Snake Housing
The most secure place for your pet snake is a glass aquarium or terrarium with a well-fastened, ventilated cover. (You should be able to see and/or buy examples at your pet stores. The lid should, preferably, have small holes drilled in it, it be fitted with perforated zinc to provide ventilation. Or the vivarium can be made of wood, glass fronted. It can be furnished to reproduce the natural environment of your pet, whether woodland or meadow.
The floor of the vivarium should be covered with large gravel, plastic foam or paper, but not soil, peat, sand or sawdust. A curved piece of bark, or a cave made of pieces of stone, should be provided so that the snake can hide when it wishes. A dish, half full of water, is essential since snakes drink water frequently and the Dice Snake, Grass Snake and Garter Snake sometimes bathe in it. Plastic plants and branches may also be included, But remember that the sides, floor and furnishings must be washed every few weeks. The enclosure should be positioned out of direct sunlight.
There is, of course, no objection to keeping reptile pets on fresh paper. This is what is used i pet shops. It is cheap and unlikely to cause harm. Paper tissue is recommended in that it allows easy cleaning, the vivarium lid being removed simply, the water dish being set aside, and the soiled paper being discarded.
A small 40-60 watt light bulb should be fitted in the vivarium top to provide light and heat during the day, making sure, by means of a thermometer that the temperature reaches 24 - 27 (75 - 80). If you live in a centrally heated house no heat will be required at night. However, if the room where you have the snake is a cold one, it is best to heat the vivarium at night also. A low wattage bulb, painted black, should keep the temperature at around 18 - 21°C (65 - 70 °F) and a thermostat can be used to regulate this.
Essentials are cleanliness, security, ventilation and, of course, heating and lighting. It cannot be over-emphasized that the vivarium must be kept clean. Large droppings should be removed whilst fresh and the entire vivarium, and all its furnishings, cleaned every 2 - 3 weeks depending on the extent of the fouling. A chlorine based disinfectant such as ‘Milton’ is suitable.
It is also vital that the vivarium be escape proof. A snake is not incapable of getting out of its tank by pushing its nose against the nylon mesh and making a hole in it. Indeed it is a good idea to keep a snake in a box within a larger vivarium. If a snake disappears, the survival chances of some species are obviously greater that others, those tolerant of low temperatures enjoying a higher survival rate.
Indeed if one produced a lengthy vivarium with the higher range at one end and the cooler at the other, it would be noted that the snake would move along the gradient at different times of the day and night.
The digestive enzymes, which are secreted by the stomach for food digestion, can act only last these preferred temperatures. Therefore, if you maintain a reptile at a very cold temperature, it will be unable to digest its food, although it may continue to eat.