Snakes
The snake group is fascinating and incredibly diverse. It’s all there: from constrictors almost 10 m long, to nonpoisonous colubrids which are 1 m long, to deadly venomous species. In the case of venomous species, securing the terrarium doors with a lock ( JBL TerraSafe ) is absolutely vital! All snake types are predatory feeders. Many of them can be fed with dead animals (e.g. mice or chicks). Some species like to hunt small fish & frogs, others insects and some species are very reluctant to accept dead food. This is something anyone interested in snakes needs to be aware of. You may find yourself having to restock your freezer. Depending on their habitat you’ll need to set up a dry, semi-dry or even a humid terrarium. A 3 m long boa constrictor imperator requires a terrarium with the dimensions 200 x 100 x 200 cm. Unless you keep desert species, a bathing pool ( X JBL ReptilBar is almost always a good idea.
Keep the bath water clean - either with a filter or by changing it daily. For larger baths the JBL internal filter series JBL CristalProfi i is very well suited (for bathing pools up to 110 litres e.g. the JBL CRISTALPROFI i80 greenline . It is best to use a water conditioner (JBL Biotopol T) to bind any existing pollutants such as heavy metals. Care is needed to ensure that any climbing features are well anchored and firmly screwed to the branches. Snakes are enormously strong and can bring almost any decoration down. The same applies to rock constructions in desert terrariums, which need to be connected to each other with a non-toxic adhesive ( JBL PROHARU UNIVERSAL ). The type of substrate depends on the snake species being kept. For many of them, such as pythons and colubrids JBL TerraBasis is well suited. Very large constrictors prefer coarser substrates like JBL TerraCoco coconut chips. But beech wood shavings, such as JBL TerraWood are also very popular with boas and pythons. For desert snakes JBL TerraSand přírodní žlutý is mostly used. Since most snakes are day-active, lighting with UV content is a must. With the help of metal halide lamps JBL ReptilDesert L-U-W Light alu (Speciální lampa pro použití v chovu plazů! Nevhodné pro jiné účely! Energetický štítek není nutný. Výjimka podle (EU) 2019/2015 příloha IV 3. c) UV záření > 2mW/klm) and the JBL UV-Spot plus (Speciální lampa pro použití v chovu plazů! Nevhodné pro jiné účely! Energetický štítek není nutný. Výjimka podle (EU) 2019/2015 příloha IV 3. c) UV záření > 2mW/klm) the right UV-A and B supply is always guaranteed. Even nocturnal species such as the green tree python need UV radiation, because they become active just as the UV radiation decreases in the evening and they get a lot of UV radiation during the daytime while they’re resting in the treetops. It is vital to research the living conditions of your own snake species.
Constrictors
Virtually all constrictors come from forest biotopes.
In deserts, they would not be able to approach their victims unnoticed. Find out everything about the maximum size of the snake and select the terrarium size accordingly. For climbing species, the height of the terrarium is the focus, whereas for soil-dwelling species the soil surface is more important. For long term vacationers, constrictor snakes are ideal, as a larger amount of food (depending on the size of the snake) is sufficient for them for many weeks or months.
Colubrids
Most colubrid species are nonpoisonous and because of their small size very well suited for terrariums.
The garter snake and the corn snake are considered ideal beginner animals whose care and nutrition are very easy. If you don‘t want to feed mice or other larger animals, you will find colubrid species which hunt fish for themselves in the water section.
Vipers, pit vipers, elapids and rear-fanged snakes
Only about 10% of all snake species are poisonous and we need to differentiate between their toxicity. A species can indeed have an extremely strong poison, but injects only a small amount (sea snakes) or have a less toxic poison which is injected in large quantities.
This can then prove deadly for humans. Dealing with poisonous snakes is only for the expert. The terrarium definitely needs to be well locked ( JBL TerraSafe ). In case of a bite, it is also crucial where the bite occurred. A bite in the foot is not as much a problem as a bite in the upper body, because the distance to the heart is far less. Always keep a suitable anti-serum for your highly venomous species at hand. In addition, people react to poisons very differently - just like with insect bites.
Poisonous snakes occur in a wide range of habitats: from deserts (e.g. eastern diamondback rattlesnake, desert horned viper) to forests (e.g. rhinoceros viper, Indian cobra, Asian vine snake). The terrarium needs to be set up accordingly.