African House Snake Setup

Hello all,

I am brand new to snakes and this forum but not to reptiles. I teach middle school science and have several animals up at the school. I felt a snake would be a great addition. After doing quiet a bit of research, I decided a colubrid of some form would be best. I eventually decided on an African House Snake because I liked the look of the specific one I got the best, and because they stay on the smaller side, so she will likely be able to stay in the setup I have.

Here is my setup:

Tank: 29 gallon, screen top, 4 top clamps, plus 2 brackets with locks (school requirement so the kids can't get into the tank)

Substrate: Eco Earth, Cyprus mulch, sphagnum moss mix

Heating: UTH on thermostat set at 90, 50w basking light just to provide options. Warm side air temp around 85, warm hide around 90

Lighting: basking spot, LED grow light mostly for plants

Humidity: 45%-65% rises after I water plants

Hides: hot side hide is a cave shaped rock, left side/cool side black plastic tray with a hole cut in it, center hide top half of a ceramic fake rock humid hide.

Decor: Spider wood, cork pieces, river rock, Pothos

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-59...w?usp=drivesdk

Thoughts on the setup?

And the only pic I have of my girl because I was dumb and didn't take any before I put her in the tank, but she is beautiful yellow with orange markings.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-5m...w?usp=drivesdk

Any additional care tops would be great too as this is my first snake. Thanks.

Sorry the pics are links. I couldn't figure out how to embed them.

Hey, welcome! That looks like a really nice & thoughtful set-up you did. I've kept many kinds of snakes but never an African House snake...I wanted to but others
"found me" first. As far as I can tell, you've done well for her, she's a cutie too. If I think of anything, I'll add it later. Hopefully we have someone who has kept
these & will comment when they get a chance.

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Originally Posted by Rose1

Thoughts on the setup?

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Your setup looks cool! Very spacious for a house snake.

I kept house snakes for over a decade (eventually sold my collection to make room for more ball pythons).

If the top of your cage wobbles at all-it is highly possible your snake can escape-make sure it is firm! Sometimes those latches don't fit perfect.

The ambient (air) temps in any part of the enclosure should not fall below 80F. If the UTH is on the bottom of the tank it is possible that the substrate is thick enough to block the heat from coming through. Mine liked to bask, but, only after they ate. if the heating pad is on the side of the tank above the substrate--then you should be fine (as they are small snakes).

Note: If you have a female she may lay infertile eggs (frequently) regardless of being bred or not.

Best of luck! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lord Sorril

Note: If you have a female she may lay infertile eggs (frequently) regardless of being bred or not.

Best of luck! :)

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She is female. Do I need to do anything special for this? I didn't realize that was a thing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lord Sorril

If the top of your cage wobbles at all-it is highly possible your snake can escape-make sure it is firm! Sometimes those latches don't fit perfect

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I have 4 of them and made sure they were decently tight, but this CANNOT happen, so any suggestions on how to modify the tank so it doesn't?

Some other snakes also lay infertile eggs, even when never bred. My Florida rat snakes lay double clutches every year :rolleyes:, about 2 dozen eggs the first round &
about 15 or so in the second. Many of the eggs are obvious duds, while a surprising number look like good eggs (white & firm, not slimy & yellowish) so in case
they've pulled a "fast one" on me, I usually incubate the good ones...with no expectations, just in case of parthenogenesis (which I experienced in the past once
with a rosy boa- those are live born, but it can happen either way). The difference it makes for my rat snakes is that the females eat a LOT to produce these eggs,
& never get as big as the male snakes. Nothing you can do to prevent it, but you want to be aware to help prevent egg-binding: so if your female snake goes off
food when she should be eating, appears fairly robust in the lower third of her body, & hides a lot, you need to offer a suitable nest box (I give my girls a large
container of damp moss) to help prevent egg-binding, which can be serious. Both my Florida girls just finished clutch #2, & spent a couple days soaking in their
large water bowls before becoming ravenously hungry..."bottomless pits" that eat weekly for a little while. :D Silly sneks! (If I had a king snake or some other
kinds that eat eggs & other snakes, I could probably just feed these eggs to them, but as it is, they go to waste.)

Thank you. None of my female lizards do this, and with the species that would, chameleon, I found that through my research so I intentionally got males. I am more surprised that I didn't find anything about this while researching. The breeder also didn't say anything about it.

Is there a time of year or number of times in a year I should expect this? And from your description, I basically just need a large humidity box for her when it happens?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rose1

Thank you. None of my female lizards do this, and with the species that would, chameleon, I found that through my research so I intentionally got males. I am more surprised that I didn't find anything about this while researching. The breeder also didn't say anything about it.

Is there a time of year or number of times in a year I should expect this? And from your description, I basically just need a large humidity box for her when it happens?

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I'm not sure about African House snakes...as far as their seasonal time-table. For my snakes (in this case, Florida natives) it's late fall- early summer when they bulk up,
then stop eating for a while & just lay low. As lay time gets closer (early June for first clutches) that's when I provide a nest box with damp moss, & they're happy to go
in it & dig around some. Actually, my rat snake ladies are power eaters all winter, they are not brumated as I have no intention of ending up with 80 hatchlings between
the two of them. :rolleyes:

I may be wrong (actually I HOPE I'm wrong?) but I thought I read somewhere that African House snakes can actually lay multiple clutches each year. In fact, read this:

http://www.kingsnake.com/housesnake/breeding.html
A.H.S. are very prolific so it wouldn't surprise me if they lay infertile eggs for no reason at all. You might have to consider making omelettes? :rofl:

Omelettes Lol.

This seems like a really common thing that snake people just know happens, so maybe that's not why it's mentioned. I researched a bunch of different types of snakes before getting her and none of them said anything about this, but now that I'm specifically searching for it, it looks like almost all of the beginner snakes do it... Maybe it should be added to care guides or something.

It's not ideal but at least I have a heads up and know to watch for it with her. I had found that link before, but as I have NO intention of breeding her I just didn't read through it the first time. I still haven't found anything that definitively says they will or won't, so maybe I'll get lucky. The closest thing I've found was someone who had their snake for 7 years and she just laid a clutch. I could probably handle once every 7 years.

I'll cross my fingers for you. ;) I've had many kinds of rat snakes for many years, most do NOT do automatic laying of infertile eggs, so maybe that's why many
sources don't mention. It's not always predictable. Now I've had a corn snake that bred ONCE & laid fertile eggs for 5 years, but that's another story, LOL. Must
be the air in my house that promotes fertility. From the sounds of it, A.H.S. sound likely to produce "automatic egg shipments" and it's always better not to be
surprised. :snake:

As far as preventing escapes (cage clip failures), there are various methods to prevent "lift off". You can weigh down the lid with something like a heavy book at
each end -it makes your snake appear to be well-read, especially if you choose the right titles :D- or you can strap over the cage top with a bungee cord, or with
a nylon strap attached with velcro.
If you use a bungee cord, it's easy to run some plumbers tape under the tank & halfway up each side to meet up with the bungee cord. And I'm talking about this
stuff, it's metal strapping with holes in: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/s...u4Hrs&usqp=CAc It's not the prettiest option but it's easy to do, especially in a pinch.

Yeah. I got super nervous about the escaping. Can you imagine the trouble I would get in for having a snake escape IN A SCHOOL. I'd likely be fired.

I basically took the entire setup and put it in my 20L Zilla critter cage that has the screen that sides on the tracks and snaps into the top. Everything is the same except the spiderwood, which was too tall, but I feel way better about escapes.

I've never used or trusted "cage clips". I make my own wood & welded wire tops, & install eye bolts on the corners, & snap chain them to the furniture they sit on-
no snake can push MY lids off (& I've used this technique even when I had rattlesnakes...as you said, escapes are not an option!).

Hey there Rose... Is she an albino? I love that picture of her peeking out... Killer eyes! Thanks for sharing and good luck with her.. :gj:

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Originally Posted by Jus1More

Hey there Rose... Is she an albino? I love that picture of her peeking out... Killer eyes! Thanks for sharing and good luck with her.. :gj:

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She is albino. I start back at the school tomorrow, so I'll be up there quite a bit. I'm hoping to get some more pics.