Big question about snakes!!
 

Okay so my parents are divorced and i REALLY want a pet snake my dad always says no pets but he agreed to a snake and my mom did too, we are building BIG enclosures in my closets(dads is around 2 ft wide and 5 ft long it will be sorta tall [2 ft or a bit more] and my moms house is around 2 ft wide by 4 ft ish long... but i would build a double story one with a little ladder for the snake to get up to make up for lack of space). I move from house week to week on fridays. The dilemma is i figured the snake would get stressed, are there any "tough/tolerant" snakes that dont get bigger than a redtail boa that would be okay with that? Any techniques for moving it to reduce the stress, its about a 15 minute drive in a car.... i have arouuunnddd.... a 150-200 dollar budget for a snake just to give the idea. oh and it would be my first snake, just keep that in mind. :shrug01:

p.s. with the snake type suggestion is there any wood/matereals that i should not use besides cedar? :confused:

In my opinion, if you are going to move the animal that much, maybe a reptile just isn't the right fit.

Agreed.... a weekly move would probably really stress out the animal. Everytime it got settled into it's enclosure it would get moved again.

well im gonna try to make them as similar as possabe :P yeah i kinda figured the stress would be a problem.

well im gonna try to make them as similar as possabe :P yeah i kinda figured the stress would be a problem.

Yeah, a snake wouldn't be your best option. My suggestion is get a rat. They are fairly tollerant of moving around, not inclined to bite and extremely intelligent. My wife and I raise rats as well as snakes. All of our rats are litter box trained (only go in thier cages), have free roam over the house while we are home and do not bite. I have only been bitten once by a rat and the only reason I got bit was because he had a seisure while I was holding him. Other than that I've never been bitten out of aggression, like how you'll get nailed by a hamster everytime you reach in its cage. As for intelligence, they are every bit as intelligent as a dog, yet can be as stubborn as a cat. With work they will learn thier names (although high pitched sounds like a whistle or click are usually prefered), can learn basic commands (come, stay, no, etc) as well as tricks (fetch, beg, walk on two legs, wave, etc).

Other than that, get a dog.

Is there any reason that the snake can't stay at one house (ideally your dad's since there's more room to build a tank)?

Snakes only need to be fed once a week, they don't "have" to be handled or even seem to really care. Why not, if you really want a snake, just leave it in one place, as a household pet, and spend time with it when you're over there?

Also depending on the species, not every snake is going to climb or use a "ladder" or a two story cage, so that might be a lot more hassle than you need. Just pick the bigger closet and stick with that.

Be careful about building it with wood. You'll need to line the bottom of the tank with something (melamine, plastic, or some sort of "tray"), otherwise water, pee, and poo will just soak straight into the wood and create a horrible, impossible to clean mess.

^True, but also take into account the size and species of the snake. Some snakes prefer more intimate surroundings. You would not want to put a baby corn snake in a 4-5ftx2ft cage unless you provide a LOT of hides, and even then it would probably be stressed. It would do best in a shoebox sized container with a couple hides. Even as adults a 4-5ftx2ft terrarium would be overkill. I keep my adults in 28-41qt tubs. Same goes for a lot of species that would be considered "beginner" snakes, like ball pythons or king/milk snakes. Intimate surroundings are usually better. If you're absolutely set on getting a snake, do your research and keep it at one house in an appropiate sized terrarium. There is a LOT more to keeping them than throwing them in a tank in the closet and leaving them.

Other than that, get a dog or a caged pet like a rat.

TO:dheideman
once my mom moves into a larger house that is the ideal idea. I wouldnt want to leave it at my dads because he leaves (out of state) almost every week i am at my moms house so if it got out that would be bad because he leaves the heat or AC off... Ill keep in mind to line the tray ^^

TO:AK907
Well my parents dont want rodents in the house unless they are dead :(
The tanks size... I was actually thinking about that. If i couldn't provide enough hides i could block off part of it with plexiglass,a piece of wood etc... and move it until the snake has the full tank, how would that be? oh and like when it has moved a significant amount i could add a hide or a plant...?
And i have two wonderful dogs at my moms house already ^^

Hope i got everybody :o

I would like to congratulate you on building your own enclosures, it being your first snake. I enjoy building my own too. I like to keep mine in settings that have hides, limbs & silk plants to depict a small piece of nature. I use cypress mulch for substrate, it's great for holding humidity & even if you get a snake that doesn't need humidity, they like to burrow under it. The idea of using plexiglass for a partition sounds like it would work really well. I keep some of my snakes in aquariums & have never had problems with any stressed since I provide a hide on the hot side & one on the cool side.

I don't have experience with moving snakes on a regular basis, so I can't help you there. If you have to go that route, maybe if you set up both enclosures as close to the same as possible your snake won't feel like he was moved, just taken out for exercise. Don't know if that would help in that situation, but it is a thought. Every snake is an individual with different personalities even within the same species, but I don't know off hand which would accept that kind of life the best. Good luck with your endeavor & keep us posted on your progress.