FaunaClassifieds - View Single Post - Shy Cali king Hatchling
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Old 02-28-2018, 06:38 PM   #7
hotlips
Yes, it might have been too chilly, that will put a snake off food too, for sure.
It's very hard to advise online exactly what heating equipment you need, as all of our houses (& their ambient temperatures) are different, & cages vary a lot. But be sure to have one hide that's in the warm (UTH) area, because if snakes are faced with a choice between "more security" (hide box) or the right amount of warmth, they'll choose the security even if it's too cold.

One thing that can help in a cool room is to use a good-sized shallow box-lid, one that covers most of the substrate including where the UTH heat rises from the floor. Cut a couple small doorways into the box & essentially, your snake has a 2-story home, the first floor of which is warmer inside the box lid where the heat spreads out, & on top of the box (the "2nd floor") you can have other furnishings too. (they appreciate & NEED traction- plain cardboard is slippery) If the box lid takes up most of the floor, you can cut a round hole in it to set the water bowl in. (there used to be commercially available hides that used this design, but I haven't seen them for many years) One thing I've always loved about keeping snakes is being creative to keep them comfortable & behaving as natural as possible. Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it. When you pay close attention to snakes, they pretty much tell you what they need.

One of the funniest things I did was to make cardboard mazes out of shoe box lids for when a pair of Trans Pecos rat snake hatchlings were shipped to me at the start of winter. They hadn't been fed yet, they hatched very late, so it was either I receive them unfed or wait until spring. I wasn't a bit worried, I've bred & raised them & many other kinds before, so I chose to have them shipped "right out of their eggs". They were hilarious peeking out of the maze "doorways". They out-grew them of course, but while they were small & new to my care, they felt "in control", able to fully hide when they wanted to. In the long run, it made them braver. Since they are rat snakes, they are more into climbing now that they're adults, and their cages have branches to which I've wired a basket also. Turns out they love to be up in the air & often sleep in those baskets...it's awfully cute, I'm glad I thought to try that. (they have warm & cool hides on the floor too, they just like variety?)