TREATMENT OF SNAKES IN CAP'lIVITY. 23 



able to exert their force against it, the roof may with advantage 

 be constructed of open wirework, strong netting of a small 

 circular mesh being always preferable to bars. Perforated zinc, 

 set in a metal binding and strengthened on the outside with 

 transverse battens, must be used instead, if the den be not 

 sufficiently high to keep it out of their way — it will be observed 

 that I have not yet described anything for them to climb 

 upon. This roof had better be arranged so that it can be 

 removed at pleasure where practicable, care being taken to let it 

 broadly overlap the space which it covers, and to fasten it 

 securely with a bolt and staple, at intervals of not more than 

 three feet. "Where the cage extends to the ceiling of the building, 

 the two ends should be provided with strips of perforated zinc, a 

 foot broad, at their upper part, and a grated ventilator leading to 

 the outside may be inserted in the middle or most inaccessible 

 spot in the roof. 



Whatever glass is employed must be a fixture, and a hinged 

 (not sliding) door, high and wide enough for a man to enter, 

 ought to be placed at each end ; these doors should expose the 

 floor of the cage, for convenience of cleaning, and should lie 

 entirely upon the outside, not fitting into their aperture, as the 

 door of a room does, but overlapping it like the lid of a box. 

 Thus they can never become jammed. It will be found desirable 

 to have also a small door or trap, a foot scmare or even less, 

 for the purpose of introducing food ; this may be cut in one of 

 the proper doors or elsewhere, but is best situated on a level with 

 the floor, so that rats or rabbits not eaten can be lured back into 

 their box without the necessity of entering the cage to catch 

 them. Methods of fastening and other details connected with 

 these doors will be taken into consideration in a subsequent 

 chapter, as will the general arrangements of the interior ; two 

 points, however, may be noticed here. 



A stout limb of a tree, with the bark on it and plenty of 

 branches lopped short, — tbe points of the forks trending up- 

 wards, of course, — should extend from the floor to the upper 

 part of one side, or angle, in not too steep a slant, and be 

 firmly fixed at both ends. This is an item of furniture 

 which ought never to be omitted; snakes delight not only 

 to climb, but to rest on the branches, and, by the exercise 

 it affords them, a tree practically doubles the size of a cage. 



