Need to Vent

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Originally Posted by Spaniard

Starmom,

What differences have you noticed in your females behavior in cages vs. those in tubs?

Are those in cages better at being handled that those in tubs?

Just curious :)

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I can tell you in my case that the snakes that I keep in a rack always seem startled to be intruded upon and ball up and the snakes that I keep in cages (not tanks) look at me often and seem to wonder if I am bring food and never ball up when touched.

im a noob when it comes to taking care of my own snakes (have been with them since i was born) and i keep mine in a tank, i mean, its only been 5 days since i bought him, but he is eating already.

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Originally Posted by Spaniard

Starmom,

What differences have you noticed in your females behavior in cages vs. those in tubs?

Are those in cages better at being handled that those in tubs?

Just curious :)

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Hey Rich~

I don't think I've noticed ease in handle-ability per se; most of the snakes are fine with being handled, but.....

What I have observed:
-Snakes in RBI Cages (not talking tanks here) never lay in their own pee and, in fact, will go to the opposite end of the cage!
-Use all of the space in the night time to explore, slither around, lounge and stretch out to their full body length and just sort of hang
-Seem...less...I don't know...defensive about their space?? The vibe is different. They seem comfortable. Does this make sense?
-Boy do they coil and attack their prey with gusto!!! Totally snake-like and totally as I would suspect their instincts would dictate them to do. They have ample space to raise their head and 'neck' upwards to aid in the swallowing process.

Snakes in 32qt tubs:
-Have nowhere to go to get out of their own pee and so just lay in it (I do have hides in all my tubs, but they don't even get on top of the tubs like Derek's snakes do). I do not beleive this to be instinctual behavior but rather inflicted upon them because I have them in tubs.
-Try to cruise at night but there is just no space and so they lay there and periscope to the best of their environmental constraints but never get the exercise that their caged roommates get.
-Have a little less muscle mass (it seems) than their caged counterparts.
-Seem to give a bit more of a defensive vibe when I open the tub. I think this might be because it must be this huge gigantic interruption and fast and total exposure for them.
-When fed, they have very little room to coil their prey and not a lot of room to really raise up and aid their swallowing- though they do attempt but are restricted by the environmental constrictions.

Having had very little sleep last night, I am so hoping that this makes some sense to you ;) I am really thinking that the tub thing is, for the most part but also taking care to not over-generalize, a convenience for the keeper and may or may not be what is best for an individual snake.

Having stated the above, I am now ducking under my desk!!!!! :8:

Take care.

Thanks McKinsey & Dale :)

Great info, Starmom. :) I have noticed very similar things with my own snakes.

Out of necessity through a lack of room (small apartment and annoyed BF), I had to cut down on use of tanks, which I prefer, and put my three largest BPs in a rack. HOWEVER I built it myself and used 90qt tubs which are @34"x15"x12". Of course, I would love to be able to keep them in the same RBI cages McKinsey uses, but those are way too expensive.
Before the rack was built, those three adult BPs (two females and a male) were being kept in much smaller QT tubs. The biggest girl, in her 41qt tub (only 6" tall) was miserable. She hardly moved around, and when she did it was to press against every spot on the lid. When I took her out she was always overjoyed.
The other two were in 26"x12"x10" tubs and were really cramped.

Once these three moved into the rack, the changes were quite noticeable. The girls relaxed and went back to normal BP behavior (hiding in the day and cruising at night) and started attacking their weekly rat with gusto! The male, who had a major attitude and hissed when anything came near him, is settling down and even showing himself more at night (before he hid all the time).

Any snakes in tubs in this house live in large, tall tubs. :) Plenty of cruising room.

Well, if the animal's heat/cool gradient is being met, and it has appropriate protection from temperature changes and drafts, then so be it IMO. I prefer racks because I am a neat freak with my snakes, and I like the ease of removing the lightweight tubs and hosing them out in my utility sink. Tanks and me just don't get along.. I hate lifting them and I tend to break them :) I also had truobles with drafts being able to get into their screen lids in the past. Tubs offer a nice, rounded-sided cozy nook for a snake to call its own, IMO. People keep their BPs in tanks every day around the world with fine results, so I would never say that a certain method of keeping is wrong in this case.. just whatever works for you.

I think people do sometimes get on the defense, simply because many of us have been online for a long time answering...

"Why won't my snake eat?!"

"Help, having humidity trouble"

"Help, forgot to close the lid and my snake(s) escaped!"

Little stuff like that... if you have a viv and it works for you. You can keep the snake in it, can maintain proper temps and humidity, and you have an animal that is feeding with consistency then it is all good.

Why a poll though?

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Originally Posted by mcavana

just a side question... you say your male is 5 feet long? are you sure it is a male?

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I'm sorry I did say "he" and did not mean to. No not sure if a fem. or a male. I should have payed more attintion to my typing.lol Ty tho. I do have an appontment set for the vet and plan on detting "it" sexed when Scales and I go! Ty for all your responses. -Ray

It would seem to me, IMHO, that whether it be a tub, cage or tank, that the bp should have enough room to exercise (stretch out completely and roam around) without having an excessively large enclosure which may cause stress to the bp.

A-Men to that. :D That's the rule I try to go by with every animal I have... be they pet or food breeder, reptile or mammal. A balance should be found between enough room to move well and so much room they get freaked out.