The fact that these slide open can be helpful for tank maintenance, as you don’t need to open the entire cage to change the water or spot-clean the substrate. Lastly you have the benefit of the sliding doors at the front, which provide excellent visibility for keeping an eye on your snake and watching their activities. Even a standard heat pad placed inside the viv can keep it warm and toasty on a cold winter’s day. As the same time the wood construction can be ideal for keeping in heat. The solid sides of the vivarium help to provide privacy, making your snake feel more confident in their surroundings.
As milk snakes tend to be kept on a dry substrate there is little worry of the wood warping or rotting, as can happen in a humid set-up. While there are a range of different vivariums available for snakes, my own personal preference in the case of milk snakes is a wooden vivarium. Personally I sometimes include carefully-fixed pieces of wood to provider some vertical interest in their cages, and will quite often see them climbing. Milk snakes can be surprisingly adept climbers in comparison to many other commonly-kept snakes, so a vivarium which provides a degree of height can also be beneficial. This means that a four foot milk snake will require a cage no less than 4 feet long by a foot wide at the bare minimum, though larger is of course better. I recommend a cage that offers at least one square foot of space for every foot of snake length. Despite their smaller size, milk snakes should not be kept in overly-small cages as they can be surprisingly active when going about their nocturnal activities. Milk snakes tend to be quite modestly-sized snakes in captivity, generally quite a bit smaller than corn snakes (though exceptions do of course exist). You’ll be astonished by just how small a gap they can get through or how well they can climb (my original problem was a loose lid, which they could nudge just enough to slip through the gap). I soon learned from personal experience that it is critical to ensure that these slim and agile snakes are kept in escape-proof containers. When I bought my first milk snakes they seemed to forever be getting out, though were always soon found relaxing on the windowsill above the radiator. Like all snakes, milk snakes are born escape artists. It is interesting to note that their presence in cattle-farmers fields led to their common name, whereby a myth arose that they must be drinking the milk of these animals they were so commonly found in close proximity. This adaptability helps to make them ideal pets as they will tolerate a wide range of different conditions with ease.
In the wild milk snakes may frequent a wide range of habitats, though are most commonly found in more arid areas.įrom rocky mountainsides to prairies and even woodlands these are snakes that are well-adapted to drier conditions and highly adaptable in their lifestyle. They are to be found as far north as southern Canada, throughout the United States and down into much of Central America. Milk snakes are a New World species, occurring across a wide range. Their taxonomy may well change in the coming years, therefore, as experts disagree over how best to classify them. However not all authorities, agree, however, and believe that many of the varieties deserve to be classified as unique species in their own right. Interestingly, the Milk Snake is generally categorized as a single species ( Lampropeltis triangulum) with the different varieties being classed as sub-species. While most of the pet trade focuses on either the Sinaloan or Pueblan Milk Snakes, there are currently over 20 different varieties recognized. Milk snakes are a surprisingly diverse group.
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