New Mommie To A Taiwan Beauty

[CJordan84]

Im purchasing A 1yr old Taiwan beauty on friday, Ive been reading al kinds of different stories about them. There are just a few things i would like more info on. She comes with a 3x2 tank, she is 5ft, I can't afford to upgrade to a much bigger tank right now so what kind of things can i do to make it most comfortable. Moss? What kind of accessories should i put, bedding? I will eventually get a tall 4ft tank. I have a heat pad and just a regular light for it, also a feeding cage. I would like to one day breed her once i learn more about the species. Any information you guys could give a first timer would be greatly appreciated.

[infernalis]

http://www.thamfriends.com/mat.jpg

[percey39]

Hello and welcome to the site.

[Palor]

Welcome to the site.

I don't know much about those snakes except that they are very cool looking and tend to be on the ornery side.

[bladeblaster]

Im purchasing A 1yr old Taiwan beauty on friday, Ive been reading al kinds of different stories about them. There are just a few things i would like more info on. She comes with a 3x2 tank, she is 5ft, I can't afford to upgrade to a much bigger tank right now so what kind of things can i do to make it most comfortable. Moss? What kind of accessories should i put, bedding? I will eventually get a tall 4ft tank. I have a heat pad and just a regular light for it, also a feeding cage. I would like to one day breed her once i learn more about the species. Any information you guys could give a first timer would be greatly appreciated.

Congrats, lovely snake.

You certainly could give it a larger cage, these guys are pretty active. I don't think they are too fussy on substrate, but I wouldn't keep it too damp, as belly rot could be an issue.

Maybe one area or a tub with moss to help with shedding.

[Paradise]

Hi Welcome
Good choice in snake but my first choice for a first time handler. As mentioned by Bladeblaster they are very active so you need to keep your wit when handling her/him.

a Taiwan beauty is part of the rat family which is found basically on any kind of subtrate depending on the breed. The Taiwan beauty is found mainly in the Taiwanese forests so you could use small tree bark pine melch or even a mixture of various subtrates. I prefer that myself my snakes shed easier on a bed mixture of small bark and and nut shells. Considering the size of the snake versus the size of the enclosure. I would suggest you put in a branch or 2 because these snakes climb readily and that will help your snake not get frustrated because her enclosure is too small. Also depending on the ventilation of the enclosure I would put a large bowl of water for the snake to swim in which it will do when it starts getting ready to shed.
I build my own enclosures and that is a lot cheaper than enclosures that are commercially available. I am not say you should build it yourself but if you do know someone that can build one for you I recommend you do that as soon as possible. As rule of thumb an enclosure should be at least 3/4 of the length of the snake, but a rat snake is a busy body and move very fast and often so maybe look at something a little bigger

[Jenn_06]

welcome,
you can make your own cage, i dont know how much wood cost up there but i made a
5X4X3 for my sav for like $35. Good luck with you new snake..