You will need
- - spacious terrarium;
- - a cuvette for water;
- - soil;
- - snags for landscape design;
- - moss;
- - incandescent lamp;
- - live food.
Instruction
For the snake, it is necessary to prepare a terrarium that is spacious and high enough - after all, an adult, depending on it, can reach a length of 1 - 1.5 m. Make sure that the terrarium is tightly closed with a mesh lid. The bottom can be covered with sand or peat. A prerequisite for the snake is the presence of a reservoir in the terrarium. The size of the reservoir should be such that it can curl up there entirely. Place one two-snag into the terrarium that your pet can climb in the same way as he would. Try to arrange them so that you can already use them as a shelter. Moss-lined areas will also be a nice addition to the landscape - it will help keep moisture comfortable for the snake.
Install an incandescent lamp above the terrarium, preferably with a mirror reflector. This will allow the snake to get enough light and heat even on rainy days. Remember also that the terrarium is best placed in the sunniest part of the room. Since it is not so easy to create a safe environment for already, it is better not to allow him to sink into this state. Hibernation can be avoided by providing the snake with enough heat, light and live food for a year.
One of the features of keeping snakes is that they need living, moving food. It can be frogs, tadpoles, small fish for the snake. As a last resort, if it is not possible to get live food in winter, the snake can be accustomed to frozen food. But then the food will have to be put into the snake's mouth by force, since it will not perceive motionless pieces of meat or fish as food. This method of feeding can cause injury to the snake, due to the fragility of its jaws. You need to feed the snake about once every three days.
If it loses mobility, and its skin - color and shine, perhaps it will have to molt. It is important not to confuse this condition with a disease. Another sign that a snake is about to shed is its desire to stay in the water as long and as often as possible. Perhaps you will be able to see how it gets out of the old skin. After molting, your pet will appear in fresh scales, bright and shiny. Old skins can be saved, observing the growth dynamics of the grass snake on them.
Snakes are snakes that you can keep at home, because. they are safe, non-poisonous and quite friendly. The sizes of the snakes are average, but it is still a fairly decent value (there are no exact sizes, all the snakes are different). Snakes are ordinary, water, viper and Colchis. Many snakes are attracted not only by safety, but also appearance. They have beautiful round pupils and upturned nostrils. On the abdomen, they most often have a spotty surface, and on the scales themselves, you can easily make out its specificity. However, it is very important to know how to care for a snake at home, where to keep it, how to feed it, how to care for it, and much more. Every owner or who wants to get a snake should know about this. Therefore, now we will consider this aspect, although many people know a certain minimum about snakes (the need for water, fish for dinner, swallowing food, and much more).
Where will he live.
1. The terrarium must be large because most he will be occupied by the "pond" of the snake. Since you can't imagine life without water, your terrarium should always have fresh water in the pool. It will be enough in the water long time, he will drink it and bathe in it (the latter suggests that the terrarium should be roomy enough for your pet!). Snakes are smart creatures, they like to constantly run away from their terrariums, so do not forget to close the terrarium all the time, but not with a thick board or lid, but with a mesh so that you can breathe easily.
2. As with fish, the case with a terrarium should be like this: soil is carefully laid out on the bottom, which can be either simple sand or peat. The soil perfectly retains moisture in the terrarium, which is important. Regardless of your choice of soil, add sand to the bottom of the pool in the terrarium.
3. Snakes love to hide in moss, so make sure that in addition to the ground, there is already moss in the terrarium. So your pet will always be calm and comfortable (they are already burrowing into the moss).
4. In the terrarium, such “inhabitants” as stones, branches, bark, “snags”, etc., should find their place. As you understand, with their help you can restore the natural elements in which snakes usually live. Your pet will dart between the scenery you have created with great pleasure.
5. Hardest to Maintain different temperatures in a terrarium for snake. The fact is that in one place the snake should warm up, in another (also warm) there will be moss, but at least one corner should be dry and cool. In a warm place, it will already warm up (most often from a heating lamp specially installed in that corner), the temperature here should vary from 30 to 35 degrees Celsius. A cool corner should be at the same time dry and reach a temperature of about 22 degrees. On average, the temperature of the terrarium is about 24-26 degrees Celsius.
6. At night, the light and heating of the terrarium can and should be turned off so that you can sleep in your “house”. However, humidity must be maintained regularly, so constantly spray the soil and moss with water and sunbathe them.
Feeding home snake.
To properly care for a snake, you must first feed it. But what do snakes eat and how do they do it. To begin with, snakes do not chew food, but simply swallow it whole and digest it. The food of snakes should be alive, as they say, the freshest. Most of all, snakes will like fish, but they will not refuse such delicacies as frogs or small rodents. You can find all the food for the snake at the pet store, here you can consult with the seller and choose fish for the snake, small mice, frogs (buy simple wood ones), worms, snails, etc. While keeping the snake at home, you can understand that he likes the most and what he doesn't like. Usually people ask how to care for a snake at home from sellers in a pet store, to which they are given the answer that snakes eat only live and moving food. However, in fact, you can teach a snake (or buy one already) to eat already inanimate “food”. Feeding occurs only a couple of times a week or even less often depending on the size of your snake and his preferences (usually large snakes eat less often). We must not forget about feeding the snakes with useful minerals in the form of special supplements (from the pet store) or crushed egg shells. Or add mineral water to the water once a month, which will be a pleasant surprise for him. Do not forget to regularly change the water in the terrarium, not only swims in it, but can also be under water for quite a long time, and he also drinks water from his pool.
Oddly enough, the common snake (lat. Natrix natrix) is rarely found in the collections of snake lovers. This is explained by the fact that, despite its prevalence in nature, the snake is capricious and demanding in terms of conditions of keeping and feeding. This animal cannot simply be put in a terrarium, stuffed with mice and hope that very soon the pet will grow and prosper. Already requires a special approach, and in this article we will tell you how to create the best conditions for it.
Snakes are widespread throughout Europe (except for the subpolar and polar regions), as well as in the southern regions of Siberia and Far East. They live on the banks of water bodies (streams, lakes, rivers), sometimes they are found in gardens, in basements, less often in cities.
It is easy to understand what is in front of you: it is distinguished from the same vipers by light spots (“ears”) of orange, white, yellow colors located on the sides of the head. The body of the snake is black, but there are specimens with brown and dark gray colors. The belly of the snake is light, white, with an uneven dark stripe. Usually the length of the snake does not exceed a meter, but sometimes there are larger specimens. Males are smaller than females and have slightly longer tails.
It belongs to non-venomous snakes. When caught, it bites quite rarely, preferring to “flatten” its head and hiss like a viper. If the enemy is not afraid, he resorts to the following trick: he releases a few drops of a sharp-smelling, smelly liquid from the cloacal opening and hangs on his hands with a string, pretending to be dead. If you caught a snake and settled it in an apartment, at first it will arrange such “performances”, but pretty soon it calms down, gets used to it and stops reacting so aggressively.
Cover the bottom of the terrarium with a layer of coconut substrate or gravel; as a temporary option, paper is suitable. In no case should sand be used: small grains of sand during the absorption of food inevitably stick to the food object and fall into gastrointestinal tract along with food, which can lead to the death of the snake.
The next task is to equip the warm and cold corners. For heating, a thermal cord, a lamp, a thermal mat are suitable. In a warm corner, the temperature should be 30-32 degrees during the day and 20-22 degrees at night. A layer of wet sphagnum is placed there, and on top of it is a shelter for the snake. Place another shelter (dry) in a cold corner. To prevent the humidity level from dropping, spray the terrarium once a day with warm water, or use a humidifier, while making sure that the sphagnum in a warm corner is always wet. Thus, your pet will not only have a place where he can warm up, but also a cool corner to relax. In addition to the above, driftwood, stones, branches, artificial plants, and other decorations can be placed in the center of the terrarium.
A UV lamp is fine for illuminating the terrarium, but on warmer days, you can treat your "snake" to sunbathing. Turn off the lights at night, as snakes sleep at night.
Another important element is a container of water, which should be placed in the dinner home. The snake will drink from it, and in it - swim, swim or lie down during molting (get wet). Change the water in the container every day.
Many difficulties for beginners often cause the process of feeding the snake. Snakes do not eat standard food - mice - either alive or thawed. The diet of these snakes in nature is frogs, toads, fish, so you will have to work hard to get suitable food items for your pet. It is important to remember: snakes should be given a variety of food. In particular, it is unacceptable to feed the snake with fish alone, since the thiaminase enzyme contained in some types of fish can cause a lack of vitamins B, E, C and chlorine, which is responsible for the osmotic pressure of the blood. Fish food should be interspersed with frogs and toads as often as possible. Please note: snakes only eat what moves; they may not even touch an immovable food object.
They feed snakes 1-2 times a week, adults, large individuals - a little less often. Once a month, mineral supplements are added to the snake's food (sprinkled with food or injected directly into the food object). Sometimes mineral water is added to the drinker.
An additional difficulty in keeping snakes lies in the organization of hibernation. To do this, in the fall, the time of lighting and heating is reduced, bringing it from 12 to 4 hours. Snakes hibernate at a temperature of 10-12 degrees. In hibernation, the snake spends about 2 months. Wintering improves the activity and vitality of the snake, and also contributes to the reproduction of snakes.
As you can see, it is already a rather problematic and troublesome snake to keep, and it will be quite difficult for a beginner to cope with the care of which. But if you manage to provide him with comfortable conditions, then you will have a unique chance to observe an interesting and unusual pet in the terrarium for snakes, whose beauty and grace will delight you and your guests for many years.
As a child, I often went fishing and to the forest for berries or mushrooms. And, of course, in wet weather I met snake. Very nasty animals. And most often already. Yes, many will say that you should not be afraid of snakes, and they are generally harmless. But when you are in the forest and you see a snake, you do not have time to quickly determine what kind of snake it is. So, now I will tell you about the fear of my childhood. About " already».
What do snakes eat
Already - this snake, which is most common in Eurasia, not poisonous. The diet of the snake is not too varied, here is a list of what it usually is eats:
- live frogs.
- rodents.
- Fish.
Here is a list of those who usually eats snakes:
- storks.
- Predatory birds.
- Some mammals.
The snake feeds in the same way as all other snakes. No longer chews prey, but swallowsfully, and since this snake does not have poison, the victim at the time of ingestion will still be alive. If the object is large enough, then the process of eating can take a very long time. But after such a meal may not eat for a few days. Several cases have been recorded when the snake remained no food for 300 days and did not receive any harm to health. Snakes can go a long time without food, but they cannot do without water.
On the ground, usually a snake for a long time haunts your victim. In the water, on the contrary, it hides in some place and waitingt prey, which swims towards him.
Some information about already
Distinguish the snake from other snakes on a yellow or white spot on the head. But in very rare cases, there may be no spot on the head at all. Usually, snakes do not differ in size, but in some cases, the size of females reaches up to 2,5 meters in length.
No matter how strange it may sound, but it's easy tamed and does not experience any problems with life incaptivity. In Ukraine and Belarus, cases were recorded when locals tamed kite for capture mice.
Already - not aggressive snake. But when attacked, he starts hiss and throws his head forward. If this does not help, then he issues odorous liquid which repels animals. When all else fails, the snake just pretends to be dead, relaxing all muscles.
Not many people like snakes, but we have to meet them. The main thing is to know how to distinguish one snake from another. But never get close to a snake unless you're sure it won't do you much harm. be careful!
Most often kept in captivity tiger snake, which has a beautiful color with rings of different colors. But some amateur serpentologists buy common and water snakes in a zoological shop.
Majority ordinary snakes, which are sold in the bird market or in the zoological shop, are caught in wild nature. Create conditions for home content, identical to natural ones, is an almost impossible task. But to bring them closer to natural conditions is quite within the power of every serpentologist.
To keep the snake will require a long and spacious terrarium, most of which should be separated under the pool. Cover the top of the terrarium with a net so that the reptile does not escape. Lay moistened sand or peat on the bottom. In the corner, arrange a plot of quality wet moss. It will sleep in it. Driftwood, a scattering of stones, branches, bark - this is what the snake will need for a comfortable stay. But the most important rule that you should not forget is maintaining a temperature difference in the terrarium. From the side of the corner where the moss is located, put a heater and heat up to 35 degrees. On the other side of the terrarium, the temperature should not exceed 22 degrees. Special ultraviolet lamp help create natural light. Turn off the lamp at night.
Special attention devote to the diet of the snake. Food must be alive. In captivity, snakes eat live tree frogs, rodents, small fish, snails, worms, bloodworms. All this can be bought at the zoological shop.
Feed a medium-sized snake 2 times a week. If the reptile is large, it is enough to feed it once a week. Give the snake as much food as it is ready to eat at one time.
It is rational to give special dressings for snakes or crushed dried shells once a month. Alternatively, you can add 1 cup of alkaline mineral water to the aquarium.
Clean the terrarium once a week. Completely replace moss, sand, peat and pool water. Already dip in a 1% solution of potassium permanganate. This will help prevent the appearance of mites. It is not recommended to dip the reptile's head in the solution.
Comfortable conditions of detention allow the snake to live in captivity for more than 20 years.
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