How to Setup Terrarium for Checkered Garters?

[guidofatherof5]

I use many things(branches, rocks) from the wild but they get baked for a long time.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

>Works OK if you want to "warehouse" a lot of snakes.

I currently have 2 racks that used to house 30+ snakes. I am now down to about a dozen.

> How are providing the necessary heat and light in a plastic shoe box?

Heated Rack system, heat tape and lighted room with timer

>Breeding doesn't just "happen". It's induced by changes of the season. They must come out of a winter period thinking it's spring.

I did the cooling thing this year. Had to bring them out because I found mites. This is my 3rd year with these garters and 2nd trying to breed them, I got 1 single baby and LOTS of slugs

>As tempting as it may be to substitute items from outside, I wouldn't recommend it.

I NEVER use ANYTHING from the "wild", never have and never will

yes, I agree it's definitely possible to meet all of a snake's needs with a plastic tub! The tubs make it easier to control temps and humidity. But they don't work very well for more active snakes that want to have stuff to explore and enjoy, as you have come here to point out!

I don't think you want to create a totally naturalistic viv that mimics outside... I think you are just looking to give them a setup that's a bit more stimulating to their senses... am I correct?

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Oh, and here are some pictures of some cages I have done for my snakes... because I am all about making them happy!



Converted a tub into a cage!







they just LOVE these hanging tubes!

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

It's really very simple to throw together tanks that look and feel somewhat natural, but are a cinch to tear apart and clean!







I hope these are able to help you in some way!

[ConcinusMan]

>Works OK if you want to "warehouse" a lot of snakes.

I currently have 2 racks that used to house 30+ snakes. I am now down to about a dozen.

> How are providing the necessary heat and light in a plastic shoe box?

Heated Rack system, heat tape and lighted room with timer

>Breeding doesn't just "happen". It's induced by changes of the season. They must come out of a winter period thinking it's spring.

I did the cooling thing this year. Had to bring them out because I found mites. This is my 3rd year with these garters and 2nd trying to breed them, I got 1 single baby and LOTS of slugs

>As tempting as it may be to substitute items from outside, I wouldn't recommend it.

I NEVER use ANYTHING from the "wild", never have and never will

Good answers. Forgive me if I sounded condescending. Your first 2 posts in this thread sounded kinda "newbie". It really sounded like you didn't have much of a clue. I stand corrected.

I use many things(branches, rocks) from the wild but they get baked for a long time.

I must backpedal a bit and say...

There are 2 things I have used from outside with no problems. Cured driftwood from the Columbia river (scrubbed well and scalded) and several species of moss collected from cool, moist rocks in the shade. Both of these items never have presented a problem when they are kept fairly dry in a viv. It's always a bit of a risk to see it it works out, but those items collected from the NW USA seem to work fine.

I suppose it's a matter of taste and space. Those viv's pictured above would be a little too cluttered for my taste. On the other hand, they don't need to be too barren. There are several species of live plants that would probably do well but It's just not worth it to me. I can't seem to find the right plant that can tolerate the light levels and temperature ranges year 'round.

I was only suggesting that you can make it complicated or you can make it simple. Either way can look natural and still make your snakes comfortable. As you can see, more clutter or not, the basic principle is what I was getting at and is presented in those pictures.

[DIRK]

@aSnakeLovinBabe

wow, your tanks look great. Especially the second picture is cool..
Well done....

[gregmonsta]

As stated .... it is all a matter of taste. I've stuck mostly with plastic plants and ceramic structures that have a natural look.

This is one of my older set-ups



And another



And here's what I ended up 'upgrading' too





They actually look a bit bare there .... I've added more hanging Ivies and different hides since these pics.

[drache]

cool hanging cardboard rolls - I've got a number of snakes that will love those

my set-ups are semi . . .
I use cage carpet because it's endlessly reusable - it does shrink a little with repeated washing
I do use a lot of branches, cork bark, broken terra cotta flower pots, and fake plants
I do use found stuff sometimes, as well as stuff from plant nurseries; that stuff either gets baked or soaked in chlorhexidine
when I clean, I soak furnishings in a chlorhexidine solution and rinse hot; the carpet just gets replaced
with the smaller tanks I take the snakes out, and with the bigger ones I just roll up half the carpet, clean, roll down the fresh, and proceed to the other half after moving the snakes to the clean side - they're pretty much used to that

at this time only my kings and hogs get burrowing substrate (currently aspen) and that gets treated with provent-a-mite before it ever gets into the cages

here's a couple of pics of set-ups





even though that second cage looks cluttered, it only has a handful of items in it that are easily removed

[guidofatherof5]

All beautiful set-ups.

[Mommy2many]

I love everybody's setups! gets the imagination going; now if the money was there to back it up

I used to have live plants in my snake homes but I have recently switched to silk plants because I was also dealing with an insect problem. Not sure if they were mites (they were very small and white). I treated all homes and every snake had a bath. Baked all substrate, etc. Still they came back from somewhere. Bought new plants. Only thing I could think of was the live plants, so now they are gone.

Haven't seen a re-occurence as of yet, hope not to! Good luck with what ever you get set up. All of mine seem to love the silk pothos to hang in and bask under the lamp on.