New Milksnake

[Trollbie]

I just got my very first Milksnake and snake in general yesterday. Her name is Penelope and she's awesome! I'm very new to snakes, but from what I hear, I got really lucky. She doesn't musk, bite, and is VERY tolerant of being picked up and held.

I was intending on leaving her alone for a couple days and let her settle, but I came home today and just wanted to make sure she's alive, but she was all ready to come out I guess because she started reaching for my hand and arm so she could get out. I put her back down and closed the lid, but she just kept trying to crawl up the glass and come out so I let her. I had her out for about 10 min and tried to put her back in but she wasn't having it, so I just let her stay outside and explore me lol.

But is this normal? The fact that she is so eager to come out, especially since I've only had her for a day? Now I'm a little worried she's going to try to escape the tank :confused: She's in a 20g tall with a screen top that fits kind of loosely. I weighted it down with some heavy textbooks for now but I probably need a better solution.

I'm scared to fall asleep now and go to work and school tomorrow because she's still trying to climb the glass!

Any advice and tips, even on general care, are very much appreciated! Thanks :)

[infernalis]

sit something heavy on top, like a book ;)

[drama x]

I had a Black King snake that acted JUST like that, it was love at first sight! She wouldnt leave me alone and wanted to be held 24/7, she showed 0% stress from all the handling and what not, she was a true lover. Sadly i lost her last year to a spinal deformaty i didnt know about. If it wasnt for her i wouldnt own all the snakes i do today, and none of them compare to her.

*sniff sniff*

ANYWAYS! Milks are awesome and fairly easy to care for, you shouldnt have any problems. Keep one side of the tank 80-85 and the other 75. Humidity should be at around 50% to maintain clean sheds and what not. Feed once every 7 days. Clean up any poop or dried urin when you spot it. Just your basic simple husbandry.

Goodluck with your new snake friend! Keep us updated!

[Skits]

At some time, I had a boa constrictor in a tank with a screen top and she's never been able to push herself out so I wouldn't be too worried about her escaping. What I do though, to avoid my cats from climbing in, is I have a thin piece of wood on the top of my screen top tanks and you can put a brick or a book on top of it.

Congrats on your new snake though, she sounds very cute. :)

[knox]

I've had a Sinaloan, Nelson, and now a Black Milk. In my experience, Milks are unfairly labeled as musky and flighty. They are wonderful animals!

Congrats, and welcome to the hobby!

[UwabamiReptiles]

That sounds like normal behavior. Snakes are know as "escape artists" and always try to find that little spot they can fit through to get out. You'll be fine with the textbooks on the cage. Thats more than enough to keep him in.

[alessia55]

I'd put LOTS of heavy textbooks on there. You'd be surprised how strong they can push up on those covers.

[theapexgerman]

congrats on your milk and yea some snakes just love to be held mine does

[Trollbie]

I had a Black King snake that acted JUST like that, it was love at first sight! She wouldnt leave me alone and wanted to be held 24/7, she showed 0% stress from all the handling and what not, she was a true lover. Sadly i lost her last year to a spinal deformaty i didnt know about. If it wasnt for her i wouldnt own all the snakes i do today, and none of them compare to her.

*sniff sniff*

ANYWAYS! Milks are awesome and fairly easy to care for, you shouldnt have any problems. Keep one side of the tank 80-85 and the other 75. Humidity should be at around 50% to maintain clean sheds and what not. Feed once every 7 days. Clean up any poop or dried urin when you spot it. Just your basic simple husbandry.

Goodluck with your new snake friend! Keep us updated!

I'm sorry about your snakie! I had an awesome parrot when I was younger and there will never be one like him, so I know how you feel :(

I hope Penelope gets used to me like that too! I've read stories of snakes following their "favorite" person around the house and such and I'd love to have a snake like that!

I am going to get another thermometer for the cooler side just to make sure, but I think it's fine. And humidity is usually around 70% where I live, so I think I don't need to monitor it? Is it too much if it's more than 50%? Should I get a hygrometer anyway just to make sure?

I didn't know snakes pee! Lol how often do they pee and is it easy to see where they peed? My dad was discouraging me from getting a snake because apparently they stink. But from what i've researched so far, that won't happen as long as I pick up their poop right away and such. How often should I clean the entire tank and how often should I bather her?

Thanks!!!

[theapexgerman]

50 percent is ok but if it gets bump up to 60 shouldn't be a problem and even a good thing when they start to shed and if a humidity is high were you live I would still get a humidity gauge and from cleaning if you pick up pop and pee when you see it every 4 months or so is a good time to clean the whole cage I clean mine once a month

[Trollbie]

So if the humidity gets up to like 80%+ it's fine right? My room is the only one that always stays cold since there is no vent for heating there and I keep the door closed so I know the humidity stays pretty high in there.

[Skumbo]

I'm sorry about your snakie! I had an awesome parrot when I was younger and there will never be one like him, so I know how you feel :(

I hope Penelope gets used to me like that too! I've read stories of snakes following their "favorite" person around the house and such and I'd love to have a snake like that!

I am going to get another thermometer for the cooler side just to make sure, but I think it's fine. And humidity is usually around 70% where I live, so I think I don't need to monitor it? Is it too much if it's more than 50%? Should I get a hygrometer anyway just to make sure?

I didn't know snakes pee! Lol how often do they pee and is it easy to see where they peed? My dad was discouraging me from getting a snake because apparently they stink. But from what i've researched so far, that won't happen as long as I pick up their poop right away and such. How often should I clean the entire tank and how often should I bather her?

Thanks!!!

I've yet to even clean up a poop that smells never-mind makes the room noticeably smelly from my milk, maybe when hes bigger but they're not so bad. Not even close to mammals, especially since they don't poop a lot considering they only eat once a week! :P


..unlike my pet rat, she poops like 30 times a day haha

[theapexgerman]

That's. Bad 80 percent all of the time it needs to be round 50 or 60 percent keeep more airflow in the tank

[drama x]

If theres one thing iv learned with keeping snakes its never GUESS the humidity or temperature, get a temp and humidity gauge just to be on the safe side ;)

And snakes dont stink, but their poop is HORRIBLE lol it smells like a dead body heh. Pee is fairly easy to spot, you'll find traces of dried pee that looks yellow/white, when you spot that just clean around that area.

[theapexgerman]

None of my snake poop smell bad now my dog on the other hand is a different story but guess all snakes are different

[Skumbo]

That's. Bad 80 percent all of the time it needs to be round 50 or 60 percent keeep more airflow in the tank

it also depends on the milksnake, what kind do you have? (to the OP)

some milksnakes like my Black Milksnake need higher humidity than say hondurans or pueblans which are fine with whatever your house is at, and add a little humidity if the sheds arent great to figure out what your snake likes :D

[theapexgerman]

The OP doesn't exactly know what kind he gots so its safer to be on rthe 50 or 60 percent

[Trollbie]

Omg rats are worse than anything! I had rats for about a week and couldn't handle the smell! Thank god my housemate at the time is a rat lover so she gladly took them. I don't think a snake can smell nearly as bad...

As for the humidity, how do I make it lower in the tank than outside? I'm going to by a hygrometer and a second thermometer today for sure then.

[theapexgerman]

Make more airflow in the tank like in tubs you can just add more holes but with a tank with a screen top you shouldn't have to worry bout keeping all the humidity in

[Trollbie]

My coworker just offered me some kind of a cage. He says the mesh holes are 0.5in. Would that be better than a tank a the holes small enough?

[theapexgerman]

Can you rephrase the question

[Skumbo]

My coworker just offered me some kind of a cage. He says the mesh holes are 0.5in. Would that be better than a tank a the holes small enough?

sounds like he has a custom reptile cage, it'll probably be perfect, assuming thats what it is.

added heat should dry out the cage, from either a heat pad or lamp, etc. will dry it out. Most snakes you need to make sure the humidity is high enough because substrate/etc dry out from heat

[Trollbie]

There is supposed to be an and... Oops. Anyway he has a mesh cage and the holes are about half an inch big. So would a cage be better than a tank or is tank more ideal. And if cage is better, can she squeeze through a half an inch hole

[Skumbo]

There is supposed to be an and... Oops. Anyway he has a mesh cage and the holes are about half an inch big. So would a cage be better than a tank or is tank more ideal. And if cage is better, can she squeeze through a half an inch hole

if the cage is made w/ mesh thats held on the tank well, it should be fine

[Trollbie]

sounds like he has a custom reptile cage, it'll probably be perfect, assuming thats what it is.

Apparently they ha 2 chickens in it lol. But he's had snakes so I hope he'd know if it wasn't ideal for a reptile

[Skumbo]

Apparently they ha 2 chickens in it lol. But he's had snakes so I hope he'd know if it wasn't ideal for a reptile

get pics of it if you can!

[theapexgerman]

If it was use for chickens I would want to see some pics lol

[Trollbie]

Yeah he's gonna send me some tonight. I'll post them here once I get them :)

[Trollbie]

No pics yet, but I need a leash for this snake! lol

[Skumbo]

You can always head over to kmart, walmart, etc. and buy a plastic latching tub.

something like this:

Sterilite 66 Qt Latch Box Blue Lapis, Set of 6 - Walmart.com (http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-64-Qt-Latch-Box-Blue-Lapis-Set-of-6/15539795)

^ thats for 6 of them, go to a store and they usually have singles for $15 or so

I "reinforce" it with industrial velcro to add "latches" to the sides and corners, ive watched a milksnake spend ~30 minutes trying every possible place to escape and fail completely.

Obviously, you should upgrade to a bigger tank eventually, but these are perfect for while the snake is still small assuming you didnt obtain an adult/well started snake

that, or get a few bricks and put them on the corners of the top of the cage you have. Many screen top aquariums/cages are able to use screen "clips" which secure the top down

[theapexgerman]

Yea tubs are great I keep my dum in one save space to lol

[Trollbie]

You can always head over to kmart, walmart, etc. and buy a plastic latching tub.

something like this:

Sterilite 66 Qt Latch Box Blue Lapis, Set of 6 - Walmart.com (http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-64-Qt-Latch-Box-Blue-Lapis-Set-of-6/15539795)

^ thats for 6 of them, go to a store and they usually have singles for $15 or so

I "reinforce" it with industrial velcro to add "latches" to the sides and corners, ive watched a milksnake spend ~30 minutes trying every possible place to escape and fail completely.

Obviously, you should upgrade to a bigger tank eventually, but these are perfect for while the snake is still small assuming you didnt obtain an adult/well started snake

that, or get a few bricks and put them on the corners of the top of the cage you have. Many screen top aquariums/cages are able to use screen "clips" which secure the top down

Mine isn't gonna grow much if she'll grow at all anymore. And the pet store where I got her is ordering me clips :)

[Trollbie]

Here are the cage pics

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll256/Czechish/70da5f29.jpg
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll256/Czechish/eeaafb8a.jpg

[BarelyBreathing]

The only thing I have to say is: Whenever I see this thread come up, I think the title is "New Milkshake", and therefore must make one.

[Trollbie]

The only thing I have to say is: Whenever I see this thread come up, I think the title is "New Milkshake", and therefore must make one.

Every time I'd text it it would get auto-corrected to Milkshake so I confused a whole lot of people lol.

[BarelyBreathing]

Every time I'd text it it would get auto-corrected to Milkshake so I confused a whole lot of people lol.


Hahaha, classic.

[Lankyrob]

Personally i would say that isnt suitable for a snake, it will rub its face against the wires and cause itself damage.

[Gungirl]

I would never put a snake in a wire cage... you could line it with plexi glass and seal all the wood. Then it would be..ok...

[Trollbie]

Yeah... The first thing I thought when I saw it was putting a bunny in it. And I do not need a bunny.

[Skumbo]

Wire is bad for snakes! For one, a milksnake will escape from that like nothing, two, the wire can harm them, they tend to rub their faces against things to try and fit through them, and three.. so much ventilation it'd be hard to keep any extra heat in there for the snakes warm side!

Go with a tub, for sure!

Milk snakes (most at least) can anywhere from 2 to 5 feet depending on the type (or more for one or two types like black milks) and most snakes never "stop" growing, they'll gradually keep getting bigger after their initial few years of growth. How old is the snake? if it isnt at least a few years, it's probably got some growing to do still!

[theapexgerman]

He doesn't exactly know the age I belive either an tank or a tub should be use for most snakes

[Trollbie]

I like the 20gal tank she's in now so i'm not gonna take the cage