prairiepanda
10-17-13, 10:35 AM
I've had various reptiles in the past, but never a snake, so I want to make sure I'm doing everything right.
I got myself a 2 year old female cal king with her enclosure and everything for a great deal. I chose an older snake for 2 reasons: 1) I wouldn't have to worry about upgrading the enclosure(or not much, depending on what you guys think of the terrarium size) and 2) I could find one with the personality I want, rather than gambling on the personality of a hatchling(normally I wouldn't discriminate, but since it's my first snake I wanted a calm and friendly one).
After I got her, I kept her setup the way it came for 24 hours to give her a chance to take in all the new smells etc. Then I removed her to clean bin where she got to eat an adult mouse(this is the size she was eating before I got her, and it didn't seem to give her any issues) while I made changes to her enclosure. And yes, I plan on feeding her in the bin rather than in her enclosure every time. Her previous owner did the same.
Anyway, she's close to 3.5ft long came with a 40G tank with one of those clip-on screen lids. There's 4 clips, and they fit snugly, so the lid is quite secure. It's not a 40G long, it's a tall one, and there was a lot of space wasted vertically. There was just one straight branch in the corner for her to climb. I added some more branches, interconnected and supported with those bend-a-branch things(I made sure none of them had wires sticking out). This way, she has a lot more room to move, I think. It also provides a basking area closer to the heat source. I made sure to set it up in such a way that I can take all the branches out as one object, to make cleaning easier.
Her tank was heated with a regular heat lamp that was kept on 24/7 before(I know, right?). The lamp itself has a nice built-in dimmer, so I kept that and replaced the bulb with a ceramic heat emitter. There was a seemingly non-functional strip thermometer on the tank, which I removed. I put one of those cheap analog reptile thermometers at each end of the tank and used a good digital thermometer with a probe to monitor specific temperature zones while I adjusted the heating. I'm really unsure about the heat, though. I've seen a lot of different numbers suggested in books/websites/caresheets/etc. so I'm not really sure what is best for the snake. Right now the hottest point, on the branches just below the lamp, is at 88.5F during the day and drops to 81.0F at night. The coolest point in the tank is around 75F during the day and down to 70F at night. There is a range of temperature zones in between, so the snake doesn't have to move between two extremes. I will have to monitor the temperatures closely, because the ambient temperature of the room changes with the weather.
The room I have her in is south-facing, so she gets a decent photoperiod just from natural sunlight. The blinds are always closed, so even though they let quite a bit of light through there is never direct sunlight on the enclosure. I've read mixed opinions on the need for UVA/UVB in snakes...I haven't found any real evidence that a snake would need a UV bulb, though.
I don't have an accurate hygrometer, but based on my research I get the impression that a water dish big enough to soak in should be sufficient to provide humidity. She came with a little dog dish of water, so I replaced that with a plastic tray big enough for her to fit in. She seemed to appreciate it and spent a long while showing off her ability to hold her breath underwater. Is it okay to replace the water every 3 days? Or should I be doing it daily?
There is only one proper hide in the enclosure, towards the cool end, but there is a pile of fake leaves in the warmer end which she can completely hide under as well.
She is currently on shredded aspen bedding, which I like personally. I'm not completely sure whether I will stick with this or switch to newspaper. How often do you guys change out your aspen bedding? I think with newspaper I would need to replace it quite often.
I plan on feeding her once every 7 to 10 days, and give her around 48 hours to digest her food before handling. I'd like to take her out probably twice a week for exercise and to keep her accustomed to handling. Her previous owner reached right into the tank to pick her up. I don't have any issue working in her tank, even right next to her, as she is very calm, but I'm not sure if maybe a snake hook might be a better idea for actually picking her up? I keep tarantulas, and I never touch them with my hands inside their enclosure even for very docile individuals. Usually direct contact is only safe outside the enclosure. But snakes aren't tarantulas. What do the experienced keepers do?
My cat, a very relaxed senior, enjoys sitting next to the terrarium and watching the snake, even when it isn't moving. The cat isn't prone to sudden movements and won't bother jumping on top of the tank or anything, but I wonder if just the smell of a predatory animal nearby might stress the snake? Or could she get used to the cat's smell? The snake doesn't seem too bothered by it, and usually goes up to the glass so check out the cat. But since I haven't had a snake before I might be reading her body language wrong.
And I think that covers everything....let me know if I am doing anything wrong or if there's anything I can do better.
I got myself a 2 year old female cal king with her enclosure and everything for a great deal. I chose an older snake for 2 reasons: 1) I wouldn't have to worry about upgrading the enclosure(or not much, depending on what you guys think of the terrarium size) and 2) I could find one with the personality I want, rather than gambling on the personality of a hatchling(normally I wouldn't discriminate, but since it's my first snake I wanted a calm and friendly one).
After I got her, I kept her setup the way it came for 24 hours to give her a chance to take in all the new smells etc. Then I removed her to clean bin where she got to eat an adult mouse(this is the size she was eating before I got her, and it didn't seem to give her any issues) while I made changes to her enclosure. And yes, I plan on feeding her in the bin rather than in her enclosure every time. Her previous owner did the same.
Anyway, she's close to 3.5ft long came with a 40G tank with one of those clip-on screen lids. There's 4 clips, and they fit snugly, so the lid is quite secure. It's not a 40G long, it's a tall one, and there was a lot of space wasted vertically. There was just one straight branch in the corner for her to climb. I added some more branches, interconnected and supported with those bend-a-branch things(I made sure none of them had wires sticking out). This way, she has a lot more room to move, I think. It also provides a basking area closer to the heat source. I made sure to set it up in such a way that I can take all the branches out as one object, to make cleaning easier.
Her tank was heated with a regular heat lamp that was kept on 24/7 before(I know, right?). The lamp itself has a nice built-in dimmer, so I kept that and replaced the bulb with a ceramic heat emitter. There was a seemingly non-functional strip thermometer on the tank, which I removed. I put one of those cheap analog reptile thermometers at each end of the tank and used a good digital thermometer with a probe to monitor specific temperature zones while I adjusted the heating. I'm really unsure about the heat, though. I've seen a lot of different numbers suggested in books/websites/caresheets/etc. so I'm not really sure what is best for the snake. Right now the hottest point, on the branches just below the lamp, is at 88.5F during the day and drops to 81.0F at night. The coolest point in the tank is around 75F during the day and down to 70F at night. There is a range of temperature zones in between, so the snake doesn't have to move between two extremes. I will have to monitor the temperatures closely, because the ambient temperature of the room changes with the weather.
The room I have her in is south-facing, so she gets a decent photoperiod just from natural sunlight. The blinds are always closed, so even though they let quite a bit of light through there is never direct sunlight on the enclosure. I've read mixed opinions on the need for UVA/UVB in snakes...I haven't found any real evidence that a snake would need a UV bulb, though.
I don't have an accurate hygrometer, but based on my research I get the impression that a water dish big enough to soak in should be sufficient to provide humidity. She came with a little dog dish of water, so I replaced that with a plastic tray big enough for her to fit in. She seemed to appreciate it and spent a long while showing off her ability to hold her breath underwater. Is it okay to replace the water every 3 days? Or should I be doing it daily?
There is only one proper hide in the enclosure, towards the cool end, but there is a pile of fake leaves in the warmer end which she can completely hide under as well.
She is currently on shredded aspen bedding, which I like personally. I'm not completely sure whether I will stick with this or switch to newspaper. How often do you guys change out your aspen bedding? I think with newspaper I would need to replace it quite often.
I plan on feeding her once every 7 to 10 days, and give her around 48 hours to digest her food before handling. I'd like to take her out probably twice a week for exercise and to keep her accustomed to handling. Her previous owner reached right into the tank to pick her up. I don't have any issue working in her tank, even right next to her, as she is very calm, but I'm not sure if maybe a snake hook might be a better idea for actually picking her up? I keep tarantulas, and I never touch them with my hands inside their enclosure even for very docile individuals. Usually direct contact is only safe outside the enclosure. But snakes aren't tarantulas. What do the experienced keepers do?
My cat, a very relaxed senior, enjoys sitting next to the terrarium and watching the snake, even when it isn't moving. The cat isn't prone to sudden movements and won't bother jumping on top of the tank or anything, but I wonder if just the smell of a predatory animal nearby might stress the snake? Or could she get used to the cat's smell? The snake doesn't seem too bothered by it, and usually goes up to the glass so check out the cat. But since I haven't had a snake before I might be reading her body language wrong.
And I think that covers everything....let me know if I am doing anything wrong or if there's anything I can do better.