cage sizes

[zoe]

ok i haven't acutually built this cage yet i'm just trying to get an idea of what will be right for him cos i don't want him to be unhappy! it's REALLY hard to know what is right to do when there's so many people saying different things! some say keep it small so they're secure, some say make it big so they can roam...i'm confused... :?
my main point was kinda really the ground space...ie: if he has so much height will he still need sufficient ground space as well. for eg simon, you said your enclosure was 4ft length x 2 1/2 ft x 3 1/3 ft so could u get away with making the height the 4ft part or is the length the most important aspect? different people have diff opinions as to how arboreal they are when they get bigger so that makes it even more difficult i guess!
i just don't wanna be mean to him and i'm designing it now so now's the time to figure it out!

 

[Aviendha]

when i saw the vet on the weekend we talked about enclosures, he said it was really good that i got maccies becasue i would be able to get an enclosure they could completly stretch out in as they won't grow to big.

He also mentioned that once a week all the snakes at his surgery would be put out on the lawn and the first thing they did was stretch out straight.

he is a pretty good herp vet, not that i have any experience what so ever in knowing these things. he was the first reptile vet at the currumbin bird sanctury on the gold coast about 10 yrs ago, and he was booked out for two days when i called to get an appointment. It's an hour drive to get to where he is, so he must be doing something right for all thoses people to drive all that way. I have decided that my maccies will get a cage long enough for them to stretch in

he also said pretty obviously that stressed snakes get sick so i think that if your snake is healthy then it is happy so you must have it in an ok sized enclosure.

hmmm my 2 cents worth though it looks more like $20 it's so long lol.

Summer

 

[NoOne]

Snakes in tubs are far from stressed, I find the exact opposite. I find that young snakes stress alot easier in large cages i'm sure a few other breeders would agree.
I health of my animals is number 1 and i wouldn't keep them in tubs if it was bad for them.

Snakes don't need to learn to climb thats totally instinctive, What about ground dwelling snakes that don't need branches?
Snakes are built to have around 90% of their body weight as muscle so strength isn't really changed.
You obviously never raised a snake in a tube before or you wouldn't be saying that.

I don't have the room for 40+ 4ft cages to raise my hatchling snakes in.

 

[Brodie]

I am not a breeder and have no experience with breeding snakes, but my 70cm bredl is doing perfectly fine in a 40cmx20x20 enclosure he has never snapped, is a calm handler, and never refused a feed. Again i just think that different people have had different experiences anf have found some things work better for THEM.
Cheers

 

[byjungle]

I agree with NoOne, smaller the enclousure for juveniles the better, i keep all my juvy jungles in little tubs about 25 cms long, 15 cms wide and aboout 15 cms tall with a couple poles that go through the enclousure, i keep them there until they are yearlings and then are moved to a tank roughly 4ftx2ftx2ft. If i get a hatchling only a couple weeks old they go in an even smaller enclousure probably 15cm long by 15cm wide by 15cm tall, i find they feed way better and quicker this way, when they get to a good size then it leaves me with some time to experiement a bit.

 

[Greebo]

The reason why small snakes stress in large enclosures is very 'logical'.
When you put a snake in an enclosure, it becomes his/her territory.
When the enclosure is too large for a snake it has too much territory to "defend" so it stresses.When the snake is stressed the usual out come is that it wont eat.
No-one and BYjungles have explained quite well how juvies should be housed. Of course, this is not gospel but it is very good advice.There is nothing wrong with a bit of healthy debate but you have to be willing to listen to others instead of just pushing your point of view.
This thread has gone off on a tangent which is more about housing juveniles which is not what Zoe asked if you read the original post.

 

[Simon_Archibald]

Enclosure Size

*^*

 

[NoOne]

I would say that i house my adult snakes in larger than normal cages.
The main reason i use tubs to house juvi snakes is because you can house a large number of snakes in a small area, These are only growing tubs as soon as they big enough they go in a large enclosure. I can't say i've ever had a snake of any size fall off my hand i've always got hold of them and they've got hold of me.
Snakes have a small brain and most of their actions are instinct driven, snakes don't think about spending time practicing climbing and if they did they wouldn't remember it. When snakes hatch their are a small version of an adult fully equipped to survive no practice needed.

 

[astrobeka]

i have a small-blotched, 6 months old, 45cmlong. she lives in a simple small tank, 30cm long, 15cm wide, 20cm tall..... she seems happpy, but i don't think she has enough room to move about.
next week i will be moving her into a tank 65cm long, 35cm wide, 35cm high.
does anyone think this is too big? i have been told by a breeder to keep her in the smaller tank for another year.

 

[Brodie]

I am not sure about maccies but I would keep your little one in the little enclosure for another couple of months, If you decide to move it into a large cage just put in quite a few hideholes, rock, etc.....

 

[sheena]

Hatchlings in the wild must be out in the open fields all day in plain view to predators hey? so they'd benefit from a larger enclosure as suggested.
I guess it would be silly of me to think that they would hide beneath rock crevices in confined spaces throughout majority of there younger days and therefore feel more secure with a similar set up.

 

[Greebo]

HEE HEE
You have to be careful with sarcasm Sheena, it usually goes over the youngun's heads and thats when the trouble starts.
I forgot to say that I agree about adults needing appropriate sized enclosures.
However I have a 8ft coastal in a cage 1800x1500x1500 (It's huge) and all he does is sit in his favourite spot 99% of the time. It really gives me the irates as all that space is being wasted.