Opinions on my terrarium setup?

Hello! I'm new here and I recently made the decision to purchase a black rat snake. Long story short- my father found a 2/3 year old black rat snake in our workshop and he had left it in my personal work room in a box as a surprise. I was ecstatic considering my dad hadn't caught or brought around any snakes since I was maybe.... 10? Me and my dad have a really long history with black rat snakes so of course, they are my favorite and always bring back some of my best memories with him.

Unfortunately while I was out purchasing supplies, he had escaped his box enclosure back into our shop. No where to be found. I was a little heart broken but I did feel a little guilty keeping a wild caught snake. So having everything I needed except the snake I came here in search of one and got lucky and found one (It was difficult)! If everything goes according to plan I should have the little guy (a little over a year old) arriving Wednesday!

I do have a leopard gecko at home who I've had for 4 years now so I'm confident in my abilities to create comfortable enclosures but I wanted to get second opinions here since snakes obviously have different needs. I've ready plenty of manuals and did my best to follow those but now it's time for some real judgement!


It is a 40 gallon tank with a coconut shaving substrate, a large under tank heater, a thermostat and humidistat combo, two standard hides one on the hot side and one on the cool side, two live plants (Pothos & Peace Lilly), a home made water dish, three fake decorative plants and a large stick I harvested from a tree (not off the ground) that I soaked for two days, scrubbed until it was clean and let stand in the sun until it was dried through.



It has an appropriate locking top with a small door.



I purchased organic potting soil to put the plants in place and covered them with the coconut fiber. I trimmed the Pothos to give a better view if he decided to hide underneath. (To my knowledge pothos is not harmful to snakes)


I chose a Peace Lilly and Pothos because they are some of the best plants for air purification since I was unable to purchase a terrarium with front vents.


Are the clear aquarium stones okay in the bottom of his water bowl? I'm using them to weigh it down and give him a little friction.



One thing I was unsure of was if I needed to also get overhead heating? I've heard mixed opinions about needing both? I'm in South Carolina and our humidity level is naturally on the higher side (60%) and my work room has an independent heating/cooling unit so I can control room tep. pretty easy! I also bug down into the coconut fiber on the warm side of the tank to make sure the heat was getting through okay. Its nice and cozy! I'm not sure if this matters but I am keeping him as a pet and have no intentions to breed him.

That's all I can really think of at the moment! I may have missed a few things but I'm still looking forward to what you guys think!

Sorry for the small typos!

Hi there fellow upstate herper! First off, I REALLY like the design of this terrarium - I wish I had the design skills you have. It's gorgeous, I need to update my boa's tank to look like this.

I'm not too familiar with coconut shavings and how well they hold humidity, but I may recommend a bit of sphagnum moss mixed in the shavings. It might help to keep a decent humidity level.

One other thing - you may want a larger and slightly deeper water bowl, just because snakes tend to like to submerge under the water for a bit. The aquarium stones should be absolutely fine though.

Originally Posted by mcdanielj8

One other thing - you may want a larger and slightly deeper water bowl, just because snakes tend to like to submerge under the water for a bit. The aquarium stones should be absolutely fine though.

Thank you for the suggestions and the complements! I've loved to design terrariums since I was little and it definitely grew with me. This ones a little on the simpler side but I would't want to overwhelm him with too much. I'm already noticing a few little things I'll need to change since he's quite a bit larger than I was expecting!

I'll try out your tips though! Thanks again!

Originally Posted by mcdanielj8

One other thing - you may want a larger and slightly deeper water bowl, just because snakes tend to like to submerge under the water for a bit. The aquarium stones should be absolutely fine though.

I agree with adding a larger water dish; however, I suggest that you remove those stones. The snake may confuse them with eggs, which is part of their natural diet. Plus an overhead heat source is always a good idea for a diurnal animal. Give him a hot spot, if you see that he/she never uses it then just remove it. Coconut coir substrate with a uth and a screen lid is going to dry out extremely fast, adding sand; 50/50, will help with retaining moisture for longer periods of time. Anyway, hope this is of some help and good luck with your snake.

Sorry 2:1 coir/sand*