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Housing

The larger the better when it comes to enclosures for adult bearded dragons. Hatchlings can be housed in as small as a 26” X 15” X 12” enclosure, but a minimum size for an adult is about 36“ X 18“ X 15“.

Enclosures should typically be longer than they are high. Groups of adult dragons should be housed in larger enclosures with numerous logs for basking.

Specially built vivariums can be bought to house your dragon in. These enclosures will come fitted with all of the necessary heat mats, lights and thermostats that are needed to house a healthy bearded dragon.

Substrate and Cage Décor

Specially formulated calci-sand for reptiles makes a great substrate for beardies. This is both safe and looks good in your vivarium.

Basking logs should be placed within the enclosure to allow your dragon to thermo regulate and to feel secure. Decorative rocks and fake plants may also help to liven up the enclosure. It is recommended that you do NOT use heat rocks. Bearded Dragons sense heat and light using a detector located on top of their heads. They are not as aware of heat coming from below and can badly burn their undersides without knowing it. For this reason it is advised that a heat rock is not used. Use wood logs for basking zones instead.

Lighting and Heating

The key to heating an enclosure for a bearded dragon is by providing a temperature gradient from a hot basking zone, to a cooler area. Basking temperatures should reach about 90 degrees F. The cooler zone should be around 80 - 83 degrees F.
Dragons thrive under a good full spectrum UV source. This can be either purchased separately or in a ready built vivarium. The colours and health of your lizard depend on good heat, bright light and UV. Your dragon will also benefit from natural sunlight, it is recommended that an adult bearded dragon should be allowed access to a safe place where this can be offered.

Longevity

A well cared for bearded dragon will live from 7-13 years, maybe even longer.             

Feeding

Bearded dragons are omnivorous and should feed on both vegetation and protein. Crickets, wax-worms, and a salad mixture should be staple food sources. Never feed your dragon too large of a prey item. It is recommended that no food larger than the space between your dragon’s eyes should be fed.

Bearded dragons also require a variety of greens including collard greens, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, mustard greens, turnip greens, and dandelion greens. Stay away from iceberg lettuce. Other varieties of vegetables such as carrots, peas, corn, and fruits can also be offered. in small quantities. Other specialty additions can include cactus fruit, dandelion flowers, and hibiscus flowers. This salad mix can be offered daily using different combinations of ingredients.
When feeding crickets, make sure your source of crickets is clean. It is recommended that you gut-load your crickets with fresh fruit, greens, and water.
You can also feed pinkie mice/rats to adult dragons; this is especially good for females during the breeding season.
It is suggested that bearded dragons should be misted once every other day, especially as hatchlings. Dragons will drink during spraying and may also be "trained" to drink and soak in a water dish inside the enclosure. They also enjoy an occasional warm (NOT) hot bath.

Corn Snake  

Housing

Corn snakes are relatively small at 5 - 5 ½ ft, and as such, they do not require large enclosures. Upon reaching full adult size (about three to four years), a corn snake will require an enclosure with the minimum dimensions of a standard 31” X 15” X 12” vivarium. Larger vivariums are also appropriate for an adult corn snake.

The substrate of a cage is the material that is on the bottom. There are appropriate and not so appropriate choices of substrate in corn snake housing. Cedar shavings are unacceptable as they cause respiratory problems in snakes.

Acceptable substrates include reptile bark, butcher paper, paper towels and Astroturf.

Reptile bark can be easily purchase purchased, and makes for an attractive and natural-looking enclosure. Butcher paper can be acquired in many places such as home depot or art supply stores. This substrate, while not particularly attractive, allows one to keep the cage very clean by continuously replacing the soiled paper. Paper towels have the same advantages and disadvantages of butcher paper. Astroturf can be used, but it does tend to rot easily if wetted.

There are several choices for appropriate corn snake heating. Whatever choice of heating is used, it is very important to provide one area of the cage where the ambient (air) temperature is 80-85 degrees F. Corn snakes, like all reptiles, do not make their own body heat and rely on a behavioural mechanism called thermoregulation to regulate their body temperature.

It is recommended that an appropriately sized heat mat should be used in a corn snake vivarium this is usually a third of the vivarium floor covering. Heat mats can either be purchased separately if a vivarium is being constructed by you or can be bought in a fully fitted appropriately sized vivarium.

Corn snakes are rarely picky eaters if they have the proper heat and enclosure. Hatchling corn snakes begin eating pinkie mice, and progress up to adult mice once they are mature. A good rule of thumb is to feed the snake a food item that is the same, or close to, the snake's diameter. Feed an item that is too large, and the snake will often regurgitate it.

Western Hognose

Description of temperament

A wild caught specimen may flatten its head and neck, hiss, and even strike but rarely, if ever, bites. If agitated to an extreme, the animal may even "play 'possum" by rolling over and playing dead. Captive hatched babies will also display some of these behaviours but both wild caught and captive bred usually lose their willingness to display these behaviours.

Except in the case of an exceptionally large hognose, a 24” X 12” X 18” vivarium is big enough for this species. Substrates commonly used include Astroturf, cypress mulch, aspen bedding, coarse sand, and newspaper (at least two weeks old to allow the ink to dry).

Since hognose are burrowers, either cypress mulch, aspen bedding, or coarse sand would probably be the best choice of substrate.

A hide box should be provided to give the animal the privacy that snakes require. The vivarium can be decorated with driftwood or climbing limbs as well as flat rocks and bark to provide hiding places. All of these will help the snake during its shed.

Heating

Daytime temperatures should be 75-85 degrees F with night 8-10 degrees cooler. A good choice of heat source is an under-tank heater, some of which are adhesive and can be easily fitted into a vivarium. It is recommended that the heat mat covers at least one third of the vivarium floor space. A basking site can be provided by placing an incandescent bulb (outside of the tank) over a rock at one end of the tank. Make sure that the animal can escape the heat to a cooler spot at the opposite end of the aquarium.

Western Hognose snakes will readily feed on pre-killed mice appropriately sized for the snake being fed. Young snakes may also feed on crickets and other insects.

Other

Hognoses seem to mimic rattlesnake species found in their range. Western hognose look very much like prairie rattlesnakes.

Hognose snakes are also commonly known as puff or spreading adder or blow viper because of their defensive behaviour (spreading its hood, hissing, etc.). The animal is harmless.

Milk Snake

Longevity

A milk snake can live 20 years under good conditions the average lifespan is usually about 15 years.

Appearance

Milk snakes are represented by three general pattern types: tri-colour in which the snake possesses bold rings of white or yellow, black, and red or orange, which may or may not extend onto the belly and completely encircle the snake.

The other commonly encountered pattern type for this species is that of a light tan, grey or cream background colour with darker red, russet or brown dorsal and lateral blotches. The last pattern type belongs only to the black milk snake. This snake starts out tri-coloured but turns into a completely patternless black snake by two years of age.

Housing

Milk snakes are secretive animals that prefer to conceal themselves. Because of their desire to squeeze into the tiniest of cracks and crevices, they are also born escape artists. Their enclosure should reflect these characteristics. The length of a milk snake's cage should be at least 2/3's of the snake's body length and should possess multiple hiding areas.

Heating

Being a temperate to a sub-tropical species, milk snakes will do well with daytime ambient air temperatures ranging from 78 degrees to 82 degrees F. The air temperature may be allowed to drop to 65 degrees to 70 degrees F. at night.
Unless they are being bromated (hibernated) milk snakes should always have access to warmer localized temperatures to aid in digestion, immune function and metabolism. These higher temperatures are most easily achieved by placing a heat pad underneath about one third of the enclosure and either set to the low setting or adjusted with a rheostat (dimmer switch) and monitored to make sure it stays within the appropriate range of 84 degrees - 88 degrees F. This thermal gradient will allow the snake to choose the temperature that suits its immediate needs.

Substrate

Being secretive, milk snakes will thrive in substrates that they can bury themselves in. Acceptable choices are pine and aspen shavings as well as cypress mulch for larger specimens. Other acceptable substrates include newspaper, butcher paper, paper towel and indoor - outdoor carpeting (astro-turf). Never use cedar shavings as they exude compounds that can be irritable to the snake's mucus membranes.

Send mail to [email protected]  with questions or comments about this web site, or maybe you just want some advice.