| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| hayleylsl |
Posted - 05/06/2014 : 20:05:08
I almost thought I was seeing things when I went in to a local garden centre and spotted not only a new reptile section but a species I'd not even heard of before for sale- a green rough snake.... lovely looking thing but had very little care information on it, apparently they feed on flies and crickets and don't get all that calm....I was just wondering what the blazes it was doing in a garden centre...there was also a royal and a few corns but this little chap intrigued me....I've done a little googling but does anyone here know much about them?
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| 7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Boomslang |
Posted - 25/06/2014 : 23:16:47
Seen these in lots of places,always thought they were common :P |
| Charles |
Posted - 08/06/2014 : 19:54:26
I believe the breeder I bought Rosie from had some. She said she had the only snakes which eat insects |
| Razee |
Posted - 05/06/2014 : 21:05:01
I think they're quite cheap when wild caught, unfortunately.... although the import from US would be quite costly, I imagine, unless they were just thrown in when other snakes were imported... The reason for big viv is not only that they are very active, it's also because they are nervous, and when they panic, they just bolt ( and they're fast ) - and if the viv hasn't got enough space for them to run, they just hit the glass... and as they're quite fragile, they're likely to injure themselves.
I was trying to do lots of reading up on them, ( just in case :-) ). BTW, there are also smooth green snakes, which are a bit shorter. Rough greens come from eastern USA. They've been found in variety of habitats, but always near water. Rough greens are mostly arboreal, smooth greens more terrestrial. Unfortunately, the book I've got is quite old, so still says they don't need UV ( which they do ). |
| hayleylsl |
Posted - 05/06/2014 : 20:39:14
Oh thanks for the info :-) They sound fascinating, but admire someone else's fascinating as I don't think I would have the time or money to do a proper set up for them- I'll stick to my future corn plans I think. I am still intrigued as to why a large garden centre with no previous reptiles at all would go for these little beauties!! |
| Razee |
Posted - 05/06/2014 : 20:31:17
I've got a book on them :-)
The only insect eating snakes, but quite difficult to keep *( shame, as they're stunning ). Unfortunately most of them are still wild caught, hence the difficulty. Very active, so you'd need a large arboreal set up ( they can injure themselves, if kept in too small viv ), must have UV light, and lots of cover, as quite nervous. They're meant to do well in naturalistic vivs, with live plants, and can be kept in groups. Thing is, if you give them all the space and cover they need, you'll hardly ever see them. As nervous, you shouldn't really handle them, more of "look at" snakes.
I've read there are some captive bred ones now as well. With the wild caught ones, apparently, because they are used to eating wild insects, and then, in captivity, are just given artificially bred insects, it does something to the bacterial flora in their digestive systems, they can't cope well, and die. There was a method I read about, which was to feed wild caught rough green snakes with wild caught insects at first, mixed with some shop bought ones, then gradually weaning them off onto just shop bought insects, gut loaded.
They have had several in my local pet shop, and I was soo tempted, but I knew I probably wouldn't have time to give them all the care they need. Stunning ( an very cute )snakes though. Apparently, hundreds used to be sold in US, as kids pets ( all WC ). Obviously, didn't last long....
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| hayleylsl |
Posted - 05/06/2014 : 20:16:57
It's not native to Britain so it's not what we would know as a grass snake but maybe our transatlantic cousins could share some light with us- I really am intrigued by the little fella! |
| scottishbluebird |
Posted - 05/06/2014 : 20:09:13
Just had a look as never heard of it, has a pretty belly, so is it just a grass snake as was one of its other names? |
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