There are many reptile products on the market today that can help you heat your snake cage. Just make sure they are completely thawed before you feed them to your pet rat snake. h�b``�c``2f ��9���Y8������!������A#�.����:d��0���3�}�Ԙ6�Q'�@��� �Gy © 2019, ReptileKnowledge.com. 39 0 obj <>stream A bark or mulch substrate should be used to maintain humidity, and several climbing branches should be used. I don't work for them, nor am I getting paid to plug their products. In order to build your own cage, you would have to know a lot about (A) rat snakes and (B) carpentry -- if you wanted to build a proper cage, at least. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Over 100 pages of corn snake care advice, in e-book format. It relies on its environment for heat. You don't need to buy any special UVB bulbs for your rat snake. ��c`��g��d"0z�8��lJ5��n�N䇚5�S:�t�Q!D�������-J Adults will generally take f/t rodents, but wild-caught individuals may only accept birds. Family of the rat snake circle can have strips, marks, or a mixture of stripes and spots; even unicolored types can be created. We will talk about caging, heating, feeding and more. Feed the snake. Incubation time at 79°F is approximately 3 months (97-106 days). Species Background/Natural History: This is a diurnal, arboreal species, usually found in trees and bushes bordering mangrove swamps and the banks of rivers. Your rat snake cannot warm itself from within, the way humans can. Despite the name, the tail can also be lavender or gray-blue. So when you keep a rat snake as a pet, you must duplicate this in some way. Rat snakes can be pretty active, and this amount of floor space will give them plenty of room to move around.

King Rat Snake. I've written an entire article on the subject of snake hides, so I don't plan to repeat it all here. You can even put it on a timer so that it comes on for about ten hours a day. But that doesn't mean these snakes are hard to care for in captivity. There are also naturally occurring “silver” and “orange” colored morphs from Java, Indonesia. For my baby snakes, I like to use small glass terrariums with a single heat lamp on top, offset toward one side of the cage to create a temperature gradient. If you offer a meal like this every seven days or so, you're in good shape. So it can easily get bitten and injured. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. This makes life a lot easier for you, as the keeper. All color variants have large, green eyes and a black tongue with blue-striped edges. Of course, if you're like me and want to recreate the natural world for your snake as closely as possible, then you might want to use a UVB light bulb. If you want your pet rat snake to be as healthy as possible, you need to duplicate this within the captive environment. Humidity and Water: 80-90% - Daily spraying helps maintain humidity and also provides water droplets for drinking (arboreal species sometimes do not drink from water bowls). Your snake is widest in the middle of its body, so try to offer rodents that are about the same girth, or slightly larger than that. Heating and Lighting: A light source is not required, but under-tank heating is recommended. "�%�V���� �tld;��Ͽ�0"|…GD@��:Nl�'� >��"�Y � wl���{>�.�e�w�|"����{�ɒ,7�\�K�bF��M��P�PE They frequently raid bird nests, but are also capable of catching birds in flight. Let's continue on with our rat snake care sheet to discuss another important cage consideration. Let's talk about the cage itself. If the room where the cage sits gets a lot of natural light from windows, this might be all you need. Offer frozen / thawed rodents. Handling your new pet: Gonyosoma are renowned for having a poor temperament. Mike Morgan, Rose Thompson/Shutterstock. Easy! They've truly thought of everything when designing their reptile cages. I recommend one of the first two choices. © 2019, Brandon Cornett | All rights reserved. %%EOF In this care sheet, we will focus on those snakes that are native to the United States. We will talk about caging, heating, feeding and more. Autumn Re, Autumn Re. They might benefit from such exposure, but they don't necessarily need it to survive. This is another important element of rat snake care, and it will help you keep your pet healthy for years to come. There are dozens or rat snake species that can be found all over the world. King Rat snakes, also known as a "Stinking Goddess" this is because they have highly developed post-anal scent glands, when the snake is scared or frightened they are emptied and release very strong odour that can linger.

Up until now, our rat snake care sheet has focused on the cage itself and how you would heat it. You can feed babies a little more often, and adults a little less often. Any ‘typical’ snake cage can be used, with a thirty-gallon aquarium being adequate for an adult. In most cases, red-tailed racers tend to be shy and thus do not make for good display animals. This is the pattern I've been using for many years. How you control the temps in your snake's cage is not that important, as long as you achieve the proper temps in the cage.