Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Gotta love spring!

Dan

Great pics and sweet hogs.

But is it bad for the snakes to be kept on paper?

I keep them on sani chips or aspen with paper on top. The paper allows me to feed them without them ingesting bedding. I use blank news print which is sold for sandwich wrappers at kitchen supply stores.
However, during the breeding season, I just use paper so that they don't get wood shavings in their cloacae, or hemipenes.

I have kept thousands of snakes on paper for 15 years without any issues. If you use newspaper, it's free, and easy to toss. I can also spray it down lightly to up the humidity for a brief period without oversaturating the cage. I just love the sani chips for hogs because they poop 12 times a day. lol.

The paper in these pics looks nasty because of the way I introduce my snakes. I place the male in the cage with the female, and leave them alone for 1-2 days. (if I see a lock, 1. If I don't see a lock, 2.) Then I remove the male, and feed both of them. After a couple of days I put them back together. This gives them time to get ready to breed again, but it also coincides with the last stage of digestion.

In short, I put them together, and they poop some time over the next two days. I can't get in and clean for fear of disturbing a lock, etc.

Hope that helps,

Dan
Available Hogs

Thanks

I am not sure if I should go all natural bio-active "dirt" with my possibly new hogs or I should be practical and just use what has always been in the hobby "aspen, cypress mulch".

By "bio-active soil" do you mean allowing the snake feces to break down naturally in a soil based medium, or is this some new thing I haven't heard about?

Dan

Yes dirt from outside or a mix of sand and hummus with all the bacteria that can break down waste and allow natural looking cages.

The first book I read about it was "Venomous snakes' by Ludwig Trutanu.

And "the art of keeping snakes' by Philippe de Vosjoli. Was really good and interesting.

I am going to give it a shot but I really want to hear some more first hand experiences.

I am also worried about impaction and infection in the cloaca.

If your snake is properly hydrated and heated, you should not have problems with impaction. Infections of the cloaca and the belly scales may result if your medium is kept too moist or cool.

As far as using bacteria to naturally break down waste...

This is possible, but I would think you would need quite a large cage to make work the way you want it to. You would literally be attempting to compost the snake feces. To do it quickly, you would need to balance your nitrogen source (poop) with a cellulose source (dry leaves, wood chips, etc. ) You would have to keep it rather moist all the time, and it could potentially get hot. (that would do it quickly, so your cage wouldn't stink like poop all the time.)

A more anaerobic approach is possible too, but I think your cage would smell terribly bad. The snake would basically be crawling around in its own feces.

It could work, but your success would likely be based on how large a cage you can provide. The bigger the better.

If you could provide a tank that had lots of soil, live plants, worms, and places where the hog could regulate its temp and humidity, who knows, it might just be awesome.

But... I've never tried it with an organism as large as a hog. Let me know how it goes.

I will post it on the kingsnake forum cause the cage forum is dead.

It is a 75 gal tank that I have to work with.

Thanks!

Yeah, you might be able to make it work with a cage that size. I think you'll have fewer problems with waste build up and odors.

However, a cage that big will create other issues:

1: It will be more difficult to properly heat it. You need to be sure to create a thermal gradient, and allow the snake(s) as many places as possible where they can feel secure while still having access to a range of appropriate temps.

2. Humidity. You will also need to create a humidity gradient so the snake can "dry out" when necessary. If it is too humid all the time, and the snake has no way of escaping it, it will lead to health issues.

Through the strategic use of basking lights and heat pads you should be able to accomplish this, but I would be sure to establish the system before introducing the snake. Get your temps and ecosystem in balance, and then put the snake in to avoid accidents.

Also: You might consider doing what I do.

I keep my snakes in Vision Racks which are easy to balance from a heat and humidity standpoint...almost to the point of being a no brainer, but I also have an "exercise tank" Basically a 55 gallon with sandy soil, rocks, wood, and other stuff for them to "play" in. They bulldoze around and get exercise/enrichment. I think good muscle tone may play a part in good egg laying, and letting them dig can't hurt, ya know?

This way you can get the best of both worlds.

Dan