Starting out with a new snake

[VK2EMP]

No, I havent got the snake yet!! (nor the license).

I've been doing a fair bit of reading, and I have a few questions. Basically, to get into keeping a snake (I really want a diamond), is as follows.

1. Get licensed. I'll go 5 years - works out cheaper that way.

2. Set up the enclosure. Carefully clean all the furniture and arrange the enclosure to my liking, including 2 hide boxes at the cool end.

3. Stabilize the enclosure humidity and temperature.

4. Find a local breeder, go see what he/she has, handle the animal I take a liking too (and get handling tips); see health and feeding/toileting records.

5. bring snake home, and order food for it. Allow to accustom to new environment for 2 weeks before handling/feeding.

Now my questions
For number 2, can I just go ahead and buy the full sized snakes enclosure, to save money on stepping up in size as the snake grows? Although a click clack sounds like a cheap way to house a juvenile, its not exactly the most beautiful enclosure, and hides the animal from view. I plan to put my enclosure next to the television. Theres a 1.2m piece of wall space set aside for the new arrival. The television might get neglected for a quite a while (it already does, I watch about an hour a week!)

I would probably build my own thermostat for the enclosure (computers and electronics are one of my other hobbies).

For number 4, if I cant find a local breeder, which is easy to get to on the train, and have to have the snake delivered, are there anythings I should know about transportation - I see mose people have to go to the airport to pick up the snake from the counter, its not delivered to your door. This is no issue in sydney. Is this the norm (pick up from airport)

Finally, should I cover the front glass of the enclosure for the first 2 weeks so the snake isnt spooked everytime I walk past the enclosure, or is that going overboard.

Cheers, and thanks for answers in advance

Ben

 

[Raddy318]

to much reading to remember your questions! hahah
but, buildind your own thermostat probably isnt the best idea, i have heard stories from people who thought there home made thermostats work perfect, the first day then there snakes fried the next, i always get to say 'i told you so'
and snake ranch is good to purchase snakes from as they will answer very question possible!
& the ply is abit over board i think, if the snakes stressed it will just hide in its hide

 

[prettypython]

2. Set up the enclosure. Carefully clean all the furniture and arrange the enclosure to my liking, including 2 hide boxes at the cool end

you really need a hide in the walm end too.

 

[Origamislice]

for the full size enclosure apparently it can cause a juvenile snake to freak out a littke bit and cause stress however i have found and heard that this is not the case as long as you provide plenty of hidey holes for the snake,
when transporting a snake you may need to get a license for that as well if you are transporting interstate i believe.
with the cover over the glass this shouldn't be to much of a problem as long as you don't have to much traffic going on.

hope this helped and Good luck with your new snake
p.s what species are you planing on getting?

 

[Becks]

Hey Ben, congrats on soon getting your first snake! I have a juvenile Diamond, born in February and I adore him!

We bought a 60 x 45 x 45 enclosure for our boy, but in all honesty it is too big still. We put him in a pre-made click clack out of black perspex with a clear top and one side. We drilled a hole in each side and ran two pieces of dowel (round wood) for him to have somewhere to rest up near the lid and catch some of his light. He actually spends a lot of time out and because the top is clear you can still see him. Its not the nicest, but it does stop them from being too freaked. They love being in small enclosed spaces so a big enclosure may stress it out a bit. The problem we had though is that the click clack we bought doesn't hold the heat too well in a really cold house so we ended up having to put the actual click clack in his bigger enclosure with a heat mat under and a heat globe above just to give him the ambient temperatures he needs.

 

[Spider178]

Hey there, I am reasonably new at this but I know it does pay to put them in a smaller enclosure or click clack when young. This will help them settle down and feed ok, I have seen some real upset people on here because their stressed out snakes will not feed.
With my first snake once I knew she was feeding and settled in ok I put the small enclosure inside the full size one and let her come out on her own accord, as long as they have got plenty of places to hide they should be ok.

For the transport issue most use Australian Air Express which is always collect from their depot at the airport. You may find someone close that could bring it to you and perhaps even check out if your enclosure is ok.
There are a lot of really friendly helpful people on here, good luck and make sure we all get to see some pictures.

 

[VK2EMP]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Good advice on the idea of buying a store bought thermostat. I could build one with triple redundancy (I over engineer all my home created contraptions), with full microproccesor control, and still have it fail. Its too much work to design and build one so I'll stick to a quality store bought model.

I dont really mind double purchasing on the enclosures - I'm sure once I have one snake, I'll get the bug to buy another. I will get a clickclack for the youngster to begin with. Hey it will mean I get my pet quicker!

All snakes bite, so I figured anyway, and am prepared to take a few tags from the new family member until he/she gets used to handling. How do people avoid the reflex action; that is, to automatically pull away. I dont want to injure my new pet.

The reptile room have some really nice enclosures, and can deliver. They also say that a diamond can grow to 3 metres. I took out my trusty stanly tape measure (ok it was sitting on the desk from when I measured up the wall space for the snake enclosure), and stretched out 3m of tape along the floor. In the voice of that crazy documentry wildlife guy with the african accent I went "Man thats a big snake!" (he said this when he caught something a little bigger, a green anaconda LOL). I wont be getting into anything bigger than this. I'm a short guy (5'6) so 3m will be more than enough snake to handle.

Are diamonds a normally placid species?

Once I have the animal, and a friend wants to come over, should I tell them up front before they arrive that I have a snake, and not to worry, its non venomous, and cant escape? I think I'd be obliged to do so; just in case any of them have a rabid phobia of them. (I have a slight phobia myself, but its drowned out by sheer fascination, and I find diamonds absolutely stunning to look at!).

oh, and of course I will take pictures - most of my friend will find out as soon as I stick em up on facebook LOL! I'll post them here as well

Cheers
Ben

 

[Bluetongue1]

Diamonds are typically very placid.
2.5 m would be about the maximum for females and 2 m for a male.
Diamonds are different from other carpets in a number of respects. They do not brumate and should not be fed during the winter or even spring. Feed heavily over summer and in to autumn. Do not feed during heat way temps. Diamonds require cooler temperatures with shorter, cooler basking periods.
Remember that you need a temperature gradient – a warm end versus a cool end – so that the snake may move between these and thermoregulate.
Hides should be a nice snug (virtually tight) fit and for Diamonds they should be the thick walled, well insulated type. Making your own out of a lump of polystyrene and some ochre type paint can yield some excellent ‘rock’ ornaments.
Arboreal and semi-arboreal snakes need the height in their enclosure and branches to allow them to climb and position themselves near the ceiling. An elevated perch is like a hide to them, allowing them to feel secure.
Definitely need a click clack to start. Outdoor “aviary” style cage are the best for keeping diamonds healthy.

Blue

 

[VK2EMP]

Hey guys

Thanks for all the tips - Might need to put snakey on hold for a short period - my laptop just died well out of warranty, so I need to pick up a new one. Not gonna spend $1400 on a whiz bang gaming lappy this time tho. Will just get a regular one for $500 or so. Probably an IBM (I've had nothing but trouble from my Dell).

Looks like its a bright idea to start off with the clickclack and move up from there. I want my pet to have all the room he or she needs, yet not be stressed out.

I guess the knock to finances of the new laptop will give me plenty more time to study (and buy a good book on keeping a python

Cheers
Ben

 

[longqi]

Two things
If there are plenty of hidey holes no snakes need to be in a click clack
It is only when they are dropped into wide open spaces with few places to hide that they freak out sometimes

Set the viv up temporarily
Let the snake show you what it prefers and then make things more permanent
IE it might prefer climbing into one particular position and ignore other branches or hides etc etc
It may prefer one water bowl over another etc

Be gentle
The whole thing with having calm placid snakes that never bite is getting the snake to trust you
Let it control the times/amount it gets handled simply by watching its actions/reactions

With young or new snakes I do this for 2 weeks and have 99.6% success rate
During that 2 weeks I avoid touching the snake with my hands unless it slitherers onto them and virtually says "Its Ok'
Easiest way to let it feel safe is to use a cloth like a tea towel to gently pick it up and just watch tv with ithe cloth resting on your lap or arm etc
Reptiles often freak at the touch of hot sweaty hands
let it sit on the cloth and when it feels safe it will start to explore
Let it cruise around and sniff you out
Works like a dream

 

[mysnakesau]

What 'bedding' do you plan to use? Just thought I'd add, when you are placing your furniture, make sure heavy items are on the enclosure floor, not on top of the bedding (if you're using mulch, bark, shavings etc). Snakes don't dig normally, but a shift in the bedding can cause furniture to off balance and fall over. You don't want to find your diamond underneath a fallen rock. So just bear this in mind, when adding your decorations.

You won't have trouble finding a diamond in Sydney. There are heaps of ppl around you, who keep them. Check out where your closest Herpetology Group is and attend a meeting to meet more ppl than you thought, who share the same interest as you.

 

[AM Pythons]

the reptile room is closed(thank god).. i take it your in newcastle? if so, im a local breeder that can help you out, pm me if you want. cheers Tony..