I am new snake owner and I worry about my little friend. Do snakes need to "stretch their legs" so to speak? When I handle her she is very lively and clearly ready to zoom off at any second. This has led me to question my conscience about the morality of keeping a snake captive in such a small vivarium. I don't really want to give her up so I am seeking words of wisdom and confort and some practical advice to help me deal with the issue.Thanks!
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Getting some exercise- a moral question
- Thread starter alexdire
- Start date
Richard Allbert
New member
I wondered the same thing, but if you read about their behaviour in the wild, they tend to want to stay hidden away unless hunting, so spend a lot of time in small spaces.
Plus, breeders keep them in tubs, and they wouldn't breed of they were unhappy... so it's probably ok.
Plus, breeders keep them in tubs, and they wouldn't breed of they were unhappy... so it's probably ok.
bitsy
Owned by Corns since 1991
If you think about it, Corns in the wild only move in order to find:
1) Safety from predators
2) The right temperature
3) Food
4) Water
...and at a specific time of the year
5) A mate
Being cold-blooded, energy is precious and a Corn won't move unless it is driven to do so by one of the above needs. If you provide the first four requirements, then your Corn will be experiencing the same life as it would have in the wild, without the exposure to predators and disease.
If you want your Corn to get more exercise (some enjoy climbing, although they're all individuals), then once it's adult-sized you could build/buy a viv with lots of climbing branches, different hides, plastic foliage etc. There's no reason why you shouldn't provide the kind of "enriched" environment that would make you sleep easier. It won't harm the Corn and might improve muscle tone if it decides to use the gym equipment provided (could be useful for breeding females).
1) Safety from predators
2) The right temperature
3) Food
4) Water
...and at a specific time of the year
5) A mate
Being cold-blooded, energy is precious and a Corn won't move unless it is driven to do so by one of the above needs. If you provide the first four requirements, then your Corn will be experiencing the same life as it would have in the wild, without the exposure to predators and disease.
If you want your Corn to get more exercise (some enjoy climbing, although they're all individuals), then once it's adult-sized you could build/buy a viv with lots of climbing branches, different hides, plastic foliage etc. There's no reason why you shouldn't provide the kind of "enriched" environment that would make you sleep easier. It won't harm the Corn and might improve muscle tone if it decides to use the gym equipment provided (could be useful for breeding females).
I usually think of viv sizes in terms of length+depth should be at least the length of your snake, more if you have the room for it. This will give him/her plenty of space to move around and exercise, specially if you provide a good climbing branch or two as well.alexdire said:
You can buy the next-size-up plastic vivarium (I assume you have a geoflat or faunarium of some description), which will then do fine until around 18 months - two years old (I usually move mine up to 3' wooden vivariums at around 2ft in length), but do be careful about security as corns are notorious for escaping through the smallest gaps, the space between glass sliding doors is often enough!
Keep an eye out for changes of behaviour though - corns are all individuals and some really don't like large vivariums while others absolutely love as much space as they can get. If you move to a large viv and find your corn won't eat, for example, you might have to move back down again!
Taceas
USW = UB313
I don't think its outlandish to feel moral qualms about keeping corns in smaller vivs. Some people on here use tubs for their adults, which I only reserve for yearlings or sub-adults.
I've never been a fan of cramming my snakes into the smallest possible tub in order to have more shelf room for more snakes. I don't feel right doing it. Most of my snakes are in a roomy viv compared to their counterparts in other keepers' homes.
I just recently ordered two 48" x 24" x 14" cages for a couple of my larger adult corns. Most of my adult corns are in 36" long tubs of varying heights depending on sex. Females get taller tubs to accompdate a nest box, compared to the males' tubs.
Usually too large and spacious housing only affects the younger snakes, as they generally have more to fear of the big open world than larger snakes do. I've not yet met an adult cornsnake that wouldn't eat anywhere anytime, so I doubt you'd have to worry about their stress from a roomy viv compared to that of a youngster.
I think there's been some discussion about lack of exercise for adult breeding females having more of a tendency to become egg bound, because their locomotion muscles are also the muscles that help them to expel the eggs. So that's one of the main reasons why I try to keep my snakes housed in big roomy tubs, so they can stretch out and maximize the space within and actually move about. Plus when it gets close to laying time, I get my females out and handle them every day or so and make them exercise to hopefully avoid those issues.
We all have responsibilities as pet owners, I guess I just never saw the point to keeping snakes (albeit an easy to keep species) in small containers when they certainly do appreciate roomier confines most of the time (at least in my collection). When I've moved yearlings up to the 41qt Sterilites from 12qts, they've roamed for hours upon hours, like the novelty of actually moving is new to them. Although I'm sure they're just merely looking for an escape opprotunity.
I've never been a fan of cramming my snakes into the smallest possible tub in order to have more shelf room for more snakes. I don't feel right doing it. Most of my snakes are in a roomy viv compared to their counterparts in other keepers' homes.
I just recently ordered two 48" x 24" x 14" cages for a couple of my larger adult corns. Most of my adult corns are in 36" long tubs of varying heights depending on sex. Females get taller tubs to accompdate a nest box, compared to the males' tubs.
Usually too large and spacious housing only affects the younger snakes, as they generally have more to fear of the big open world than larger snakes do. I've not yet met an adult cornsnake that wouldn't eat anywhere anytime, so I doubt you'd have to worry about their stress from a roomy viv compared to that of a youngster.
I think there's been some discussion about lack of exercise for adult breeding females having more of a tendency to become egg bound, because their locomotion muscles are also the muscles that help them to expel the eggs. So that's one of the main reasons why I try to keep my snakes housed in big roomy tubs, so they can stretch out and maximize the space within and actually move about. Plus when it gets close to laying time, I get my females out and handle them every day or so and make them exercise to hopefully avoid those issues.
We all have responsibilities as pet owners, I guess I just never saw the point to keeping snakes (albeit an easy to keep species) in small containers when they certainly do appreciate roomier confines most of the time (at least in my collection). When I've moved yearlings up to the 41qt Sterilites from 12qts, they've roamed for hours upon hours, like the novelty of actually moving is new to them. Although I'm sure they're just merely looking for an escape opprotunity.
