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Lighting, Heating and Humidity for the Kingsnakes & Milksnakes
Lighting
No specialized lighting is required. You may provide 12on/12off using incadescent or fluorescent fixtures keeping in mind that incadescent bulbs will affect the temperature of the enclosure.
Heating
The most important factor for keeping kingsnakes (all reptiles actually) is providing the correct environmental conditions. Caring for reptiles is very different than caring for other pets because reptiles are what are called ectothermic. Ectothermic, which is sometimes called "cold-blooded", means that reptiles do not maintain a stable body temperature by creating heat from their metabolism. Reptiles rely on a behavioral mechanism called thermoregulation to regulate their body temperature. What this means is that when a reptile is too hot, it moves into the shade or down into its den to cool down, and when it needs to heat up (to digest food for example) it basks in the sun or moves into a warmer area. This is important for reptile keepers to understand because in captivity, we determine what temperatures a reptile has access to. Reptile keepers must provide a thermal gradient for their animals so that they may heat up or cool down, as they would do in the wild.
There are many different ways to provide a themal gradient, but all require that you purchase a good digital thermometer to make sure you are providing the correct temperature range. Almost all kingsnakes and milksnakes do well with a maintenance temperature gradient of 84-88 degrees F on the warm end and 70-75 degrees at the cool end. At night, the temperature can safely drop to 65 degrees F as long as the snake can warm up during the day. If you are using an aquarium to house your snake, one good choice is to purchase an undertank heater. Undertank heaters are made out of flexible plastic and work a lot like a regular heating pad. One side of the heater is adhesive and this side attached to the bottom of the outside of the aquarium. It is important to place the heater on one end of the cage, so that the other end remains cooler. Undertank heaters work well because they can be left on a night without disturbing the animal. The other choice is a heat bulb. The heat bulb must be located on one end of the enclosure and most not be accessible to the snake (to prevent burns). One method that works well is to have a screen top with a clamp light sitting on top of one end of the cage. The wattage of the bulb necessary to provide the correct temperature will vary with the ambient temperature, so it is best to test the heat light by leaving it on for a few hours and monitoring the temperature closely. If the heat area provided is too hot, the snake will still use it because it must warm up to digest it?s food properly, but it can be seriously injured by thermal burns in the process, which brings me to the subject of heat rocks.
We do not use nor recommend heat rocks for any reptile at all. The reason why is that heat rocks provide a small, localized heat source which is fully accessible to the reptile. Heat rocks often have "hot spots" and can overheat quickly, possibly causing severe thermal burns. If a reptile is housed in an enclosure that is cold everywhere except a tiny little heat rock, it will spend most of it?s time curled around, and in direct contact with, this unstable heat source, even to the point of causing severe injury to itself. Our advice is to find other, safer, heating alternatives.
Humidity
Another aspect of providing the correct environmental conditions is humidity. Most kingsnakes do well with the relative humidity ranging from 40-60%. Relative humidity becomes and important issue before a snake is about to shed. Snakes shed at variable intervals, with more sheds as a snake is growing. When a snake is close to shedding its skin, its eyes will become milky and its scales will become duller. Then this will clear up and a few days after that, the snake will shed. When you notice your snake beginning to shed, the humidity must be increased to aid in this processes. Most incomplete sheds are caused by low humidity. One way to raise the humidity is to mist the cage lightly for a few days until the snake sheds. Also, a humidity box can be put in, and left in the enclosure for the snake to use whenever it needs to. Humidity boxes can be easily and cheaply constructed out of plastic Rubbermaid containers large enough to house a loosely coiled snake. An access hole must be cut in the side, but otherwise the box should remain closed. A layer of moist moss such as sphagnum or peat should be put inside the humidity box and kept moist at all times. Moist paper towels work as well and are easier to replace but tend to try out more quickly. With baby snakes, a deli cup can be used to make a humidity box.