THE ESSENTIALS

Everything you need to know is wrapped up into one statement - Research the needs of each and every snake you own. Every species is different, there's no standard set of rules for all snakes. You need to find out their preferred and/or necessary temperature, humidity, privacy, and feeding requirements. Don't guess at, or take for granted, any of these details-do your homework. There's a lot of snakes that would thrive in mid 80 degree temps, normal household humidity levels, moderate handling, and regular weekly feedings, these are usually called "great snakes for beginners". But if you buy a snake that doesn't fit this profile, your well meaning efforts to do the right thing could cost your pet it's health/life ! Not all snakes can tolerate handling (or even a lot of close looking). Not all snakes can tolerate weekly feedings. While high humidity could kill some snakes, low humidity will kill others (or at least have you running to the vet). The bottom line is - DO YOUR HOMEWORK.

THE BASICS

A clean cage A clean cage is a must for any reptile you own. Always keep your eyes open when it comes to you snake cages. Soiled cages or spilled water bowls are probably the biggest threat to your snake's health. Some snakes will defecate inside their hide box and then just lay in it until you discover it. Some snakes will actually make your job easier by defecating in their water bowl. This will keep your cage clean longer and all you have to do is clean the water dish (or throw it away if you use disposable plastic dishes).

Clean water Clean water is a must! Don't ever leave dirty water in your cages. If you don't have time to clean the dish when you notice that it's dirty, just remove it and wash it later. The use of throw-away water bowls totally eliminates the laziness factor; we all know we can be lazy at times. I buy mine at a restaurant supply store.

Temperature Not only is the proper temp important but a good gradient is as well. If you have a snake that thrives in 85-90 degrees, for instance, make sure he has an area in his enclosure in the 78-80 degree range so he can get away from the heat if desired. This is easy to do. Just put your heat source at one end of the cage instead of right in the center. A little common sense helps, too. Don't buy a 2ft. heat tape for a cage that's only 2-2 1/2 ft. long. A lot of keepers favor one kind of heat source and won't use anything else. I use a variety of heat sources and they all work well for me. I have some cages that have radiant heat panels screwed to the inside ceiling. These are connected to a Bio-Stat to control the temp. I also use heat tapes with dimmer switches taped to the outside of the bottom of some cages. On some of my arboreal cages I just use a light dome since tree boas wouldn't make much use of a heat tape. The light domes and the Bio-Stat both provide a night time temp drop too. One last thing; once you have your temps within range, re-check them periodically. You'll never know if , for some odd reason, the temps are way too high or low if you don't double check them. On the more temperature-sensitive species like emerald tree boas I keep a digital thermometer in each cage. Better safe than sorry!

Feeding Always research your snakes feeding requirements. Some snakes can be fed ever 4-5 days while some should only be fed every 2-3 weeks. If your going to buy a baby snake, read up on it to find out their reputation. A lot of snakes are known to be problem feeders when young. A snake that eats frogs and lizards in the wild might starve to death before being willing to eat any type of rodent. Wild-caught/imported ball pythons, for instance, are notorious for not eating for 3-6 months, sometimes longer!

A FINAL THOUGHT

I would just like to urge you to take your snakekeeping serious. If you read any books or magazines there's one word you'll see repeatedly-HUSBANDRY. Husbandry is a big word, big in meaning. Husbandry is much more than care taking. A husbandman is a cultivator who grows and manages a garden. Our job as a snake keeper is to be a husbandman. A caretaker of a garden does what? he waters, weeds, and maybe does a little picking and pruning. But a husbandman measures and plans the garden. Decides where the most beneficial location would be. He then marks it off and breaks ground. He conditions the soil, sows the seed, nurses the seedlings. This is our job as herpetoculturists; to cultivate our herps. Our reptiles depend on us for everything. We are in total control of their entire environment. Husbandry is also a biblical word; God is known as the husbandman of the world! This is an awfully huge role we're playing, let's not take it lightly!

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