Empty 130 gal tank - snake suggestions please

[Aaron_S]

I think it's cooler having a planted enclosure, properly set-up and then maybe adding a small snake to it. The small ones would be ideal since it won't destroy anything. It's why dart frogs tanks look and do so well.

[Akuma223]

I think having a group of garter snakes in a well planted and decorated tank that size would be real cool. A rat snake of some sort could do well in there too.

[EmbraceCalamity]

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

I think it's cooler having a planted enclosure, properly set-up and then maybe adding a small snake to it. The small ones would be ideal since it won't destroy anything. It's why dart frogs tanks look and do so well.

I would kill to have a really cool, well-planted frog viv (though I'd have trouble choosing between tree and dart frogs). They're the coolest setups in captivity, imo.

~Maggot

[jarich]

Originally Posted by Corey209

Well whenever I looked up live plants everyone just discouraged it no matter what snake it was but I don't know how well the snake would be able to burrow with plant roots unless it's potted.

Lots of people discourage it, but that doesn't mean it's true.

I have three different sized snakes with live plants and the plants are all doing very well (to the point that I have to trim them back). One of them is a very active 4.5 foot ball python, one a 5 foot GTP, and the other a Cali King. You just have to pick the right plants, and place them correctly. Now admittedly it doesn't work for big time diggers like monitors, or 20 foot snakes that weigh 200 pounds, but the majority of snakes are fine with live plants. Especially with a tank as large as a 130 gallon.

If you want any advice with planting enclosures just let me know Corey. I'd be happy to help.

[EmbraceCalamity]

Originally Posted by jarich

Lots of people discourage it, but that doesn't mean it's true.

I have three different sized snakes with live plants and the plants are all doing very well (to the point that I have to trim them back). One of them is a very active 4.5 foot ball python, one a 5 foot GTP, and the other a Cali King. You just have to pick the right plants, and place them correctly. Now admittedly it doesn't work for big time diggers like monitors, or 20 foot snakes that weigh 200 pounds, but the majority of snakes are fine with live plants. Especially with a tank as large as a 130 gallon.

If you want any advice with planting enclosures just let me know Corey. I'd be happy to help.

What kind of substrate do you use for your king? Do you have pics of your setup?

~Maggot

[jarich]

I'm not there today, but can get pictures tomorrow or Monday.

I use a mix of top soil and Eco earth, plus a small amount of sand. He likes to burrow a lot so the Eco earth and sand keep the top soil from compacting too much and getting hard.

[EmbraceCalamity]

Originally Posted by jarich

I'm not there today, but can get pictures tomorrow or Monday.

I use a mix of top soil and Eco earth, plus a small amount of sand. He likes to burrow a lot so the Eco earth and sand keep the top soil from compacting too much and getting hard.

Yeah, I would like to switch to something more natural looking than aspen, and I'd like to put in some live plants, but she burrows around so much it looks like an ant hill, so I didn't want to put something in that she couldn't burrow through. If you could PM me the pics or post them on my thread for her whenever you get them, it'd be appreciated.

~Maggot

[jarich]

Will do as soon as I get back

[Sophia'sSophia]

Originally Posted by Corey209

Well whenever I looked up live plants everyone just discouraged it no matter what snake it was but I don't know how well the snake would be able to burrow with plant roots unless it's potted.

I know I'm late to the party, but I would like to point out that there are indeed herps who can live amicably with plants. Little lizards, yes, but also ribbon snakes. Ribbons are too light and small to harm them. (Not sure about garters, never had experience with them.)

[guidofatherof5]

Originally Posted by Sophia'sSophia

I know I'm late to the party, but I would like to point out that there are indeed herps who can live amicably with plants. Little lizards, yes, but also ribbon snakes. Ribbons are too light and small to harm them. (Not sure about garters, never had experience with them.)

Certainly not trying to start an argument but Ribbons and Garters are both genus Thamnophis

[Sophia'sSophia]

Originally Posted by guidofatherof5

Certainly not trying to start an argument but Ribbons and Garters are both genus Thamnophis

Oh certainly, there's no fight in that! (Isn't that snake in your avatar a ribbon? No dark markings of a garter on it's lips that I can see) I just won't state anything I don't know with certainty... I personally would have no problem putting garters on plants, but since they're slightly wider than ribbons, and I have no experience, I make no claim.

I'm a bio-major, science has pounded an ideal into me: If you're going to state it as fact, you must know it to be true beyond reasonable doubt. (and iiiiii haaave alot of doubt )

[infernalis]

Somewhere in the history of the world, some event or another caused the ribbon snakes to evolve into what we now see, perhaps a large habitat flooded and only the garter snakes that could swim and climb due to lack of ground below them could thrive, then a few million years later the waters receded and a new subspecies was free to move out and spread their seed.

It's too bad no studies have been done to find out what event it was that caused this.

The California species have profoundly lounger tails than the east coast species, and much different colourings, being the geologically unstable place that the west coast is, it is feasible that drastic changes in environment could have isolated a group of snakes similar to the events on Galapagos have changed the tortoise groups.