HEAT

I house all of my pituophis in rack systems, so all of them have belly heat. Pits do not require a heat bulb, all they need is belly heat and they will be happy. I set the temperature on my thermostats to 80-82 F for their warm spots. The ambient room temperature fluctuates between 70-76 F so that is about what their cool side of the cage sits at. Be sure that the probe to the thermostat is placed in a good spot to read the actual temps that the heat source is putting out and they should do just fine!

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SUBSTRATE

There are multiple different substrates that you can use to set up your Pit’s cage with. I personally use aspen Sani-Chips. It makes cleaning a breeze for me and still allows them to bury themselves when they feel like it. I have also used shredded aspen in the past and that also worked well. You can also go simple with newspaper or paper towels if you want a really easy clean up.

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HOUSING

As previously mentioned I house all of my pits in racks but for the pet owner you’d probably prefer a display terrarium. Whether you are using a rack or a tank your pit will be happy. I keep my cages very simple, I use Sani-Chips as substrate, a water bowl on the cool side, and occasionally a hide box on the warm side and that is it as far as what is in their cage. 

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CAGE SIZE

A question I get asked a lot is- what size tank do I need? And that of course depends on the size of your animal. Hatchlings only need a 10 gallon tank and that is plenty of space for them. As they grow the tank will need to grow with them. Keep in mind that Pits don’t need much cage height, they prefer floor space over climbing space. An adult pit would likely need at least a 40 gallon tank but a 50 gallon would be better and make them feel more comfortable.

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