A Home-Made Fox Snake Hibernation Den in my basement:

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John Vanek
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Re: A Home-Made Fox Snake Hibernation Den in my basement:

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Soopaman wrote:That is really quite a fantastic setup. I wish more people would do things like this. I hate seeing the set ups of a snake in a glass terrarium with nothing but cedar bark substrate and the small, inadequate hide. You know the snakes aren't happy in something like that. I'm willing to bet that your snakes are happy as larks and feel more like they are on a resort vacation than being someones captive!

Really great work :thumb:
Not to be a pain, but I think that most snakes kept with traditional herpetoculture methods do just fine. Also, no one uses cedar anymore, its almost always aspen, or at the very least, kiln dried pine. To date, there haven't been any snake enrichment studies, although a turtle enrichment study suggested simply using a hide and substrate over newspaper reduced corticosterol levels in box turtles.

"The physiological and behavioural impacts of and preference for an enriched environment in the eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina)"

Abstract:
The physiological and behavioural impact of, as well as preference for, enriched versus barren environments was determined for captive eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina). Thirty-eight box turtles were randomized to either barren (flat newspaper substrate) or enriched (cypress mulch substrate, shredded paper and a hide box) enclosures for a 1-month period. Complete blood counts, fecal corticosterone, and body weights were measured at the beginning and end of the test period. Activities performed within the two environments were also compared.

Turtles in enriched enclosures had a significantly lower heterophil to lymphocyte ratio (H/L) at the end of the treatment period (p=0.01). Enriched-housed turtles also spent significantly less time engaged in escape behaviour (p<0.01). There was no significant difference in fecal corticosterone or body weight change between the two treatment groups.

At the beginning of the study, each turtle was placed in a preference test system in which it could move freely between a barren and enriched environment. Relative-dwelling time (RDT) was determined for each environment. Turtles showed a distinct preference for the enriched environment (90.9% median RDT, p<0.01). After the 1-month housing experiment turtles were revaluated for preference to determine if previous housing experience affected choice. Turtles continued to prefer an enriched environment regardless of prior housing conditions (97.6% median RDT, p<0.01).

Results of this study demonstrate that the captive housing environment impacts the physiology and behaviour of box turtles, and suggest housing modifications that encourage typical species-specific behaviour should be provided.
Does a snake "know" the difference between a "natural" environment versus a simulated one? An interesting question, but one with little evidence so far.
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John Vanek
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Re: A Home-Made Fox Snake Hibernation Den in my basement:

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TeeJay wrote:Thanks everyone. I did another project similiar to this with Lined Snakes from South Dakota:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2773

As for "....Does a snake "know" the difference between a "natural" environment versus a simulated one? An interesting question, but one with little evidence so far."

All I have to say about that is: Give the snake a choice between a Tupperware container with newspaper substrate, water bowl and a cereal box hide... and a large re-creation of its natural habitat... and see which one it chooses.

Oh, don't confuse my post with disdain for naturalistic tanks, I love them as well, and I really enjoy your setup. However, I really don't know if anyone has done that experiment. It would certainly be interesting to see the results. As long as a snake has proper hide spots and proper thermo/hyrdo regulatory options, I really don't know which side he would choose.
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John Vanek
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Re: A Home-Made Fox Snake Hibernation Den in my basement:

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