TEEATMENT OF SNAKES IN CAPTIVITY. 21 



it should not be less ; but the width ought always to exceed half 

 the length of the body, so that the latter may be powerless to 

 exert its expansive force against the front and back when doubled 

 in a bight between them. Overcrowding is an evil to be avoided ; 

 in a den of the dimensions here roughly indicated, four such 

 snakes as the one supposed to be used for illustration of the 

 proportionate length, breadth and height, will be quite enough. 



Now, as to construction. Use as little woodwork as possible. 

 It rots with the heat and damp ; harbours insects which annoy 

 the snakes fearfully and even destroy their eyes, these being 

 undefended by lids ; and is subject to perforation by rats and 

 mice, which not only make an ingress for themselves and possibly 

 kill the legitimate occupants, but by so doing provide a means of 

 egress for the latter. Metal is too energetic a conductor of heat ; 

 the best material for the floor and sides is Portland cement. The 

 front must be of glass always — if it can be arranged so that one, 

 two, or all three of the other sides shall be transparent also, so 

 much the better ; but bars, netting or wirework of any kind 

 should never be employed, whether the cage be itself situated in 

 a warm atmosphere or whether it is furnished with applied heat. 

 Nor should any apertures to which they can have access exist, 

 except the most minute. 



The most gentle snakes, no matter how long accustomed 

 to confinement, will press and wriggle with all their might 

 against the margins of an opening in their endeavours to 

 get through until they cut their lips and rub their muzzles 

 raw ; not necessarily from any desire to escape, since they 

 will behave in precisely the same manner when allowed to 

 roam through the open door, and are as likely to make their 

 efforts from the outside as within. They are of an exploring and 

 inquisitive nature, and if they discover a hole in their tree, will 

 try to get their heads into it. I have often watched a snake 

 making the most desperate and absurd attempts to pass through 

 the ornamental spaces in a fender, over which it was repeatedly 

 gliding backwards and forwards. For a similar reason, any 

 beam or bar or ledge which traverses the cage should either stand 

 well away from the sides, so that the snakes may pass freely 

 round it, or should lie fairly and squarely against the solid work 

 so that they cannot pass at all; if any small and insufficient 

 interval be left, they will injure themselves in persistent struggles 



