Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all, My 9 year old step son wants a snake, it'll be his first so I want him to have a complete understanding of all that will be required from him, not just now as a kid but for the rest of his life, so every aspect from the proper cage size and temps to proper amounts food and maintenance. Problem is a book doesn’t say enough without reading a book for every species, so I thought up this list and would like your help putting them in order of importance and to add whatever I didn't think of. #1st: And foremost probably; People need to put themselves in their snake's position. Aquariums are for fish or feeder rodents and don't offer snakes fresh air at the bottom of tank, forcing the snake to smell its own feces. Also snakes don't recognize clean glass, so heat, hunger or stress from one reason or another (like the scent of a dog or cat or loud vibrations from music/tv) will causes a snake to rub its rostral scale completely off its face. They do make good temporary cages just not permanent cages. #2nd: The Enclosure; Cage parameter should be 1 1/2 times the length of the longest snake in the cage. Bedding should be 1-2 times deeper than the diameter of the snake being contained (paper is cheap and easy to roll up but snakes feel deprived and will stress. Also a light cycle, a visible in-cage thermometer and two large vents at each end of enclosure for ample air movement. #3rd: Temperature Gradient; A heat pad bigger than the snake in a coil and at one end of cage will provide a hot side/cool side gradient and promote proper digestion and contention in the enclosure as the snake will learn to love being in the cage just for that spot. A hidebox on the deep bedding at each end will allow for a stress free life on top of the bedding or below while in shed cycle. #4: Water bowl; should be heavy and big enough to hold water for three days or more without evaporating and kept clean to prevent stomach disorders that lead to repeated regurgitations, this is especially so if snake drinks out of feces contaminated water. #5: Feeding; for juveniles its almost constant if snake is not in, or going into shed cycle. Adult snakes eat less often and will let their owner know when they're hungry by focusing on movement in snake room. (90% of pet snake owners severely under feed their pet.) Underfed snakes are never content and constantly look for a way out. #6: Moisture Gradient; milks want a moist bedding with a dry spot, most other snakes will want dry bedding with a moist spot, but most snakes would wake up to a dew covered ground on a daily basis in the wild, and most forage for food in the early part of the day so mist the cage bedding or tip the water bowl into bedding once a week before refilling it, this also will promote complete sheds that include the eyecaps. #7: Collection size; Don't over extend yourself, 4 pair of adult snakes of any species will require allot of your of spare time if you work 40 hour a week and have kid/kids. #8: Husbandry; Bedding should be spot cleaned daily but completely replaced after washing interior with bleach/water mix bi-monthly to prevent feces dust from lining bottom of enclosure where snake repeatedly defecates and could collect old dry feces dust and retract it back inside body cavity where it can cause infection. #9: Sanity, if you have so many snakes that you can’t take them outside, one at a time, and smell the air or taste the ground after a heavy rain shower than cut back the collection, a snake that never gets to feel the Sun on its skin is a miserable snake.

I don't think there is an order of importance.

But, here is the least important: The aquarium thing.

Regarding aquariums: I know of a Cal king that has lived in a glass tank for 22 years and a gophersnake in a glass tank is still alive after 18 years. How many sweaterbox snakes do you know that live that long? When I bred rosyboas, I tried all sorts of caging. Glass tanks with screen tops proved to be the best caging for all manner of results - feeding, breeding, general health. While rosies are not milks, I cannot think of a reason why a milksnake could not do well in a glass tank, save for perhaps a screen top could dry out the cage too much (humid hide can help that).

Glass is inert and does not leach harmful chemicals. In the wild they probably eliminate waste near their hide areas anyway. Of course, bacteria/insects/weather would take care of the waste quickly in the wild - we need to spot clean in captivity.

What I am saying is that an appropriately-sized glass tank, while heavy and perhaps physically awkward (unstackable), is still a valid form of caging for many species of colubrids, small boids, etc.

Thanks and Sorry, the list I'm trying to generate is for a kid starting out, I don't want him to confuse breeding snakes with having snakes as pets. If you were a snake you'd probably want to be in the vented cage so I feel I should teach him that a Pet snake should be in a vented enclosure.

Well, you are talking about snakes (I'm assuming milksnakes here) that spend the vast majority of their time underground or crawling at night avoiding the desicating affects of direct sun. Ventilation is important some of the time. Too much and the snake dries out. You can still have lots of ventilation but provide a humid hide some of the time.

That is why rack systems work as far as humidity goes - they provide minimal but enough ventilation typically, kind of like a burrow. Unfortunately racks can lack in other attributes. But the ventilation is conducive to many different species of snake. Probably because most snakes hide in the wild under cover or underground.

So really, the best cage will have ventilation suitable for the species. Somewhat low for kings and milks and boa constrictors, low-to-medium for cornsnakes and ratsnakes, and medium to high for rosyboas and diurnal racers and such.

The reason I posted this here and on the pinesnake forum is because these two forums offer the most traffic, or at least the most experienced traffic. the boy will eventually have a milk but Im tring to get him onto the pinesnakes first, but thanks for the comments, they do help. seems I must have covered all the important stuff.

>>The reason I posted this here and on the pinesnake forum is because these two forums offer the most traffic, or at least the most experienced traffic. the boy will eventually have a milk but Im tring to get him onto the pinesnakes first, but thanks for the comments, they do help. seems I must have covered all the important stuff.

If I only had one milk snake or 8 even I would invest in the small/medium 24" neodesha cages, these are really nice cages. Some snakes don't like the sun all that much, you need to remember to never have the cage where sun can hit it and cook the snake. Some snakes do enjoy basking in the sun, but a lot of milk snakes don't, if you do let the snake go out for play time make sure you watch for hawks. Milk snakes like to feel secure and like tight hide places, Ive seen some peoples mexican and south american milks seem to enjoy fake vegetation like vines as well. That and feed them about once a week have heat on the side opposite of the water dish, clean the cage often, two hide areas, and you learn a lot as you go.
He could and should also read some books on the subject
good luck and if you have questions along the way everyone here is pretty knowledgeable and always ready to help.
Later
Brandon DeCavele

I totally agree with everything you and others mentioned. Our brand new Honduran Milksnake book also addresses all of their important maintenance/husbandry needs in great detail. There are many helpful buying and handling tips, and several "do's and dont's" that should always be kept in mind too. I have always believed that reading offers a very solid foundation for learning about snakes instead of gathering little bits and pieces of random information from sources. Having all of the information in one handy place that can be referred to any time the reader wishes just can't be equaled. After all the important basics are understood, then other information and personal experience can be factored in to make a well-rounded basis of knowledge that can be built on forever.

cheers, ~Doug

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com/index.htm

You feel me Doug, Thanks