# My “return to the hobby” viv



## Rshimmin (Sep 13, 2016)

So as the title suggests, I’ve been out the hobby a couple of years. Divorce and a house sale made it difficult to keep my animals, but now I’m in a position to start keeping again I’ve decided to treat myself to a lovely little okeetee corn snake to ease back into it. He’s spent the first couple of weeks with us in a faunarium inside his first viv, but he was so active I thought I’d just go ahead and set up the viv, see how he responds. As I left the hobby I was starting to transition my keeping into more enriching enclosures as opposed to more clinical style. 
I’m still not 100% sure I like the layou yet, and I’m still playing around to get a better shaded area, but I think it’s a good start so I thought I’d share! It’s a 3’ viv, the snake is very small, only a few months old so breaking all the “rules” that I’ve been told in my earlier years, small snake small viv, they’ll get stressed etc. well, let’s find out shall we. 😁


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## Rshimmin (Sep 13, 2016)

Full view. The trailing plant from the top right is going my head in, I can never get it right but that’s where the little guy is spending all his time so far! I’m liking it, but there’s work to be done it still looks a little messy to my eye.








Hot side. He can hide under the rock as well as the greenery.









cold side. Still not quite shaded enough yet I don’t think.


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## Rshimmin (Sep 13, 2016)

This is the little guy. Got some lovely gold body colour starting to come through as you can see, really looking forward to seeing him develop. Big shout out to Wyre forest reptiles where I got him. Super friendly bloke, very helpful and accommodating to my bizarre requests!


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## LiasisUK (Sep 30, 2019)

Viv looks great


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## Spades (3 mo ago)

Stunning little okeetee. I personally haven’t had any issues putting young snakes in larger appropriately decorated vivs with lots of hides, at least once the initial monitoring is done (take that with a pinch of salt as I’ve only ever had two very young snakes, but I know that experience is shared with many). The only challenge is finding them. I think the viv looks great!


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## Rshimmin (Sep 13, 2016)

Spades said:


> Stunning little okeetee. I personally haven’t had any issues putting young snakes in larger appropriately decorated vivs with lots of hides, at least once the initial monitoring is done (take that with a pinch of salt as I’ve only ever had two very young snakes, but I know that experience is shared with many). The only challenge is finding them. I think the viv looks great!


Thanks, it’s the first time I’ve don’t a viv this size with a snake this size, and given hatchlings are pretty nervous as they get eaten by everything in the wild I’d be interested to see how he responds. The faunarium was a good size and after a couple of days he was out all day basking and moving about, so he seems like a confident little guy.


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## Swindinian (May 4, 2020)

That’s a nice setup, and plenty of cover!
Great to see a new thoughtful contributor 😁

It will be fun watching the ontogenetic colour change, especially the purple to orange; I would not be able to pick out a baby okeetee from a normal, but the adults look stunning.

I doubt he will use the vertical branches much, but it looks good, and always good to offer options; they do climb.

I have a juvenile tessera (named Amber). She only occasionally frequents the warm end (usually to defecate under the hide). More often rather than directly basking, she elevates onto structures in mid section, or cool end, where it might be warmer than ground level. Mostly she frequents the cooler lower areas.

I am rigging up a 4 foot viv for her with a sky hide at the cool end - I have an incling she might use it.
She also only uses the moist hide once the moss has dried out 😂🤣

She is such a sweetie, and often pokes her head out to watch me 🥰


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## Rshimmin (Sep 13, 2016)

Thanks, yeah it’s tricky when they are small, but if you look closely at the saddles the thick black borders are evident already.
The vertical branches are really just to give the illusion of trees, I’ve seen snakes climb them plenty but for the little one he seems to prefer tangling himself up in the greenery, hence the abundance of it! It’s feeding day tomorrow so hopefully he’ll come out of hiding and have a feed 🤞
It’s funny how some snakes like to be cool and heat up from time to time, where others like to be warm and cool down from time to time. He was very active in his faunarium he was constantly thermoregulating. Probably learning what his preferred temp is? Who knows.


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## Somebody (1 mo ago)

Nice vivarium! Looks natural


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