Snakes Care 

This is going to be an article with an overview of the various types of snake habitats.

The first style of snake housing is your basic aquarium. These are generally what beginner snake owners use when they are starting out. They are relatively easy to upkeep but are probably a little more expensive than other methods (especially larger tanks). Depending on your needs and what type of snake you have you could get away with as small as a 20 gallon tank(for young snakes). You need to make sure that you have a firm clasp on the top of the tank as many snakes are talented escape artists and will try to get out.

You also have home made plywood or plastic cages that you can make. These are probably the most affordable option, as all you need are the proper materials and the know how to put them all together. You can generally make these cages as big or as small as you would like. Just keep in mind that the bigger you make your cage, the harder it is going to be to clean and upkeep. One common practice is to use a type of plastic shelving unit for your snake housing also known as a snake rack. These are an affordable alternative, if you have multiple snakes, and are a snap to clean as well.

The final basic type of snake habitat that I am going to cover are reptariums. These are becoming more and more popular with reptile owners. Reptariums are reptile enclosures that are made entirely of mesh. They are extremely affordable, and you can likely get around a 75 gallon reptarium for the price of a 20 gallon aquarium. However using these for snakes is rather risky. The reptariums are made entirely of mesh which can do damage to your snake as he moves around on it all day

Heating Your Snake Habitat

You must keep heating elements in mind as well when you are choosing a tank. Glass aquariums are generally fairly easy to maintain a temperature and humidity. You can place a heating pad on the bottom of the aquarium, just be sure to leave space between the aquarium and whatever it is lying on to give the heater room to breath so it doesn't overheat. You can also use a heating lamp to give your snake an area to bask in but make sure he has an area to go to where he can get out of the heat.

A reptarium is a little bit more difficult to keep the heat and humidity in line due to the mesh covering all around it. The mesh lets all of the heat and humidity out into the air. You may want to put it in its own room with a humidifier and a heater. That way the reptarium is able to keep at an appropriate heat/humidity level with just the ambient surroundings.

A plywood homemade cage will probably be the hardest to keep in line with temperature/humidity. You will need to have multiple basking spots (depending on the size you make it) and again I would recommend putting this type of cage in its own room with a heater and a humidifier. If you are going to build your own plywood cage I would recommend putting a screen type of top so that you can put heating lamps on the top of it to have a simpler time regulating your temperature/humidity.

Plastic cages of "snake racks" are far easier to regulate. Commonly people use either heat tape (yes electric tape that heats up), or heat cable to keep their ambient temperature appropriate for their snakes. The plastic that the rack is made out of also makes regulating the humidity much easier as plastic is great at maintaining humidity levels.

Bedding For Your Snake Habitat

You are also going to need to choose a type of bedding for your snake. The only exception is with "snake racks" the plastic tubs are fine for snakes to move around in without injuring themselves. Any other type of enclosure and you will want to have a bedding down so your snake does not injure itself moving around the bare enclosure. People use everything from newspapers to artificial turf. It is recommended that if you have a snake that prefers a higher humidity that you use aspen shavings or cyprus mulch, as they are quite good at retaining moisture. If you have a snake that enjoys a more arid type of environment you can pretty much use anything from sand to an outdoor carpet. You should never use cedar or pine shavings as they are toxic to snakes.

Source: http://EzineArticles.com