Customer Reviews

The Art of Keeping Snakes (Herpetocultural Library)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Before getting into keeping a snake I wanted to know exactly what I was going to let myself in for. This book not only gave me that information, but more. It shows how you can create a territory for the snake that is enjoyable and healthy for the animal, ecological, pleasant to look at and requires relatively low maintenance. I ended up dividing the purchasing process into 3 phases: Creating a pleasant vivarium, where the buying of plants and composition were at least as much fun as the anticipation of getting a snake. Then the purchasing of quarantine equipment and finally the snake and food. This book helped me all the way through. I highly recommend it and read it before you purchase any snake.

Keeping snakes in plastic blanket boxes has its place in the warehouses of professional breeders but for the average keeper, we wonder why, after starting with a pair of snakes, we somehow become disillusioned and unsatisfied with them and move onto a different 'more advanced' species. Suddenly we find ourselves with corn snakes, kingsnakes, boas, green tree pythons and wonder, amid all the blanket boxes, why we ever started. The daily cleaning and feeding chores are only offset by the fact that we made a little money on the side by selling offspring.

If you are thinking about owning a snake or are already drawn in the direction of purchasing more and more species - I would recommend this book above all others.

This book is different in it's approach than any other care book I've seen. The author argues for, and shows how to do, quasi-natural to naturalist setups for many common serpents.
The difference is that most books do not touch natural vivaria for snakes. There has been some recognition of thier benefits with lizards and amphibians, but little to no discussion of thier role in snake husbandry.

The book covers the basics of setting up different types of vivaria--i.e. desert and tropic, etc. and list some plants, and substrate mixes that are suitable. He then goes into some particular snakes he feels are well suited for this sort of display. This means the books focuses on small through midsized, diurnal snakes, as they are the best display animals in a natural set up. This excludes many common species, but includes many species equally suited to a beginner--some of which are actually more suited than many more popular species, and hey, it opens up new ideas.

These setups, in my experince (I've been doing them for several years) make keeping snakes much more rewarding. I've tried the LAM method (sterile boxes, wood shavings, and a heat source) and it's not that much fun. It has it's place, but it should emphatically not be the approach employed by the average hobbyist. Allowing snakes a fairly large cage, with structures and possibly plants, appropriate to it's size and behavior, greatly enhances thier captive behavior. A boa constrictor can just sit in a 4X2X1 foot cage all day, with little to do, and live. Or, you can put it in a 4X2X3 cage with thick branches, places to explore, ect. and have a much more interesting captive.
SOme of the book is common sense, some of it is fairly detailed, but for a novice keeper, it is a must have--and frankly, it's a good idea for many more advanced keepers.

The approach advocated does have limits; truly large snakes (big boas, burmese, etc.) are not suited for planted tanks, because they crush anything smaller than a tree. Furthermore, I wish the book dealt with quasi-natural setups more--they're my preferred approach, and more flexible. You simply use wood shavings, or a burrowable mix of sand and soil, and structure large branches and rocks in the cage. No plants, true, so not as pretty, but provides much of the same stimulus and is easier by far. I also wish he dealt more with noctural displays; he mentions some ideas (i.e. use redlights) but he doesn't deal with ways to make truly amazing noctural displays--e.g. plants that flower at night, etc.
But still, this book gives you info you will not get in any other avialable book for snakes. It also advocates an approach that makes keeping snakes truly much more pleasent. I heartily reccomend it for anyone, particularly new people, or people who use the LAM method and are burning out. It opens new ideas, better ideas.

This book is ideal for anyone, whether they own one snake or 1,000. Helpful for other reptiles to, as many of the techniques will work equally well if not better with lizards and amphibians. The list of snakes they include is suberb - they have all of the half a dozen or so snakes I would recommend most in a display tank, and then many more that I didn't even think of! Wonderful book, get this is you've just begun with snakes, had them a while or are thinking about getting one. It can make your reptiles' lives much better, as well as your own with a nicer looking, cleaner and (and for you environmentally aware types) greener!

This book is a great new way to enjoy reptiles in general, not just snakes. It tells you which species of snakes are best for display, meaning they won't be hiding all the time, and general information on them.

The real diamond of this book is the information on creating a natural vivarium for your reptile. A vivarium is a tank which simulates the animal's natural environment. Not only are they beautiful to look at it really brings out the natural behavior of the animal and makes them less stressed (therefore far more enjoyable).

This book doesn't really give a step-by-step how-to, but gives enough information to be able to create one of your own with some creativity.

Wow! This book is so detailed. The author stresses how important habitat is to the health and happiness of your snake. He goes into different kinds of snakes,selection, their care,feeding,breeding,health,handling and temperament. By creating the best habitat humanly possible, you will see the animal act natural in a vivarium that is pleasing to look at. He also tells of types of living plants and their care, and a LIVING substrate that cleans itself!
There are lots of color photos. If you love your pet snake...get this book!

This book is about the "art" of keeping snakes, not the 'act'. It focuses on the artistic display of snakes - and the challenges faced in such an endeavor. If you're looking for information on snakes or raising/keeping snakes - and not so much about the vivarium - look elsewhere. Now, if your goal is to learn about making a natural environment for your display - this is your book.

I am just getting into keeping snakes and was looking for up-to-date information about snake-keeping. I wasn't (and am still not, yet) really interested in the ins and outs of creating a life-like cage. I wanted information on snake diseases and habits and tidbits (or more) about how to care for snakes in general. Perhaps as the years go by, I'll be more interested in the "art" of snake keeping.

I'm not putting this book down. Indeed, it seems comprehensive and informative about the topic. Rather, it was Amazon's description of the book that led me astray. I'm keeping it, because any and all information is useful. I just wanted to inform and warn new snake keepers that this really isn't about SNAKES so much as the ENVIRONMENTS in which to house them. Really, a better title might have been "The Art of Snake Housing", rather than keeping. Keeping, to my mind, invokes husbandry.

I SO appreciate this book, because I am about to get my first snake (a corn) and I am definitely a proponent of naturalistic vivariums. I have them for my frogs and fish and it enhances the experience so much for me and the animals. I can't believe how little information is out there (even on the endless WWW) about how to set up a planted tank for a snake. This book is pretty much it. That said, the author does a great job of telling you the benefits of a vivarium without quite enough detail regarding how to do it. It's enough to go on, but I still will be experimenting quite a bit with things like how to compose my substrate. It would have been easy for him to just list a formula or two instead of just saying why the substrate is important and then only giving handwavy information about what exactly should go into it and the proportions, etc. If there were more info on forums and such about this, then the shortcomings of the book would not be a problem. But this is the only source I can find for how to do this. If anyone knows any good websites for more info about snake vivariums (especially real ones with plants), then please share. I will try to update my review once I have set up a vivarium according to this method and I will comment on my level of success or failure :).

This book treats the care of snakes differently than any book that I have ever read. I was cautiously optomistic about his method of substrate and cage setup. After reading his book a few times, I decided to give his method of biological substrate a try. It makes everything about the care much more enjoyable, from cage setup to animal observation. I will never go back to the laboratory type cages that I have used for decades. My snakes love it too.

This book has a wealth of information for anyone interested in snakes. It covers everything from picking the right snake to how to tell what sex your snake is. I feel that after reading this book I have a much better understanding of how to better take care of my snake.