What's With Keeping Snakes In Racks Small Without Hides?

[dr del]

Hi,

Over the years I have tried both, and various substrates in them.

Now before I get started let me just say I don't have anything against keeping snakes in racks or tubs. They can be great enclosures and they hold humidity better than the traditional tank with a mesh lid. Nor Is this intended as an attack on another forum member. I just happen to disagree with this method of keeping reptiles.

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Now, as I stated before I don't have anything against racks but keeping your reptiles seems downright cruel to me. They don't even have enough space to stretch out. Which is how I go about picking enclosures. If they eat, sleep, breed and poop I guess they're fine but that doesn't seem like any way to live. I consider the minimum a water bowl of some sort, a hide, and a enclosure large enough for the snake to fully stretch out in. As far as I'm concerned if those are met and humidity and temperatures are correct than it doesn't matter what enclosures you keep them in.

Disagreeing is allowed so no need to leave for a while.

All I can say is my snakes do better in a tub than they ever did in a large vivarium **shrug** I use newspaper substrate which they can get under if they feel exposed so, essentially, the entire tub is a hide that touches them on all sides even if they move from one end to the other. The only bit they cannot get under is where the heavy ceramic water bowls are.

I actually brought this subject up and every one wanted to be soo against me. But like I said on my thread, surviving is NOT thriving. Thriving is absolutely not eating, breeding, and pooping. And yes, just surviving animals will breed and eat.

I myself keep my snake in a tub but he has multiple hides, plants, stuff to climb around on and can stretch out fully and still have space to spare. People who keep their snakes like that are not thinking of enrichment and the well-being of the snakes, they are thinking of what is time, effort, and cost effective for them, and that definitely doesn't excuse what they are doing.
Just because snakes are of lesser intelligence than say, a cat or a dog, does not mean they should be subjected to life in a plastic tub with substrate, a water bowl and MAYBE a single hide.

I mainly find the most common thing they do with climbing structures once they get older is fall off them and look affronted at you. Males seem better at not doing so but I always worried they would fall on the rim of the waterbowl and hurt themselves.

My tubs are wardrobe drawers approx 3 foot by 2 so they can stretch ok from what I have seen - and they consistently eat better than they did in vivs ( my snakes only given as the example as I am familiar with them in both ) And I think you underestimate just how stubborn bp's can be if they do not like their environment. For decades everyone swore they were dodgy eaters in captivity - there is a reason we have as many keepers as we do posting their snakes eat ok. The snakes didn't change, the husbandry did.

I won't say that tubs are cruel at all.

SDA, you say you are against tubs but would never bash people who keep their snakes in them. I agree with that except people who keep their snakes in tubs regularly bash and make people feel bad for keeping their snakes in tanks. Like Deborah said, there's more than one way to skin a cat. I've even seen people who have on point husbandry with tanks be talked down on.

This is sadly true - many ways work for all the various snakes out there. We have a narrower focus on what we recommend precisely because it will give fussy snakes the best chances of a good start and the more robust ones won't care and eat anyway. Once you can read your animals well enough there is little problem with mixing things up as long as you are prepared to deal with any problems that pop up.

Tolerance wouldn't hurt the community in this regard but, since we normally get people joining because they have a problem, we do over emphasise the basic model as we do not yet know the users capabilities. We'll work on it.


del