enclosure size?

arcus · 08-25-13, 10:30 AM

Hey all, I was telling my friend about how I was going to redo my Cali Kingsnake enclosure in a few weeks, add some more fake plants more places to hide, more stuff to climb on and so on. The 1st thing he says is my 40 gal is too small for a cali kingsnake and i should get a bigger enclosure.

What do you guys think? He makes its sound like its cruel to keep him in such a small enclosure, I thought 40 gal was plenty. Is there a rule/standard for snake size/species vs enclosure size?

As always I appreciate your help.

wrecker45 · 08-25-13, 11:53 AM

hi. i bought a cali yesterday. the tank it came with is 36 inch long x 18 in wide. the snake is over 50 inch long. there is lots of room.

Hannibalcanibal · 08-25-13, 01:23 PM

A cal king should do fine in a forty gallon.

arcus · 08-25-13, 02:02 PM

36"x18" is the same as mine =)

Yeah, I feel like as long as he has enough room to straiten out along the length of the cage its good.

In 5 years or so when/if he can't stretch out all the way I'll get him a larger home. I wouldn't want my ceiling to so short I couldn't stand up all the way.

I'm sure for more active species larger, or smaller for less active, enclosures are fine. Just my opinion, and I welcome others input.

Mikoh4792 · 08-25-13, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arcus

Hey all, I was telling my friend about how I was going to redo my Cali Kingsnake enclosure in a few weeks, add some more fake plants more places to hide, more stuff to climb on and so on. The 1st thing he says is my 40 gal is too small for a cali kingsnake and i should get a bigger enclosure.

What do you guys think? He makes its sound like its cruel to keep him in such a small enclosure, I thought 40 gal was plenty. Is there a rule/standard for snake size/species vs enclosure size?

As always I appreciate your help.

A cali king could do fine in a 40 gallon, however I would give it something bigger. A 40 gallon is only 3 feet long, and cali kings usually mature to 3 feet and longer.

**EL Ziggy** · 08-25-13, 04:39 PM

Both my juvenile Cal King and MBK are in 40 gal vivs. I believe it would be fine for both their adult lives but I do plan on having a slightly larger custom enclosure built next year. They'll hopefully end up somewhere between 4 & 5ft so I want to give them plenty of room to stretch out.