grass snakes

[Faunaofthenorth]

hey, i know in the past there have been threads for these guys but i was still wondering where i may find one for sale or any breeders of grass snakes, ive always wanted one, and i know they are protected in europe but are they available int he u.s.??? anyone know?

[ConcinusMan]

They used to be in my local pet store all the time. Haven't seen any in quite a few years though. You mean these? (Natrix natrix)

http://www.bto.org/gbw/herps/species...grasssnake.htm

When european countries pose protection on species, the U.S. usually follows suit and bans their importation.

They also used to have these super thin shoestring looking snakes with pointy heads. Very tiny snakes, striped. They had cryptic coloration but were tan and blended in with grass very well. They called them grass snakes too. Not sure what they were. I think they were from east asia or the orient. I was trying to find it when I found this very interesting article:
http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0129-snake.html

Ahhh, I found them, but under the name "oriental vine snake". These are green but the one's in the pet store were tan or brownish with light stripes and were feeding on small crickets. Apparently, they do well in a humid, lushly planted viv. Aren't they just the coolest? Trippy.

[Faunaofthenorth]

sweet, yea the ones im talking about are the natrix species, i remember hearing that they arent illegal in the u.s. but i don't know for sure, and those vine snakes i love their eyes, they are one of the only species of snakes in the world to develope advanced eyes that have structures similar to retinal fovea, that are used for identifying stationary targets, and thats why their pupils are horizontal, man snakes are extraordinary

[ConcinusMan]

Natrix are not illegal to have in the U.S. But I believe that importation stopped years ago so availability may be limited.

oh here we go. The brown version: Aren't they neat?

[Faunaofthenorth]

haha yea most def, i had a dream recently that i could communite in language with reptiles, and when i asked this chameleon in my dream what was on it's mind, and it said eh not much and that was it, lol, then i asked a snake and it said the same thing, but yet when i asked the snake, it was in the middle of balancing on the end of its tail on a branch, and reaching out to attack a tree frog, hmm what a cool dream

[ConcinusMan]

Yeah, cool dream. I had one or two like that over the years. I dreamt that my concinnus could talk to me but they actually could. Just not with words. Alright guys, snakes are happy, I gotta get to work at the computer shop. Cya later.

[Stefan-A]

Didn't take long to get this thread off topic.

[drache]

there are natrix available in the US occasionally through people who import them
I don't know how expensive they are, but I do know of one source, and I believe Shannon got some

[ssssnakeluvr]

shannon does have a few.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Yes, I do actually, I have two females and an unrelated male, all 09's. I originally had a male that was the brother of the two females but he was a weakling and he did not make it. They are eating and growing well... but let me tell you something, the babies are rather fussy and I find them to be more delicate than garter snakes. My two females just ate pinky parts for the first time, off my tongs, with zero scenting! I was so proud... it took a LONG time to get them there. They are big enough to eat who newborn pinks but it takes them a while so it's better to chop them now. My male will not touch anything but live platies and guppies so far, but he is rather new so I will work on that. At the moment I don't know anywhere you could obtain a grass snake of any sort. But if you'd like to wait about 2 years... I will hopefully have eggs cooking!

When I want a snake... I try very hard to track them down, but the natrix natrix were a real challenge. They are very hard to find and when you do find some you have to be quick because everyone else wants them too. I got -very- lucky to snag my girls... and with them I also picked up 1.1 natrix tesselata. These (Dice Snakes) are larger and eat whole medium pinkies and silversides.... they seem to be "tougher". They are really good at hissing. Their musk reeks to high heaven. If you do find natrix natrix, they are going to cost you a pretty penny! I spent over $400 acquiring the female grass snakes and the tesselata, and those were at dirt cheap prices that made my heart soar.