Tank setup (looong)

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Rat Snake Forum ]

Posted by hotshot on September 25, 2002 at 10:54:02:

In Reply to: help!!! !@$*)(*&$%*)*# posted by jack-skellington on September 24, 2002 at 19:40:08:

Jack
I would use a 20 gallon long vivarium. Can get these at most pet stores or even Wal-Mart. As far as substrate, I have had best results with shredded aspen. Dont use cedar, as the natural oils in cedar is toxic to snakes. I usually put about an inch of aspen in the bottom of the vivarium before I put the rest of the stuff in the tank. Aspen is easy to clean up, it soaks up the watery part of the snakes poo.
I wouldnt use dirt from outside. Too many parasites can be introduced that way and it would be hard to clean up. You will have to clean any feces out of the cage as soon as you can after a snake does it business. If you dont, it will start to smell and will be very unsanitary for you and your snake.

You will need a minimum of one hide, and that is on the cool side of the tank. Optimum is 2 hides, one on both ends of the tank. I use the plastic water dish (used for large flower pots), or plastic flower pots. Cut out a half circle shape in the lip of the pot and put it in the cage upside down for a hide. Again, cheap and easy to clean.

A water dish big enough for the snake to soak in when it wants to, but stable enough so that the snake wont flip it while getting in/out and while shedding. I usually get mine either at the dollar store or again at Wal-Mart. The hefty platstic ones are really good, easy to clean, come in a variety of colors, and cheap to boot.

A source of heat at the warm end of the tank. I have found that a normal dry electric heating pad,(again at Wal-mart, maybe I need to buy stock! LOL), with 3 different settings makes the best UTH. What I like about them is they dont stick to the bottom of the tank, so when you wash the tank you dont have to worry about getting your UTH wet. It is thick and comes with a cloth cover, so when it gets dirty you throw the cover in the washer. It is also big enough so you can put 2 tanks end to end on it and heat two tanks with one pad! The cost of the last one I bought was around $9 or $10.

You can also put a light on top to get the ambient air temps up if you need to. I have a 40 watt light bulb on the warm end of the tank, and it keeps the air temp nice and warm.

You will need a temp guage on both ends as well. Place them as close to the floor of the enclosure as possible. That way you will get the temp reading where the snake spends most of his time, on the floor.

You will also need a top with some kind of latching system. Snakes are notorious escape artists. I use the screen type top that has a metal frame. These fit nicely on top of a vivarium, and I use the metal clip fasteners. These clip onto the screen top and lock on the top lip of the tank. They will fit with a little play, and I bent mine a little to make them "snap" on and fit tight.

You will also need to put something in the cage for the snake to rub on while shedding. What I did, was found a nice fairly flat rock with a rough composition. I placed these on the warm end of the tank (laying down) so the snake could use it while shedding. The snakes seem to enjoy them too, because sometimes when I go into the snake room, I find one or two laying on their rocks. Mainly in the mornings or right after I have fed them.

Hope this helps,and anyone if I have left anything out.....
Brian Baker

:i caught a snake sunday....and i was pretty sure it was a rat snake...but then i read up on racers, and it said that racers will rattle their tails in leaves, to scare off enemies....and when i was catching it, that exactly what it did. so it kinda threw me off, and the thing is...a black rat snake, and a black racer, look almost exactly the same (from the pics ive seen) so i was wondering...do i need to know what kind it is, before i properly setup the tank? or will a basic tank setup work for both snakes (by basic i mean dirt...plants...rocks..places for it to hide...big water dish) let me know...and also please tell me if theres any major differences between the snakes.

Follow Ups: