Best Location For Enclosure

[Bart70]

Hi,

I have been doing a lot of reading on reptile husbandry of late, and noticed a lot of variation in the locations that people house their snakes within their house. Some (presumably larger herpers) have a reptile room for their animals, whilst others recommend the quietest room in the house, others keep their animals in their general living areas.

I am lucky in that I have a formal living area that is rarely used (so a quiet location/sitting room environment with very occasional TV use) and a general living area where the family spend a good deal of their time, has the main TV for the house and kitchen adjoining - so stronger food preparation smells, and the area where the family generally come and go and spend most of their time.

So I ask the question - Is the location away from everyone in a quiet room the best place for a snake?.....or is it better off in the main living area where it can see everyone come and go and get used to people being around?

I can understand that the quietest room may keep the snake calmer - but is this likely to make the animal less aware of who we are and be more skittish when handled? Am I better off having it adapt to us and become comfortable with our movements and sounds or is this more likely to overwhelm the animal?

The species that are likely to be kept are Carpet/Spotted's in case that makes any difference.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[Bez84]

I don't think it makes any real difference where the enclosure is kept unless its an extremly loud area or somewhere the temps highly fluctuate.
I personally keep mine in a reptile room because i have a fair few and having them all in one room helps with the heating, but i have mates who have there tv's siting on top of there reptile enclosures and over the years has never shown any ill affects on the animals.

 

[Baturb]

I have my MD and the enclosure in the kitchen/ dining area, only because the enclosure is so big that is the only room it fits in, we also have my sons jungle and enclosure in the lounge room

 

[Bananapeel]

I don't think it makes a huge difference. However when they are young and settling in and quite new, it's best to keep them out of high traffic areas so they aren't quite as stressed while getting used to the new environment. If you get a hatchie this is easy as the click clack is so small that I doubt you would t find space, however if the snake is fully grown or needing a big enclosure and you plan to put it in a high traffic area, you can put a towel or sheet over the enclosure so it feels safe while settling in.
however if you're getting a second snake, you should definitely quarantine and this will require the enclosure in a separate room to your existing animals.
My enclosure has to be in my room because mum won't allow it anywhere else lmao.

 

[Jungletrans]

Ours are in the Dining room which is part of the lounge . They don't mind the noise and people traffic and as they are all in large enclosures they are nice to look at :] .

 

[Gruni]

Do you play DOOF DOOF music in your loungeroom because then I wouldn't want to be in there either... Seriously though mine is currently in the wall unit in the loungeroom where we spend most of our time, her new enclosure is in the sunroom off the kitchen as it is too big for our current loungeroom. She has never seemed bothered by the traffic/sound/life going on around her.

 

[Bart70]

Thanks everyone,

Maybe the quiet room may be a good starting place for a hatchling until it gets used to us and then we can take it from there.

We do not play 'Doof Doof' at all - but we have been known to occasionally throw up some music clips and turn the volume up a little with the kids on occasions - This is mostly done in the main living area so will be mindful of this if the snake is ever in the room. I am hoping to have its permanent enclosure on castors so it can be moved around the house (for when the Father Inlaw visits.....He forbids us to have a snake - that is another story - but what he don't know ain't gonna kill him!) so we should be able to move it to a quieter or discrete area of the house if playing loud music or entertaining.

As long as having it with us in the main part of the house most of the time is not going to stress it too much, this will be our preference as we can then keep a closer eye on it and it can become part of our family.


Thanks again,
Rob

 

[Gruni]

We have had the stereo up for action movies with no reaction from Skittles. :lol:

If you can do that with the castors good, it's not practical for us.

 

[Barrett]

It shouldn't make too much of a difference as snakes can't hear noise ( unless the noise is loud enough to cause constant vibrations). Both my sister's snakes and mine are in the common room with us walking in and out all the time, we just don't exactly make a lot of loud noises (loud stereo, or tv and such). They seem fine with us being around a fair bit, so I guess you should keep them in the room that you and your family feel most comfortable with.

 

[Bart70]

Good point about hearing and vibrations.....

The 'quiet' room does have a home theatre system with fully surround sound and sub woofer - Whilst it is not used often it might be worthy of ensuring there is no direct contact of any audio equipment with the cabinet, and keep any low frequency speakers distant from it (ie - sub woofer) to reduce any induced vibration.

It is sounding like long term the snake may be better off in the main living area with us so it can become more accustomed to people being around.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[Gruni]

The other thing Rob, is that you get to enjoy them more that way than when they are out of the way. There are nights where I'm watching Skittles in the tank than the TV. It really is cool when they are in a cruising mood.

 

[Bart70]

Yep...that was what I was thinking. If they are where people spend time in the house, it will become part of the family and be enjoyed more than if out of the way. I reckon half the enjoyment of owning a snake is watching it and having it visible so I would have been a bit disappointed if I had to put it away in a part of the house that the family rarely visit.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[markannab]

A study was done a while back with a particular species of snake (but I can't remember which) to see what sounds it was most responsive to. The outcome was significant response to deep sounds - I guess because of the larger soundwaves which cause larger vibrations. They actually specified the frequency but it was described as being like a very low note on a sax. The snake barely responded to other frequencies. It thought that was interesting.

 

[harlemrain]

I have my woma in my bedroom which is nice and quiet, my coastal in my loungeroom which gets more noise than anywhere else and my jungle in my kitchen which is somewhere in between and I haven't noticed a difference at all

 

[Jacknife]

My living room...



I have all my sub-adult Bredli in here and they don't mind at all, spend most of their time either out of their hides or with their heads poking out watching what we're doing