Other pets (pics and discussions)

[kibakiba]

Apparently my pacific chorus frogs think they're bat frogs... They're all hanging upside down on the top of their tank! Silly little frogs.

[ConcinusMan]

Mine did that a lot. You go through the trouble of providing plants and other natural cover, and the little buttheads prefer to stick themselves upside down on an artificial surface, rather than hide in the plants.

[kibakiba]

Yeah, I had to take out some of the stuff for them, the crickets were getting stuck in it and dying. Twas gross.

[Charis]

My fiancé loves the look of the Asian Vine snakes but think the husbandry is too complicated to get one. However Rough Green snakes look somewhat similar and seem to have less complicated husbandry. Anyone have experience with them? Comments?

[RedSidedSPR]

I've looked into it many times. I've seen a few in my own yard, and always think it would be an awesome snake too keep. From what I've read it would probably be more complicated then a Vine snake. I've seen a few thrive in captivity, and know it can be done, but you gotta talk to someone who knows how, rather then relying on ANY of the care sheets you can manage to find.

Personally, I'd go with a vine snake first, but a green snake is not out of the question.

EDIT: they also have a very short life span, if that matters to you. I'm talking 3 years on average.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I wouldn't even attempt to try and keep one. They're just too wild. The one and only time I managed to catch one (they're ridiculously fast) he put up a vicious fight and also would not quit trying to escape. Finally let it go. It had rubbed all the scales of it's nose trying to get out. Just too nervous and wild for captivity. Not happy at all. Can't bring myself to keep a snake that is obviously not a happy camper in captivity. Most racers I've tried to keep were like that too, but whipsnakes are even worse. To make matters worse, the wild ones pretty much refuse to eat anything but lizards and small snakes, when they're not bouncing off the glass and rubbing their noses raw, that is. They're like trying to keep a wild caught wolverine as a house pet.

Sorry Richard but these are common misconceptions about these two genus of snakes that people like me who keep them successfully constantly are rolling our eyes at. They come from inexperience and a lack of patience and they come from people who tried and failed at keeping them properly... I could miserably fail at corn snake husbandry and produce the same results and then deem corn snakes to be "too wild". If your masticophis or coluber is nose rubbing and pacing it is NOT HAPPY with the environment you have provided. This goes for ANY snake. Even a corn snake will nose rub if it's not happy... it's simply that some snakes are MUCH easier to please than others... and those of us who are up to the challenge find it VERY rewarding to be successful at working with the harder to please species. NONE of mine pace. NONE of mine nose rub. NONE of mine bounce off the glass!!! And they all eat f/t rodents quite readily and have from the start. They are opportunistic feeders as adults. None of them are captive bred either. They should not be nervous constantly... they should be confident and inquisitive. Which mine are. it's not hard to achieve... unless you've got zero patience and aren't flexible. give them their space, give them plenty of places to retreat and things to climb on and investigate... and leave them be. Allow them to observe you going about your business and don't harass them. They are the smartest of snakes and quickly learn you are not a threat. That particular female is extremely confident and that's why she decided to bite me square in the face! It was my doing. I disturbed her and she was not in a forgiving mood. I have plenty of garter snakes that have a similar attitude, if I disturb them and they don't feel like being disturbed they will tell me where to go! And don't even get my started on my asian rats. little suckers will puff and hiss and throw a little fit. And there is nothing wrong with that. We can't expect snakes to be complacent all the time. Too many people want a dull complacent snake... that's why there are so many that only keep ball pythons!!! if masticophis are so impossible to keep then how do I keep 7 of them with relative ease and why do my 3 westerns come up to me and take food from my hands??? (I have had them the longest, the others will follow suit soon enough!) Honestly, they are really no different than an overgrown ribbon snake. Tell me, how often do we as garter keepers hear from outsiders how garter snakes are boring and dull and they "stink" because of the musk and that they make terrible pets? Same goes with water snakes! We hear these things from 2 kinds of people- the ones who have NEVER kept them before and only encountered pissed off wild ones, and the ones who failed to keep them properly and wondered why it backfired!!

[infernalis]

The abbreviated lifespan is because they are incredibly difficult to keep PROPERLY in captivity.

They have unusual dietary needs.

[ConcinusMan]

I kinda had the feeling that post would get that kind of response from you. I've just never dealt with a whip snake or racer that wasn't perpetually pissed off no matter what I did.

If your masticophis or coluber is nose rubbing and pacing it is NOT HAPPY with the environment you have provided.

Yes, I realize that. The environment they didn't like was captivity period. That is, anything that kept them confined. They seemed perfectly content outside in the wild.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

north american green snakes and asian vine snakes seem to have many things in common... they often spontaneously drop dead even after they are seemingly doing well, they have a specialized diet, and they are honestly rarely, if EVER available as CBB or CB (sometimes i do see north american green snakes but I only know of ONE person who's had litters of vine snakes and those were from WC gravid moms, he was largely unsucessful at rearing the babies) meaning you are buying WC animals and in the case of the vines snakes have been put through a taxing importation process that leaves them stressed and weakened. Vine snakes eat lizards though, plain and simple, so unless you are looking to feed a snake lizards all of the time, it's pretty much not an option. The one person i know who is successfully keeping vine snakes, the same guy who had some babies born, has them in a VERY large viv that is made up like a miniature rainforest and is constantly supplying them with anoles to eat. They need a VERY He even recently had a pair mating!! Which is a HUGE step forward... And of course, smooth and rough greens are insectivores.... but are definitely much easier to convince to eat than vine snakes are and they don't have the extremely special humidity and temperature requirements that the vine snake does because they are from a temperate region!

IDK where you are getting the idea that they have some crazy short life span.... unless you simply mean that people tend to kill them quickly, usually much quicker than 3 years! But I think you will find it takes a snake LONGER than 3 years to reach full maturity... so this claim is entirely not true. Their life span would EASILY reach double, triple, quadruple that if people could figure out how to stop failing at keeping them!

Also... I'm going to move this thread into other pets as soon as i am off my phone.

[Charis]

Thanks for the replies! Does anyone know, are young dubia roaches acceptable food for green snakes?
Sorry for starting it in the wrong section, I wasn't sure where it should go. But I figured garter people might have more experience with them, since they seem to be more alike in temperament than, say, corn snakes?