How to Make a Simple Wild Garter Snake Habitat

Clean the terrarium with mild soap and hot water if it has been previously used to house another type of reptile or fish. Let the terrarium air dry. Do not use glass cleaner or any ammonia-based cleaner on the inside or outside as this can kill the snakes. A 50-gallon terrarium can house 10 garter snakes sufficiently.

Spread a layer of substrate to protect the bottom of the terrarium. You can choose from finely ground hardwood chips or sawdust. Both of these are sold as the environmentally friendly cat litter in pet stores. A 1-inch deep layer will give your snakes a chance to hide under the surface. Some snake owners use newspapers or pages out of discarded phone books. These make for easy cleanup.

Set a heating lamp so that it stretches over one side of the terrarium. Ideally one side of the terrarium should be the ̶0;hot̶1; side and the other the ̶0;cold̶1; side. The temperature should be no hotter than 84 degrees and no colder than 70 degrees. If the typical outside temperature where you are at falls between these two, a heating lamp is not necessary. Do not keep the lamp on all day, a few hours a day of heat should be sufficient as the garter snake is mainly a nocturnal creature and rarely basks in the heat as other reptiles do. If you are fortunate enough to have found or purchased an albino garter snake, do not use UV light bulbs, as it could damage its eyes and skin.

Insert a hide box for the snakes on the cold side of the terrarium. A hide box is an area the snakes can retreat to when they have been sufficiently warmed by the heat lamp or when they need rest. A small shoe box with a door cut into the side will work for a disposable version. If you don̵7;t mind cleaning the hide box weekly, you could opt to use an overturned flower pot with a hole in the side. Plug up the pot̵7;s drainage hole as the snakes will tend to forget that they have just eaten and will get stuck. For added moisture, if you live in a naturally arid climate, provide some dampened sphagnum moss in the hide box.

Place a sturdy water bowl in the center of the terrarium. The bowl should be heavy enough to take the weight of each of your snakes on its side without tipping over. It should be deep enough to accommodate bathing snakes as they tend to enjoy sitting in water after a meal. Glazed ceramic bowls are easy to maintain and clean. The water should be changed twice a week as snakes will defecate in their water supply. The rest of the terrarium should be kept completely dry, as blister disease can develop in damp habitats.

Wedge a long branch in opposite corners of the terrarium to give your snakes something to climb on. The end of the branch in the upper corner should be on the cold side.