Heating Your Snake Cages

September 5th, 2008
Posted in Heating | No Comments

 

One of the most difficult, and important, aspects of setting up a snake cage is temperature. Snakes are cold blooded which means their body temperature is the same as the surrounding area. For this reason, it’s very important that you provide options for the snake so it can choose how warm it needs to be.

First and foremost: DO NOT USE HEAT ROCKS! I don’t know why they even sell those things anymore. They are well known for cooking snakes. Don’t use them!

The best way to provide heat in your snake cages is with Under Tank Heaters (UTH). These are heat pads that stick to the bottom of snake cages and warm the floor of the tank from underneath. This is great because it provides belly heat, which snakes really dig. They can be plugged into a dimmer switch so you can precisely control the exact temperature. Make sure you only cover about a third of the floor surface so the snake can get away if it wants to cool down.

Snake cages can also be heated with light fixtures. These can be regular incandescent bulbs or special UV bulbs. You can even get ceramic heat emitters which give off heat but no light. Light fixtures are good for raising the temperature of the entire snake cage and don’t provide a good temperature gradient, so they usually aren’t used by themselves. Some snakes are happy at the same temperature you keep your home at, others like it a little warmer, which is where light fixtures are useful. Just make sure they get turned off at night. Use timers. They rock! And please make sure your snake can’t touch the bulb. As if I need to say it.

A must have for maintaining the proper temperatures in your snake cages is a thermometer. You can use the digital infrared thermometers, which are great, or a digital thermometer with probe to measure the hot spot and ambient temperature at the same time. I use both.

Every snake species is different so please find out exactly what temperatures your snake needs. I hope this post gives you a better understanding of how to provide the proper heating for your snake cages. Happy herping!

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Brazilian Police Find Man-Eating Reptiles at Drug Lord’s Home

September 4th, 2008
Posted in Reptile Related News | No Comments

 

One of the things I’ll be doing a lot of in my blog is posting news articles and stuff that I find around the web that relates to our hobby. Now they may not be directly related to snake cages in particular, but they will be related to reptiles. Unless I find something not related to reptiles and I still find it cool enough to post. It’s my blog. I’ll post what I want!

This article is definitely not related to snake cages. It’s about Brazilian Police who raided a drug lord’s house and found two caimans in the back yard. In case you don’t know what a caiman is, they are in the alligator family of crocodilians.

According to the article, this drug gang was using the caimans to intimidate and dispose of the bodies of rival gang members! Kind of reminds me of the pigs in the show Deadwood that used to air on HBO. I hate HBO for canceling that show by the way. But I digress.

Anyway, instead of me rewriting the whole article, just go read it yourself. It’s a short one. Take care and stay away from Brazilian drug lords!

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Welcome to Snake Cages

September 3rd, 2008
Posted in Snake Cages | 1 Comment

Since I got into the snakes and reptiles hobby, I found that owning and caring for a snake is only part of the equation. The most important part is the enclosure. In fact, with most of my reptiles, I spend a lot more money on the enclosure than I do the actual animal.

It doesn’t have to be that way of course. Snake cages can be anything from a $3 plastic storage bin to a very expensive custom enclosure. As long as the snake’s needs are met properly and the enclosure is secure, it’s personal preference.

So the purpose of this blog is to discuss every aspect of snake cages. I’ll be giving tips on everything from how to build different types of snake cages, where to purchase existing cages, cage accessories, and whatever else I feel like discussing. It’s my blog right? Maybe I’ll talk fishing from time to time, or the latest crochet techniques. Who knows? But for the most part, I’ll try to stay on topic and discuss snake cages.

That’s what you came here for isn’t it?

 

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