A Noodle Called Soup

To do this properly, you’ll need: Wood cutting tools (An angle cutter with measurements) A drill A staple gun Razor blade Sliding door locks Door handles  Small door hinges Lexel clear sealant Wood (Size varies based on the size cage you are making. Big 8 foot cages need 2x4s, smaller ones can use smaller sizes) Vinyl plastic wrap, the thicker stuff from joannes or other fabrics shops. For this, be sure to check that the height of your cage is not bigger than the width of the vinyl! You can use paint, wood stain, or just keep the wood natural color if you like. Heat panel, thermostat. You need this before you put your enclosure together! These enclosures only work with Radiant Heat Panels as their heat source. Entire how to under the read more! (Excuse the badly written parts, I am awful at conveying myself in text)

Finally added a UV and a halogen lamp to Daemon’s enclosure!

I think overall I’m very happy with how his enclosure is looking 😭💚 for being my first snake, I think all the research is paying off.

Ofc I eventually want to upgrade him to a bigger space (his current enclosure is a 150cm x 40 x 40), a 140x70x80, and do better with the bio active because im still unsure how this one will do long term, but yea 🌱

He's come such a long way since he came home in May, dehydrated, underweight, and with a stuck shed, weighing a worrisome 92 grams. Three months later he's shaped like a snake, eating like a champ, has had two fully in-tact sheds, has been switched from live (horribly undersized) mice to f/t rats, and weighs a far more comfy 149 grams.

This got pretty long, so I apologize if you were looking for a quick list lol but I am very enthusiastic about plant choices. I hope this helps!

Pothos! 

Probably at least 50% of the plants in both of my tanks are pothos. It’s incredibly easy to grow and very hard to kill (whether by living conditions or a heavy animal climbing all over it - it can usually take it). Once it gets going, you’ll have so much green in there. I love it. There’s also several color varieties so you don’t have to stick with just the green kind if you want more interesting colors: satin pothos is my absolute favorite. Marble queen (I think) is also another pretty one.

I also have: 

croton - beautiful plant with colorful leaves, but it gets pretty big so there has to be space for it. However, there are several kinds of croton, including small ones with different shaped leaves, that work as well. I’m not sure what the exact croton I use is called, but I think a lot of stores like walmart and lowes where i shop for plants consider it a sort of “generic” croton

maranta - another one that grows very quickly, and it’s beautiful, but more picky on growing conditions than pothos. My best growing maranta is on the cool/humid side under the light

creeping fig - this one grows pretty quickly, and looks nice. it’s small and a little more delicate while it’s acclimating. If you introduce it before the animal is in, it should be okay. If it is added later, pay it special attention daily to make sure it can acclimate. 

rainbow spike moss - this is one of my favorites, but i’ve found it to be quite challenging to establish. I have some growing pretty well in one tank right now (and a few growing outside my vivs just for fun), but i’ve made several attempts inside the tanks before which have all ended with a dead plant. They’re very picky. The one I have in the viv right now is planted right next to the maranta, in the cool/humid side. 

bonsai tree - i have one i picked up from walmart. i’m not sure what kind it is, but i really like having it in there

A few others I don’t have right now but that I’d still recommend:

fittonia (nerve plant)

polka dot plant

snake plant

spider plant

pilea, begonia, and/or bromeliads

I really love browsing for plants whenever I can, and if you get the chance to check out local stores with nurseries, you’ll find plenty that aren’t on this list. There are so many. The things you want to look for when considering a plant are it’s temperature, water, and light needs, as well as if it can survive a large snake sitting on top of it. Soil needs are also a factor: specific pH requirements can affect whether the plant will thrive in your substrate or not. 

As well, you’ll want to clean every plant you get, to make sure you aren’t bringing in outside contaminants that could harm your snake or other plants. Things like pests and fertilizers. It’s called plant processing, and is pretty easy and doesn’t usually take very long. You’ll also want to make sure the plant is safe for your reptile! This is my favorite list to check when looking at a new plant. It is extensive and lists the BAD plants, but also why they are bad (for instance, is it bad only if eaten, or is it bad for them to touch? etc)

If you have any other questions about this or anything else about bio, please feel free to ask! I am very happy to offer what help I can. And this goes for anyone: You can ask on anon, or if you want a private conversation, I won’t publish any asks if you don’t want them published. And I’m just as comfortable talking on the IM. Whichever makes you most comfortable I am fine with. I just want to put that out there so you don’t feel like you *have* to stay on anon if you don’t want to. 

What a handsome young man!

Humidity boxes are super easy to make, fortunately! What you'll want to do is find a plastic food storage container (or tool box, or whatever, as long as it has a lid) that's big enough for your snake to curl up in. Use a soldering iron to cut a door on top of the box for your snake to enter through, and fill it with damp sphagnum moss. Make sure to keep the moss damp, and you're good to go! Humidity boxes provide your snake with an area that has near-100% humidity, and if you use them I find you rarely if ever have anything other than great sheds. :)

Since your little guy has persistent shedding issues, though, I'd like to do some troubleshooting with you if that's okay!

Fake grass isn't really a great substrate option because it doesn't allow for natural behaviors (like digging) and because it doesn't hold humidity at all. A good humidity-retaining substrate can do wonders when it comes to releasing humidity into the air consistently. Cypress mulch is a good humidity-retaining option, and I've actually started switching all of my humidity-loving snakes to coconut husk/coconut fibers because it's so easy to rehydrate and holds humidity so amazingly well.

How are you measuring humidity? Hygrometers with probes are your best bet for getting accurate readings; stick-on dials are notoriously unreliable.

Does he eat when he's in shed? Some snakes can't multi-task and eating during a shed cycle will cause patchy sheds.

science sources (x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x) other (x)

This snake morph guide is just meant to explain some basics of morphs. I would caution anyone in buying a pet that takes a high level of care just because it's pretty, and frankly any breeder that continues to breed morphs with physiological and neurological defects should be put out of business. I did my best as I find this interesting and believe there's a lot of misinformation out there due to people trying to literally sell things to their audience.

Oof that is genuinely a tough question! I have a list in my pinned of creators I've reviewed on this channel, but even the ones at the top have some caveats to be aware of (for example, I like Clint's Reptiles, but he's supported breeding spider ball pythons in the past).

Here are some creators that I really like and can recommend with zero hesitation:

Lori Torrini. Her YouTube channel is great, both for awesome care and great snake training tips.

Green Room Pythons is another channel I've come to really love and one of my go-tos when I want some cute snake content. This one is great especially for guides for beginners and advocating for non-minamalist keeping.

First, get a tupperware or other small container. It should be big enough to fit your reptile but not super large. The most important part is it's a nonporous material, not clear and has a top and a bottom section that can come apart. I use cleaned out bowls from instant noodles for mine! They fit the bill and are free. Cut/Melt out a hole in the top or side of the container (depending on your reptile's preferences) I usually use a cheap soldering iron that's only used for melting plastic. (Don't use a nice soldering iron) and make sure to do it in a well ventilated space away from pets and young children. I do mine outside. You can also use a dremel/drill or knife to cut it however you'll have to use sandpaper to smooth the edges. You're now 50% done!

Next you need to choose your humid hide material. You can use paper towel, coco fibre or moss. I use and highly recommend moss. I use dried (dye free) sphagnum moss. It's a few dollars for a big bag from any gardening store and in my experience it's the best humid hide substrate. If using cocofibre add maybe 1/2 an inch, if using moss fill it up enough your reptile will fit with a little but not much extra room. Keep the moss hydrated at all times, there shouldn't be more than a few drops of standing water though.

Dropping them in the bathtub full of water is a bad idea, but sometimes your snek will be dumb and get crispy no matter how high the humidity is, and will need some help. His soil is moist, digital readings at 85-90% throughout the day, it just happens when they nap too long in the heat (his temps are fine too, 95-75 °F across the enclosure). I can't raise the humidity any higher to where it would make a difference in what already occured, and it's causing him stress to not see out of one eye.

A snek sauna where you saturate a towel in warm water and put them in a tupperware or pot if they're too big with the lid cracked for air lets the shed hydrate with minimal stress, and they rub it off themselves without much invasiveness. Even if it doesn't come off while they're in the pot, they'll probably rub it off in the enclosure. If not, can repeat for 10-15 mins a day until it does.