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Posted by Doug Beckwith on September 21, 2002 at 13:08:55:
In Reply to: Grayband exhibit at the Philly Zoo posted by Tom Anderson on September 20, 2002 at 09:21:59:
:I went to the zoo Philly yesterday and they had a great grayband exhibit that looked like a little peice of West Texas in a box. They kepted four or five graybands in the same exhibit ranging in size from a yearling, about eighteen inches, to a full grown female, about forty inches. I ask one of the keepers about housing graybands together and they said they have never had any problems keeping graybands together, and had been doing so for years. The keeper said that they do not eat snakes in the wild and consume mostly lizards and some small mammels in the wild.
:I am thinking about setting up a similar naturalistic display for some of my graybands. Any thoughts?
:Tom Anderson
Tom,
Where it is debateable if alterna eat other snakes in the wild, I believe it is safe to say that they are not aggressive snake eaters. I got my first alterna 20 years ago and have been housing them together (2 per cage) as adults the entire time. Knock on wood, I have yet to lose one do to cannibalism. If you do keep alterna together I would suggest that the enclosure be of suitable size, the snakes be comparable in size, that they are fed regularly, and separated and or watched closely during feeding to insure they don't try to eat the same mouse. I also would suggest keeping alterna separate for the first year or so as the young ones, for me, seem to do better when housed separately.
Please keep in mind that these are my experiences and there may be others who for what ever reasons may have a horror story or 2 about keeping alterna together. Hope this helps one way or another.DB
