Re: Red tail Green Rat snake

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Rat Snake Forum ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Tom on October 06, 2000 at 19:38:05:

In Reply to: Re: Red tail Green Rat snake posted by Dan on October 06, 2000 at 00:15:57:

Housing: even tree dwelling snakes need floor space. I have my adults in cages that are 4' long and 2' high and wide. i provide thick twisty branches in the cage but the snakes only spend about half their time in the trees. the rest is spent in hide boxes. I use basking lites over the branches so the snakes have a choice of hot spots. and it also gets them to hang out on the branch and look good. I also have large water bowls (plastic shoe boxes) which they usually bath and crap in. this cuts down on cage cleaning, and keeps the animals hydrated.
Eating: In the wild these guys range over most of southeast asia. so I expect them to eat anything they can get. The body shape is not that different from other rat snakes, if yours is very long and thin you may have a problem. The babies are difficult to get started and they all go off feed from time to time. If you have yours on rodents , great , don't change. don't feed them chicks- they will get hooked and die suddenly a year later.
Adults: they will get to six feet and up and eat rats. their temperament is like a racer- fast and they like to run. they also bite if they feel threatened. I don't mist my enclosures but I live in a very humid environment.
Publications: There was an article in the european herp magazine last year and I saw a report in the 1989 international herp symposium book. one of these days I may write something for the web about my experiences ( I have been working with this species for about 10 years)
getting more: Don't get imports!!! they are already dead (for a variety of reasons) they just haven't stoped moving yet. I had nothing but disasters until I finally found someone with a clutch that an imported female had dropped. I bought the whole clutch. did I mention that the babies are hard to get started feeding? once they are feeding they do fine and since then I have had happy healthy snakes and three years of reproduction. so only get captive produced animals. ( other species do fine as imports but not these guys)
Good luck to you

: Thanks for the reply. I wanted to know their proper housing since they seem to be a tree dwelling snake. Also what they eat in nature? Their slim body makes me think they are more so lizard eaters. I bought a female last week that is a yearling and she ate a fuzzy mouse and seems happy with that. Are they agressive as adults and do they require daily mistings of their enclosures? Are their any papers written about the care of these guys? I know a lot of questions but I appreciate your response. I think they are such a pretty snake and would like to get more in the future.

my page

Follow Ups:

Re: Red tail Green Rat snake Dan 10/08/00 (0)

Post a Followup

Name:
E-Mail:

Subject:

Comments:
: Housing: even tree dwelling snakes need floor space. I have my adults in cages that are 4' long and 2' high and wide. i provide thick twisty branches in the cage but the snakes only spend about half their time in the trees. the rest is spent in hide boxes. I use basking lites over the branches so the snakes have a choice of hot spots. and it also gets them to hang out on the branch and look good. I also have large water bowls (plastic shoe boxes) which they usually bath and crap in. this cuts down on cage cleaning, and keeps the animals hydrated. : Eating: In the wild these guys range over most of southeast asia. so I expect them to eat anything they can get. The body shape is not that different from other rat snakes, if yours is very long and thin you may have a problem. The babies are difficult to get started and they all go off feed from time to time. If you have yours on rodents , great , don't change. don't feed them chicks- they will get hooked and die suddenly a year later. : Adults: they will get to six feet and up and eat rats. their temperament is like a racer- fast and they like to run. they also bite if they feel threatened. I don't mist my enclosures but I live in a very humid environment. : Publications: There was an article in the european herp magazine last year and I saw a report in the 1989 international herp symposium book. one of these days I may write something for the web about my experiences ( I have been working with this species for about 10 years) : getting more: Don't get imports!!! they are already dead (for a variety of reasons) they just haven't stoped moving yet. I had nothing but disasters until I finally found someone with a clutch that an imported female had dropped. I bought the whole clutch. did I mention that the babies are hard to get started feeding? once they are feeding they do fine and since then I have had happy healthy snakes and three years of reproduction. so only get captive produced animals. ( other species do fine as imports but not these guys) : Good luck to you : : : Thanks for the reply. I wanted to know their proper housing since they seem to be a tree dwelling snake. Also what they eat in nature? Their slim body makes me think they are more so lizard eaters. I bought a female last week that is a yearling and she ate a fuzzy mouse and seems happy with that. Are they agressive as adults and do they require daily mistings of their enclosures? Are their any papers written about the care of these guys? I know a lot of questions but I appreciate your response. I think they are such a pretty snake and would like to get more in the future.

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL:

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Rat Snake Forum ] [ FAQ ]