these tanks are called terrariums..
no i didnnt use tanks ..
i have a old wooden showcase at home with sliding glass..its quite big .
i had put in some rocks and sand and a piece of dead tree bough..
a plastic water trough embedded in the sand.
for heating i had placed a study lamp outside the glass ..
i would turn it on in the morning for abt 2 hrs and again for a little while in the evening.... so that the inside would get warm enough.. (p.s. note .. different snake need different kinds of heat and terrarium settings ..
( you could check this book called Giant and non venonomous snakes by Klaus Griehl- that was my first book on snakes ,when i was in std 6... very detailed info.. ) sadly my mom has hidden it or thrown it out coz i still cant find it till today...)
mostly my guests at snake motel would be common trinkits , vine snakes
sand and jon's boas and rat snakes ..
i have seen my guests eat too.
all the times they would be fed by hand ... i would hold the snake just behind the jaw, this way the tend to open their mouth.. then with tweezers i have feed them beef .. normally they wont eat natural prey initially when captured ... they are not in their natural habitat... only after a a while say two weeks to a month , they would take live prey , depending on their temperament and when and what they had eaten last.. since i never kept them for more than a week i never got to see that .
i have never ventured to keep any cobra or krait that i have caught..
fortunately or unfortunately i have not handled a russels viper ..
even now i wouldnt want to take that chance ... i fashioned a snake net with an old badminton raquet and mosquito netting .. with a bamboo rod and that ,you can pretty much get any venomous snake in the bag , without laying your hands on it..
less trauma for the snake and definitely onesself.
having said this , i want to say the above set up was just a temporary shelter for the snakes that came to my house...
i would not keep them longer than a week.. so i really dont keep snakes as pets per say.
