be the perfect display housing for him? I'd like to keep it under 8'L x 3'D x ??H. What cage furnature do yours enjoy as full size snakes?

Any ideas will help.

Mike Peter

it would figure that the friggin server would go down as soon as i hit the send message key. so i lost everything i had written. but i guess one thing we'd need to know is how big is he, are you wanting to sell him, and how much work/time are you willing to spend on him?
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1.1.0 Colombian Redtail Boas
2.1.0 Sumatran Blood Pythons
1.0 Black Blood Python
1.0 Dumeril's Boa
0.1 Coastal Carpet Python
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.0 Texas Tiger Salamander

Yeah, I lost a reply to the server going down too. He is about 24" now. No, I do not want to sell him. I've built things for 40 years so if it can be built I can do it. Refer to my response to the blood with a bad shed. I see it done wrong all the time. With no reptile vet within a hundred miles I see a lot of sick animals. A local vet sells me what meds I need but really does "not want to get involved". Sorry, just venting. In a nut shell, I what it to be a home built showcase for what can be done and should be done if you commit to a reptile of this size.

Mike

ok, im going to try this one more time (and save it before posting, lol). if it is 24" then probably a 15-20 gal tank would be best. really only a 10 is needed for necessities but youre wanting to snaz it up a bit so a bit of extra space is needed. first id try to find some of that aquarium background paper. see if you can find some that matches a blood's natural habitat and apply it to the back wall. then add some substrate to match (sphagnum moss?) throw in a water bowl big enough for him to soak in and make the rim of the bowl about 3/4" above the level of the substrate (to make it look more pond-esque) and then a hide (one of those half log types would be pretty good). find 1 or 2 good sized (fist sized) smooth but not polished rocks and space them out in the tank. then take a spray bottle and lightly mist the tank to give it that kind of swampy look. make sure you have a heat source too (undertank would be best in this situation in my opinion. hope you can visualize this setup and that it would work for you. good luck with whatever you choose.
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1.1.0 Colombian Redtail Boas
2.1.0 Sumatran Blood Pythons
1.0 Black Blood Python
1.0 Dumeril's Boa
0.1 Coastal Carpet Python
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.0 Texas Tiger Salamander

I just read your reply about the 70's comics. It's not that we're old we just have accumulated more trivia than these young whipper snappers.

An 8' cage would border on being ridiculous for an adult blood. Adult males will be perfectly content in an 4x2 enclosure. For display you could go to 6 ft....but remember, bloods are ambush predators...no matter how nice you make the enclosure they're still pretty much gonna pick a spot and stay there Not to mention that bloods are massive enough to pretty much wreck whatever you put in the cage. I'd stay away from live plants (unless you put them where the blood can't crush them). You could probably get some nice sized driftwood or corkbark, that would look pretty nice in an enclosure along with some cypress or aspen for bedding and maybe some of those naturalistic waterbowls. Just some thoughts But, as usual the disclaimer has to come along that the more stuff you put in the cage, the more stuff you have to clean! Oh, and don't know if it was mentioned before or not (I've got a horrible memory!) but don't put a baby/juvenile blood in an adult enclosure.

Here is a picture of my blood enclosure. Its got a mixture of cork bedding with green moss. And a nice climbing log. Most of the time bloods like to bury as you can see here:

yes a blood will burrow into the substrate when there are no other hides avilable.
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1.1.0 Colombian Redtail Boas
2.1.0 Sumatran Blood Pythons
1.0 Black Blood Python
1.0 Dumeril's Boa
0.1 Coastal Carpet Python
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.0 Texas Tiger Salamander

yes a blood will burrow into the substrate when there are no other hides avilable. also, bloods are non-arboreal. they dont climb.
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1.1.0 Colombian Redtail Boas
2.1.0 Sumatran Blood Pythons
1.0 Black Blood Python
1.0 Dumeril's Boa
0.1 Coastal Carpet Python
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.0 Texas Tiger Salamander

Actually from what I've seen, bloods will go under hides when there's no substrate available. Granted, they sometimes do both, but bloods are burrowers by nature...they'd much rather be tuckered down in some substrate.

This part of the forgoing discussion prompts my thoughts on the subject. None of us have visited Sumatra/Borneo and collected these animals in the wild, that I am aware of...more's the pity.
So we are left to recreate an ideal environment for captives based on what the animal's behavior suggests it might be in nature. Working backwards really.
OK. Here's what have observed and what these observations might mean with respect to behaviors in the wild.
These snakes have short tails. But not because they don't use them. When I put my blood on my lap the very first thing he does is anchor his tail; hooking it securely around my leg, beltloop, etc. When I place him on the lawn, he corkscrews that hook of a tail right into the turf, again like an anchor. In both cases, he then ventures out tenatively, and if alarmed, which happens rather easily, he retracts like a giant molusk.
All that's missing is the "shell" which in nature suggests a burrow. A rat's run through tuff bunchgrass, someting like that.
Also the location of the nostrils on the very top of the nose also suggest the bury themselves in ambush fashion.
In any event, my fellow seems to prefer a concealed situation that is "form-fitting" but allows him to keep his nose, pits and eyeballs exposed ready to detect danger or a feed. More often than not, he will pass up his hides for the substrate.
I have often thought that a suitable piece of pipe would might provide the ideal hide. Extracting could be challenging though...
Hope some of this rambling makes sense..

Good observations. I appreciate all the comments from everyone.

Mike