Tips for Raising a Speckled Milk Snake

Speckled milk snakes are ideal for beginner snake owners and families due to the breed's hardiness and manageability. However, like any pet, milk snakes need proper, regular care. Knowing about the breed's personality traits and how to set up a proper habitat are vital in providing a happy home for your snake.

  1. Understand Your Snake's Personality

    • Once you understand a milk snake's personality, caring for it is much easier. Milk snakes are shy creatures. This breed scares easily. When caring for this type of snake, you must approach it slowly and always remain calm. Milk snakes eventually warm up to owners but this does take time. Once you bring home a Milk snake, you must let it grow comfortable in its environment before handling it. Always speak softly and handle the snake gently. Sudden moves and loud noises only upset the snake. Frightened milk snakes will give off an unpleasant musk.

    Provide a Proper Habitat

    • Your milk snake needs a habitat that grows with it. A young milk snake needs a habitat that is small enough for hunting. A young milk snake grows stressed and upset in environments where the cage is too large and catching prey is difficult. As your milk snake grows, adapt the habitat. Different breeds of milk snakes grow to different lengths. Typically, a 20-gallon aquarium filled with plenty of hiding spaces is adequate for an adult milk snake. Ideal habitats for younger milk snakes include plastic shoe boxes with holes poked in the lid. Proper milk snake habitats also need a shallow water bowl and adequate substrate such as pine shavings. This type of snake is happiest in temperatures ranging between 78 and 82 degrees. Mist the cage once in the morning and once at night to keep the humidity up.

    House Snakes Apart

    • Some snake breeds live well together, other breeds do not. Milk snakes live better by themselves. The breed is known as relatively docile and non-aggressive. However, cannibalism is not uncommon between milk snakes. For breeding purposes, always put the female in the males cage and stay in the room during visits. Never keep the snakes in the same cage for extended periods of time. During mating, it is not uncommon for the male to bite the head of the female.

    Keep the Cage Clean

    • Regularly clean your milk snake's cage. Spot clean the cage every few days, especially after your snake eats. Once a month, remove your snake from the cage and completely clean it out. Use anti-bacterial soap and plenty of warm water. Clean any rocks in the cage, and provide fresh substrate.