My Story: Storeria dekayi

[Herp Derp]

They aren't the kind in the water. Enchytraeus albidusis the latin name. another type would be Enchytraeus buchholzi or Grindal worms which are slightly bigger than the white worms. In either case some aquarists will make cultures (container with dirt and a piece of bread soaked in water,/milk or yogurt is what is normally used, but i'm sure you can feed the worms other things) of these worms to feed their fish and small fry.

[joeysgreen]

THis thread sure took off. I'm not sure I'll address all the points:
Grindel worms; I culture these in my enclosures but they are hard to harvest. I would have them and any variety of detritovores in the substrate of a storeria cage; most certainly if offspring were expected.
150gallon; you may never see your snake, but it would be so happy. Having several snakes inside may favor sightings. You could also include various cover that can be flipped to visualize your snake. Note; big cages don't overwhelm small snakes - big, empty/poorly thought out cages overwhelm small snakes.
Self-sustaining - remember the food triangle. One 10g snake needs a culture of 1000 g's of prey items to live, which in need 10,000g's of plants material... You either have to feed the snake, or it's food, or that food; not to mention the waste and water cycle... Even the wilderness outdoors is in constant flux and battle to be self- sustaining.
Heart and resp. rate normal ranges are variable with temperature and metabolic rate. I'd expect to see HR's of 40-70bpm and 5-15 resp.rate. Outside of these ranges I still wouldn't worry unless something is clearly out of sorts.

Ian

[Herp Derp]

Not sure what to tell you about the throwing up thing. Maybe too much water. If it continues then there could be a problem.
As a rule sheds are longer then the actual snake.
Can't answer your last question. Sorry.

Ah ty for that bit of info, I first estimated a writhing snake next to a tape measure to be about 13", the shed measures 15"... is there a "safe" way to measure, as I did not want to pull or hold the snake by the tail. They really dont like to stay still when you want to measure them.

[guidofatherof5]

Sometimes it comes down to applying a little force to them.
There is also a snake measuring widget out there. Looks like they kept it up to date for the newer browsers. Don't know much about it.
Serpwidgets - Snake Measurer

[Herp Derp]

EXCELLENT!!!!
Ian Thank you enormously for the info. 10g snake= 1000g food = 10000gs of food for food lol , so that is in a years cycle? I'm trying to narrow down how much food (slugs or worms) per day. OR should I only be feeding twice a week or weekly? As of now I'm feeding from 4-10 slugs a day... I think I'm going to need a gram scale when I get the chance.
If I make that 150g a vivarium, I will definitely plan it out.
Since grindal worms are in your enclosure its very tough to harvest... but I think if you put a piece of bread or any food source they will eat, under a piece of glass or something it will be easier to harvest for you. if you youtube them you will see how they kind of just stick to the piece of glass.
If I make that 150g a vivarium, I will definitely plan it out, I tend to overthink sometimes because I dont want to make a mistake so it will take a while before I attempt this vivarium.
As for wastes... wouldn't the worms(nightcrawlers, grindal +/or white worms, Aporrectodea rosea) help break it down?
Water cycle I think I could figure out or have that as one of the minor maintenance.
It will probably end up more like a trial and error thing to see what will work.

[joeysgreen]

Herp, my computer is sluggish on these forums so I have to keep my posts to a minimum. The concepts I am bringing up are a lot more indepth than they may first appear. For example, the water cycle. Water is a wonderful thing, it waters plants, provides drinking opportunities, replenishes wetlands, washes away wastes... wait a minute? How can it wash away wastes when you've contained it in an aquarium? Water in the environment drains down into the water table, or flows into the river system, evaporates via standing water or plant respiration. All of this can't be contained in an aquarium, hence you need a flow through system. I"ll get back to that in a second.
The 10g snake, 1000g food, 10000g plant was an example, not a definitive number. Recall junior high ecology; if any one layer of the food pyramid is depleted the whole thing collapses. So if your snake eats your slugs faster than they can reproduce then your snake will starve. If your slugs reproduce too fast then your plants will die, starving your slugs, and then your snake. In your enclosure you will still need to "play god" by adding or subtracting components that are leading to an imbalance. Ie, most keepers do this by adding prey items. Food cultured in the enclosure is great to cycle wastes and supplement the diet but won't be enough to maintain your desired organism, the snake. On this note, it will be very hard to have enough detritovores to completely cycle wastes into plant food and enough plants to utilize the nutrients etc.

If you are adding something to the system, you have to subtract something from the system to maintain balance. Back to the flow through system. If you have a drilled hole near the bottom of the tank water can escape, taking with it any imbalanced toxins it collects as it first travels through the substrate. You can have water enter from above via a constant or timed flow, via a misting system, a dripper bar, stream outlet or any combination thereof. Through coordinated valves and pipe elevations you can vary the water level inside the tank to coincide with flooding events, seasonal changes, rainstorms, planned cage flushes, whatever you desire. Drained water can go to your sewer, or be filtered for re-entry to the tank; but that is another discussion all in itself.

Ian

[slipknot711]

and that right there is why ill stick to my jugs of tap Ian you're so smart

[Herp Derp]

I've been doing some research on water and purification(random things I learn from fishkeeping(about2yrs) and started reading into aquaponics. wastes end up being broken down by bacteria leaving nitrates, which can only be taken out by plants or water changes(which only really dilutes it), so the cycle is ammonia->nitrites->nitrates. I do know I'll have to play "god" here and there. I don't consider myself an expert, but things aren't as complicated with understanding and it's all fascinating to me.
I think maybe making a tiny compost area within the enclosure would augment the pop. of worms though
lol I usually have to re log in while making my posts as I take a while to write up what I want to say and hope it comes out clear and concise.
Finding that balance will take a while and thats the fun part about it.

[Herp Derp]

I've noticed my dekay(still thinking for a good name) has bright pattern and colour about 2/3rds of the body from head to tail and the last 1/3rd is a bit dull in pattern and colour is that a normal thing?

[guidofatherof5]

It could just be body expansion were the lungs and stomach are at. Gravid dekayis get a whitish look/scales where they have scale spread.