Baja California Rattlesnake — Fact Sheet

Crotalus enyo · Baja California Rattlesnake

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• Indoor locked primary enclosure in an access-controlled escape-proof room.
• Minimum 120 x 60 x 60 cm for one adult; house singly and preserve locality lines.
• Positively lockable full-body shift, two-step door locks and neonate-proof service gaps.
• 8-12 cm compactable sand/mineral soil; disposable substrate in at least 90 days of quarantine.
• Avoid calcium sand, fine dust, unstable stone and concealed voids.
• Protected contact only; two trained adults attend every primary opening.

🪨 Enclosure furniture

• Snug warm and cool hides, one ventilated humid shed refuge.
• Anchored low rock/cork, dry scrub cover and open inspection lane.
• Stable water bowl and protected service port.
• No object that must be lifted while the snake occupies the compartment.

💡 Lighting

• UVB optional but useful: measured Ferguson Zone 1 over part of the warm zone.
• Linear low-output UVB plus bright visible light; always provide complete shade.
• Replace by manufacturer guidance and meter the animal-level output.
• 10-14 hours light, adjusted gradually; complete darkness at night.

🌡️ Temperature

• Basking spot: 32-35 °C

• Warm zone: 24-29 °C

• Cool zone: 21-24 °C

• Night: 18-22 °C

• Keep the basking surface limited; never heat the whole floor or rockwork.

• Measure air and surface separately; thermostat, guard and alarm all heat.

• Winter reduction must follow documented peninsula/island locality, not a universal brumation schedule.

💧 Humidity & water

• Ambient 35-55% with strong ventilation; 55-70% in one shed hide.
• Provide fresh water permanently, despite desert origin.
• Avoid whole-enclosure spraying, condensation and damp substrate.
• Coastal provenance changes microclimate choice, not the need for a dry surface.

🐁 Diet

Feed freely:

• Appropriately small frozen-thawed mice; juveniles every 7-14 days.

In moderation:

• Adult mice every 10-21 days; adjust to body condition and season.

Avoid:

• Live rodents, oversized prey, centipedes collected outdoors and loose feeding tubs.

Supplements:

• None routinely with complete whole vertebrate prey.

🩺 Health — warning signs

• Constant hiding at the coolest point → overheating or excessive light.
• Rounded body and lost waist/neck definition → obesity.
• Poor shed or concentrated urates → dehydration or thermal error.
• Bubbles, wheeze, oral lesions → respiratory disease or stomatitis.
• Mites or abnormal faeces → ecto- or endoparasites.
• Uncertain island/peninsula record → provenance loss; stop breeding transfers.

Secure behind the shift and use an experienced reptile veterinarian; bites require emergency hospital care, never home treatment.