4 snakes 1 cage? bueno or no bueno

[ahunt037]

I currently have two snakes caged in a 20gal long terrarium and im looking to get two more snakes would this be ok to keep all 4 snakes in this 1 cage temporarily until i can get tubs set up it will be maybe 5 or 6 months before i can get a tub system set up will this be too crowded of a cage none of these snakes are over a year old yet im not sure of the weight of any of them but my biggest one is almost 8 months and almost 2 1/2 feet maybe bigger im bad guestimater but anyways i want to know if everyone thinks this will be ok or too many snakes for one cage

[MitsuMike]

No, never, no bueno. Snakes are solitary animals keep to them selves. If you keep 2+ in the same enclosure one will become dominant and maybe cause others not to eat. "cuddling" is not cute it's a dominance action. If money is an issue tubs are a GREAT alternative and actually are all around better to keep a BP in. Not as pretty but it's w/e.
A quick easy way to help you out is get a shelve of melamine wood. Buy like 3-4 feet of flexwatt and tape it to the shelve. Now attach the flexwatt to the thermostat your already using and adjust accordingly. Tubs can be place next to each other on the shelve (it can be on the floor or on the wall it's w/e just make sure ambient temps are above 75F). That will take you like 10 min to put together and about 30 bucks

[Valentine Pirate]

Just wait on getting more snakes. If anything use money you'd use to buy snakes to buy tubs for your current ones. Like Mike said, snakes are solitary animals and will do more harm than good with each other

[ahunt037]

wat size tubs should i start out with i have a pretty good idea i think for a 4 tub rack but idk wat size to start with on my tubs and where can i get the flexwatt heat tape do i put that on the shelf bottom

[MitsuMike]

I personally have a 7 high 41 qt set up (home made). I can fit 41,28,15 qt tubs in there fine. My logic is if you build of buy it, do it big because they can never out grow a 41 qt rack but you can always fit smaller tubs in it.
As for you I have a few 1 year olds and they are in a 28 qt and I actually have a 8 month in a 15 (she eats in it, was on a 3 month fast til I moved her down and she is eating like a champ).
Flexwatt is at ReptileBasics
Hides HomeDepot or Lowes use plastic flower pots and cut to size
Water bowls use ceramic water dishes.

[mpkeelee]

No Bueno, No Bueno

[unspecified42]

No bueno! It also sounds like you wouldn't be quarantining the new ones. Bad idea all around, unfortunately.

[ahunt037]

thank you everyone and after reading this this morning i got right to work on this by buying the following
1x28qt sterilite tub = $6.80 each
4x12qt sterilite tub = $2.50 each
1x 15 3/4x96 pre drilled melamin board $21.98
1x 15 3/4x96 regular melamin board $16.86
all adding up to about $60 so far and i still have not purchased the heat tape cork board backing and need to purchase more wood for shelves so a lil more than $30 but well worth it i think it will be a good starter rack for me
its 4' tall by 2' wide holds 28qts and 12 qts perfectly not sure exactly how many yet but i say it will be enough for now thanks again for the help if u see any flaw let me know remember im still adding a backing to it should the heat tape just run down that backing or is it better to be on each individual shelf?

[dr del]

Hi,

The decision on whether to use belly or back heat depends mainly on the temps of the area you are going to be using the rack in and the design of the rack itself.

I have quite a cold house so I had to go with belly heat ( on both cool and warm side no less ) but if your room temps are fairly high and stable then back heat could be fine.

It's also worth mentioning that you want to have all the sections of flexwat the same size/ rating / wattage to ensure the tubs all reach the same temps you need them to be.

If you tried it with the 12 qt tubs using a foot of 3" flexwatt ( figures just a guess as I don't measure tubs by qt ) but then connected a foot of 11" flexwatt for the 28qt tub then they would reach different temperatures.

Also it's a lot easier to put the heat tape in before you put the backing on - even with belly heat.


dr del