Timber Rattlesnake — Fact Sheet

Crotalus horridus · Timber Rattlesnake

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• One adult: minimum 180 x 90 x 90 cm.
• Locked primary enclosure inside a controlled venomous room with secondary containment.
• Two independently closable shift hides; protected-contact service only.
• 10-15 cm packed soil, dry leaf litter and locality-appropriate mineral material.
• Avoid cohabitation, unstable rock, deep hidden voids and any neonate-sized gap.

🪨 Enclosure furniture

• Tight warm and cool refuges; one humid refuge during shed.
• Anchored rock ledge, cork and low robust branches.
• Broad visual cover without losing the ability to count the snake.
• Stable water bowl served from protected access.
• Clear shift route with no furnishings that require occupied-compartment lifting.

💡 Lighting

• Bright daylight; seasonal 10-14-hour photoperiod tied to documented locality.
• Measured UVB around Ferguson Zone 2 recommended.
• Full shade and a dark shift refuge always available.
• Lamps and cables outside containment or behind locked guards.
• Replace lamps by measured output and maker schedule.

🌡️ Temperature

• Basking spot: 29-32 °C

• Warm zone: 23-27 °C

• Cool zone: 19-23 °C

• Night: 15-20 °C

• Use broad guarded overhead heat on a thermostat.

• Measure air and surfaces; preserve a genuinely cool refuge.

💧 Humidity & water

• General humidity: 45-65% with ventilation.
• Shed retreat: 65-80%, local rather than whole-enclosure wetness.
• Fresh water at all times in a stable externally serviced bowl.
• Wet ventral scales, condensation or persistent soaking needs review.

🐁 Diet

Feed routinely:

• Appropriately sized frozen-thawed mice or rats.
• Adults generally every 14-28 days; juveniles every 10-14 days.

In moderation:

• Larger prey only when measured weight and body condition support it.

Avoid:

• Live rodents, oversized meals, frequent adult feeding and unprotected prey retrieval.

Supplements:

• None for complete whole prey.

💤 Brumation

• Locality-dependent breeding procedure, not routine care.
• Managed range: approximately 5-12 °C for healthy, established, fasted adults.
• Northern and southeastern stock need different seasonal planning.
• Never cool juveniles, new arrivals, thin, dehydrated, gravid or ill animals.
• Monitor weight and respiration; veterinary review for any decline.

🩺 Health — warning signs

• Wheeze, bubbles, open mouth or elevated head → respiratory disease.
• Crusts, nodules or abnormal facial scales → fungal disease or dermatitis.
• Incomplete shed, repeated soaking or black specks → hydration problem or mites.
• Regurgitation → prey size, temperature, disturbance or disease.
• Weight loss during cooling → unsafe brumation or illness.
• Any bite → immediate emergency care; no pressure wrap unless local medical authority directs it.

Shift and lock the snake before veterinary assessment; never attempt hands-on home treatment.