Re: Cages for Indigoes

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Posted by dan felice on November 16, 2001 at 04:49:32:

In Reply to: Re: Cages for Indigoes posted by Joe on November 15, 2001 at 23:32:26:

: Thanks Dan.
: Thats interesting. Maybe I should start thinking of a more vertical enclosure. I put some images of my new adult spilotes up at:

: http://www.herpnet.net/spilotes

: Joe

: :
: : : I have a new group of spilotes and am planning a new cage design for them. I thought I would ask what you Indigoe keepers do to house your large active snakes. What sort of general guidelines dictate length to cage dimension ratio? What do you do to ensure a thermal gradient, hide boxes, etc. Whats important and what would you do if you could provide any sort of enclosure? One thing that occurs to me is a definate choice so the snake can choose temp. humidity, etc.

: : : Joe

: : joe, i keep my spilotes in a converted china closet, the top of which is almost at ceiling height. mine rarely come down to the bottom of their tank and usually only for a drink or to pick off a mouse. spilotes do not compare easily to drymarchon as they are almost exclusively aboreal and they do better in a vertical tank where a temp gradient can naturally establish itself. they prefer mid 80's plus, branches to cruise on and a large water dish to help provide fair humidity. mine just lay on the uppermost branches and do not really use their hidebox very much at all. although they can attain great length, i'd would say that spilotes overall are practically dainty in comparision to the size and movements of cribo/indigos. spilotes strike me more [no pun intended] as precision snakes. they look over a situation real good before they make a move. my cribos do just the opposite, shooting from the hips and asking questions later. good luck, they're pretty cool snakes.

joe, that's the way to go. your animals will appreciate it and consequentially act a lot more naturally. this will be far more interesting to you as their keeper also as opposed to them just laying/hiding in a horizontal tank. another advantage is that i removed the bottom portion [used that for something else] and screwed the upper section [completely glassed front] to the wall up high. make sure you hit studs and do all your ventilating and prep work before you hang. in doing this i ended up w/ a large killer display w/ a built in glass door and didn't lose a square inch of floor space. worked out really well and the spilotes love it up there as they are kinda shy despite their ferocious reputation. mine are really settled in now and are not stand-offish any longer. they think their up in a tree out of reach.lol.the hardest part for you will be talking the little woman into giving up her china closet.i ended up grabbing one someone had put out at the curb. good luck.

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: : : Thanks Dan. : : Thats interesting. Maybe I should start thinking of a more vertical enclosure. I put some images of my new adult spilotes up at: : : http://www.herpnet.net/spilotes : : Joe : : : : : : : I have a new group of spilotes and am planning a new cage design for them. I thought I would ask what you Indigoe keepers do to house your large active snakes. What sort of general guidelines dictate length to cage dimension ratio? What do you do to ensure a thermal gradient, hide boxes, etc. Whats important and what would you do if you could provide any sort of enclosure? One thing that occurs to me is a definate choice so the snake can choose temp. humidity, etc. : : : : Joe : : : joe, i keep my spilotes in a converted china closet, the top of which is almost at ceiling height. mine rarely come down to the bottom of their tank and usually only for a drink or to pick off a mouse. spilotes do not compare easily to drymarchon as they are almost exclusively aboreal and they do better in a vertical tank where a temp gradient can naturally establish itself. they prefer mid 80's plus, branches to cruise on and a large water dish to help provide fair humidity. mine just lay on the uppermost branches and do not really use their hidebox very much at all. although they can attain great length, i'd would say that spilotes overall are practically dainty in comparision to the size and movements of cribo/indigos. spilotes strike me more [no pun intended] as precision snakes. they look over a situation real good before they make a move. my cribos do just the opposite, shooting from the hips and asking questions later. good luck, they're pretty cool snakes. : joe, that's the way to go. your animals will appreciate it and consequentially act a lot more naturally. this will be far more interesting to you as their keeper also as opposed to them just laying/hiding in a horizontal tank. another advantage is that i removed the bottom portion [used that for something else] and screwed the upper section [completely glassed front] to the wall up high. make sure you hit studs and do all your ventilating and prep work before you hang. in doing this i ended up w/ a large killer display w/ a built in glass door and didn't lose a square inch of floor space. worked out really well and the spilotes love it up there as they are kinda shy despite their ferocious reputation. mine are really settled in now and are not stand-offish any longer. they think their up in a tree out of reach.lol.the hardest part for you will be talking the little woman into giving up her china closet.i ended up grabbing one someone had put out at the curb. good luck.

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Re: Cages for Indigoes

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