Quote Originally Posted by drache View Post
while I am not in principle opposed to rack systems, I note that I often think of them as appropriate for species I have no experience with, and no desire to keep
I do think they are a great convenience for people who keep large amounts of animals, and they help to provide sanitary conditions in settings where that is needed
however - the argument that snakes don't have the urge to move unless something prompts them is just as anthropomorphic as the claim that they need branches - and perhaps not entirely accidental
according to my vet, obesity is in fact the #1 underlying cause in the majority of disorders affecting captive animals
isn't that because we expect them to live like us? (in cubicles or on a couch, with no exercise or appropriate diet, just as long as there is climate control)
we do all thrive in this setting too, don't we?
this has nothing to do with emotional states - it's basic physiology
in the wild, exercise is a built-in factor of feeding, and on a purely physiological level muscle tone is not entirely irrelevant to metabolism
and - "feelings" aside - there is a case to be made for the option to self-regulate
I don't think it kills a snake to be in a tub, and I don't know that they "miss" stimulation or exercise, and I do have one snake that might as well be housed in a tub
they do become more interesting when given the opportunity to move around; even my much more sedentary kings and hogs do more than lie around between meals
While your vet may say that, he also needs to take into account that the majority of pets he sees, the animals the statistic comes from, are dogs, cats, rodents, horses. Again social animals. While rodents are also prey animals they also have much more complex brains than a snake, which promotes things like problem solving and doing other "things" rather than just hiding.

I fail to see how understanding how a snake works is anthropomorphic? I don't live in a small cubicle or box, no healthy human does. This is because of the simple fact we are a higher thinking being, we require certain stimuli other than the basic needs of life in order to thrive. A healthy human needs mental as well as physical exercise daily, just as primates in a zoo are required to have enrichment items, because they are essential to a healthy animal.

Yes, I agree that exercise and food go hand in hand, the process of finding and catching food; however, from what I've seen and studied, snakes are some of the most efficient predators on earth, and their bodies don't exactly behave in the same way that other animals do. I really don't feel it's acceptable to compare a snake to the majority of the animals that we keep in the pet trade.

Observe your king/hogs in the enclosure. Take a look at what they are doing and study it closely, learn how to read the body language of the snake and what exactly it's after. The funny part is, as I was typing this last night my girlfriends ball python decided to slither out of his hide. Where did he go? He ended up wedging himself up along the upper lip of the showcase cage where he felt more secure, he spent all of about 5 minutes "out" and was quickly back into "hide" mode. He isn't afraid of humans, her cats, anything, however his instincts will tell him to spend his time hiding from possible danger.

-Mike