Yeah, that is true, and I have taken it into consideration. It's a good point - I don't want to get musked too often!

However, the paludarium is mostly for the way it will look in the first place, and apparently ribbons are diurnal. I'm OK with not be able to handle the snake, especially since I have my BP to handle all I want (and he seems to enjoy it... for a snake )

Sidenote: the corn I had (which unfortunately died of an illness when under the care of my highschool biology teacher... *grumble*) was, contrary to their reputation, the nastiest snake I have handled. It always had somewhere to go and struck me several times, even when it reached 2.5'. I did try all the tactics, including gloves, giving it time alone, handling it daily, and so on, and it didn't help - quite a mean snake. I do understand this is totally contrary to corns' reputation, but if the ribbon is half that bad, I'll be surprised. My BP on the other hand is the most gentle snake I've ever seen, total polar opposite.

Jim