TREATMENT OF SNAKES IN CAPTIVITY. 285 



when shut, and then secured with an ordinary steel split-ring, 

 such as is used for a bunch of keys. After some experience, I 

 can strongly recommend this method in preference to any other, 

 for the cages of all animals. Locks get foul and out of order, 

 and keys are mislaid ; bolts, buttons, catches and pins slacken 

 after a time, and are liable to be displaced by accident ; moreover, 

 their closure is apt to be neglected "just for a moment," as 

 confidence begets a certain amount of indifference to security — 

 one day it is forgotten altogether, because nothing unusual in the 

 appearance strikes the eye — and the next thing is the discovery 

 of a snake in somebody's bedroom. A split-ring, on the contrary, 

 must be honestly and obviously either on or off, and cannot 

 possibly be shaken asunder or dislodged by any means short 

 of the deliberate process of unthreading it from the loop on 

 which it hangs. The staple must not project far enough to allow 

 the door to be loose. For their own sakes, quite as much as for 

 the peace of mind of all whom they may concern, snakes cannot 

 be too rigorously guarded. All doors should lie wholly upon the 

 outside of the cage when closed, and their lower margin ought 

 never to be above the level of the actual floor, so that the latter 

 may be thoroughly swept out at times. 



It is well in many cases to have a sliding partition adapted to 

 the cage, by which it can be divided into two separate compart- 

 ments at pleasure, for convenience in feeding, cleaning, the 

 isolation of a specimen, and many other reasons. Its mechanism 

 must be left to the judgment of the reader, as may be most 

 suitable to the construction of his particular vivarium and the 

 purpose for which the division is thought necessary. All that 

 need be said about it is that its future requirements must not be 

 forgotten in allotting the length and slope of the tree, and that 

 the slit through which it is to be introduced must be not only 

 securely covered but filled up when it is not in use. Snakes 

 which cannot be removed with the hands may be allowed to crawl 

 into a box or bag placed within the cage ; if a bag be used, its 

 mouth should be distended with a big stone, or something equally 

 heavy and bulky, to admit of their finding the aperture, and at the 

 same time prevent their passing beneath it. This can be pulled 

 out and the bag tied when they have entered; on no account let 

 it fall within. There will be no difficulty in inducing them to go 

 into a box or anything else that is penetrable, as soon as they 



