The Ultimate Reptiles for Apartment Living is a series dedicated to helping you find the best reptile for you and your apartment. Living in an apartment leaves little room for doing much of anything in the way of pet-keeping. Closer examination and a direct conversation with your landlord/manager may reveal that you’re able to keep reptiles. The only question remaining is which reptile you keep.
There are literally hundreds of species to choose from when looking for a pet reptile, but only a handful make a suitable pet for an apartment setting. I have discovered through a decade of experience with reptiles and living in an apartment setting myself, there are four genre that have similar requirements and are, relatively speaking, “easy” to maintain when compared to most species available today. Leopard Geckos Eublepharis macualrius, Corn Snakes Pantherophis guttatus, Milk snake Lampropeltis triangulum, and Rosy Boas Charina trivirgata can all be kept in a twenty gallon terrarium. In my opinion, the best style to use is a twenty gallon long vs. the normal twenty gallon enclosure, as this gives the reptile more floor space to roam. Glass terrariums run ,on average, about $36.00 and come equipped with a sliding lid that can be pinned into place to help prevent an escapes.
One of Robert Applegates Snakes
Heating these species is as easy as buying a ceramic socket reflector, with a 65-watt ceramic heater and placing this over one of the two hides. The basking temperature for all of these species is between 80-85˚ Fahrenheit, which will leave the rest of the terrarium about 5-10˚ cooler, which is known as the “ambient temperature.”