Most basic enclosure

[Atlas511]

Can you guys post some pics of you most basic set ups. Or the basic breeding setups. thanks guys.

[Hollis_Steed]

Here is my very basic set up. I bought the aquariums at a local second hand store. Pretty basic

[infernalis]

I will dig up photos later....

The most basic set up, minimal requirements to keep your snake healthy is.

1. escape proof enclosure - poly tote with locking lid or aquarium with screen top and locking clips.

2. Substrate - Newspaper, paper towels or if you prefer - Aspen, coconut fiber, bark, pellets, corn cob or cage carpet.

3. a water bowl, big enough that the snake can climb in if it wants. Dog food bowls with openings on the bottom can double as a hide as well.

4. a hide - a nice secure place for your snake to chill out and get away from it all.

5. heat gradient, an UTH at one end or a basking light. Although these are not absolutely necessary, it is the preferred method of many keepers.

6. Lighting, since garter snakes are diurnal (daytime snakes) they like a nice overhead light to keep it well lit during the daytime.


Surely other will add to or correct my suggestions.
then just go from there.

[Atlas511]

do the totes work best? I was considering switching mine to a tote. and points on what needs to be done to the tote i.e. air holes, screen? ect?

[infernalis]

The most effective way to put air holes in a tote without cracking it, Buy a cheap soldering iron, heat it up and push it through the tote.

A small row of holes on each side of the tote is all you need.

also, make sure the lid secures tight, some totes have loose fitting lids, and the snakes can wedge themselves into the crack and either escape or break their own necks.

[Atlas511]

The most effective way to put air holes in a tote without cracking it, Buy a cheap soldering iron, heat it up and push it through the tote.

A small row of holes on each side of the tote is all you need.

also, make sure the lid secures tight, some totes have loose fitting lids, and the snakes can wedge themselves into the crack and either escape or break their own necks.


any pics?

[ConcinusMan]

Setup for Amy. 10 gallon slide lock reptile tank. Reptibark/coconut fiber "forest mix" type substrate, real dry moss, dollar store plants, the rock looking thing is plastic, hollow, and it's her favorite place, and only hide. Plastic water dish in left rear corner. No lighting for her, she's albino and hates it. I use a 60 watt ceramic heat emitter. You can get these screened tanks in various sizes. I buy them when they appear on craigslist and I never pay more than $1 per gallon. In fact, someone right now is selling 20 gallon's for $15, 10 gallons for $5. I also picked up the dome lights for $5. Most expensive part of this setup is the heat emitter bulb and the remote probe thermometer to monitor the temp in her hide. The setup and decor itself was dirt cheap.
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/8185/gedc1584.jpg

Got this 55 gallon in trade for a 4 foot pueblan milk snake, paid $30 for the top, $2 for the liner, the log was river driftwood (free), dollar store plants, re-purposed plastic packaging for a water dish. Florescent lamp was $10 at a garage sale and holds 3 X 18-inch tubes. It houses my largest Oregon Red-spotted garters.

In front of it is a 20 gallon set up in much the same manor, cardboard box for a hide. My smallest snakes (T. ordinoides and 2 subadult T.s.concinnus) live in that one.

For the non-albino sun-loving snakes, I use ceramic heat emitters and florescents or else I use a full spectrum basking bulb. Bulbs are by far the most expensive thing. Everything else I use was very cheap.

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5407/gedc1582q.jpg

[tspuckler]

1) 10 gallon tank with screen lid and lid locking clips.

2) Dirt substrate with layer of leaves and bark on top
(there are a wide variety of substrates that will work).

3) Water dish

4) Hide area
(in this case the black plastic box off to the right)

5) Natural light from window

6) Undertank heat pad that heats half of hidebox
(so the snakes can be hidden and either heated or unheated).

In this enclosure I also have a potted plant, but it's not necessary.

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii204/tspuckler/babycruz-1.jpg

[ConcinusMan]

Another pic:

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/5253/gedc1578.jpg

I've looked at expensive enclosures and I really don't care much for them. I actually prefer my cheap, screened glass enclosures. These could easily be enhanced to look really nice by using fir bark substrate and cork bark background or or artificial rock backgrounds and I do intend to do that after the babies are born. Right now I'm using liners which are easy to remove and clean. I'll be housing the babies in plastic totes and/or 10-20 gallon screen top tanks I have in my garage.

[mtolypetsupply]

My most basic set ups are the tubs. While cheap, and secure, I do NOT like them for garters at ALL. I much prefer tanks with lids. Due to space constraints, and energy efficiency, the tubs do work out, with a little extra caution.

Garters are a much more, um, *energetic* snake than many others, and I have had them try to leap out of the tub as soon as I crack open the lids, many times.

If you are going to use tubs, I suggest:

1. ONLY ONE snake per tub, no matter how big. That way, if you have one hand on the lid, you have one hand to catch the resident.

2. Use ONLY ONE hide. You don't want to be looking in multiple hides and have your snake get loose leaping out of the hide you *weren't* looking in.

3. Use newspaper as a substrate. Loose thick substrate is fun for them, but again, while you're digging through it on one end, they can slither under and leap out the other side.

4. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL WITH MAKING HOLES when you have juvies or babies. It's much better to have a zillion small holes that they couldn't possibly fit through, than having one get stuck, or escape through larger holes.

If I had unlimited room, I'd have enclosures for all of them that not only provide floor space, but climbing space and a pool area. They seem to LOVE to climb, burrow, swim, guess they're truly the athletes of the snake world!

If you don't have to worry about space, the larger the enclosure, the better, in my opinion. Give them plenty of space and "furniture" in which to hide or on which to climb. Also, enough room in the "pool" to soak and "swim" (ok, wiggling in place isn't exactly swimming, but it's better than a small drinking only bowl).


:)

[mustang]

im the oppostite of this thread, why go basic when you could go EXTREME !!!!!!!! hope it goes well

[ConcinusMan]

My most basic set ups are the tubs. While cheap, and secure, I do NOT like them for garters at ALL. I much prefer tanks with lids. Due to space constraints, and energy efficiency, the tubs do work out, with a little extra caution.

Garters are a much more, um, *energetic* snake than many others, and I have had them try to leap out of the tub as soon as I crack open the lids, many times.

If you are going to use tubs, I suggest:

1. ONLY ONE snake per tub, no matter how big. That way, if you have one hand on the lid, you have one hand to catch the resident.

2. Use ONLY ONE hide. You don't want to be looking in multiple hides and have your snake get loose leaping out of the hide you *weren't* looking in.

3. Use newspaper as a substrate. Loose thick substrate is fun for them, but again, while you're digging through it on one end, they can slither under and leap out the other side.

4. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL WITH MAKING HOLES when you have juvies or babies. It's much better to have a zillion small holes that they couldn't possibly fit through, than having one get stuck, or escape through larger holes.

If I had unlimited room, I'd have enclosures for all of them that not only provide floor space, but climbing space and a pool area. They seem to LOVE to climb, burrow, swim, guess they're truly the athletes of the snake world!

If you don't have to worry about space, the larger the enclosure, the better, in my opinion. Give them plenty of space and "furniture" in which to hide or on which to climb. Also, enough room in the "pool" to soak and "swim" (ok, wiggling in place isn't exactly swimming, but it's better than a small drinking only bowl).


:)

All good points. I do have some experience with raising concinnus litters so I think I'll manage. There are many pitfalls that you can have with tiny babies that you wouldn't have with adults. One of them being that when they get wet they can and do scale vertical walls. Also, when they are just born and still not the strongest, they can drown in their water dish. I keep it very shallow such as a cottage cheese lid, and line it with pebbles. I do not use newspaper however. I'll be using fine aspen shavings. Babies get stuck between layers of newspaper. The aspen is easier to keep an area moist and an area dry too.

[The Snake Whisperer]

I ended up duct taping the lids shut all the way around after I had a number of garter brats figure out they could push up a corner of a lid enough to slip out. Babies especially can go through some really small spaces.

With plastic containers, I drill holes in the top and sides with a fine enough size drill bit that baby garters cannot squeeze through them. If the substrate in a plastic container is damp in more than just the area around a water container, or if the sides become fogged up, that's a sure sign that there's not enough air circulation getting through it, and more air holes need to be added.

[ConcinusMan]

Don't use duct tape anywhere near a garter enclosure, especially the way you did. Heat and time causes the tape to come loose and if the snakes come in contact with it, you'll never get them unstuck. I lost a garter that way, by taping the lid. Couldn't get the snake unstuck and I had to euthanize it. There are plenty of inexpensive plastic containers you could use that are escape proof, you only need to add screened holes for air.

As far as air goes, you're better off with large holes with a fine screen placed over them. A method for doing that is somewhere here in the forum, if anyone knows where it is, please show us. You're right, the containers shouldn't be fogging up.

Don't use duct tape under any circumstances, especially to close gaps that the snakes know about. They will get stuck on the tape! I know you think they can't but when it happens you'll be sorry.

[mtolypetsupply]

I've had garters get stuck to things, and yes, avoid anything sticky, if at all possible. One of my enclosures had a broken flower pot as a hide, and apparently it had had a sticker on it. I had washed the pot dozens of times, and the spot where the label had been was never sticky. I don't know what happened, but one day I found a puget stuck where the residue was! I guess time, warmth, humidity etc. all conspired against the little one to make this little trap.

Fortunately, baby oil worked famously in separating the garter from the flower pot. Pour some on, let it soak, work around the edges, add more oil, let them soak, work around the edges, etc. It only took about 15 min to free him.

:)

[Spankenstyne]

Olive oil works fantastic as well for getting snakes "unstuck" from tape and those sticky pads used for catching pests. It has saved many a freedom seekers life in my buddy's reptile store.