Thamnophis gigas

[-MARWOLAETH-]

Why are these never kept?

[guidofatherof5]

Protected species.
Thamnophis gigas - Giant Gartersnake

Conservation Issues (Conservation Status)

Apparently absent from an estimated 98 percent of former habitat in the San Joaquin Valley. Listed as a threatened species due to loss of habitat and introduced predatory fish. This snake's habitat has been destroyed and seriously fragmented largely due to the loss of or degredation of wetlands in the Central Valley due to an extensive system of dams in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and dikes and draining for agriculture. Protected waterfowl habitats in wildlife refuges are an important source of habitat for this snake, but they do not necessarily provide good habitat for this snake when they are flooded in winter and drained in summer, the opposite of this snake's needs, which resulted from the summer flooding of valley wetlands due to snow melt from the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and their drying up in winter. Rice fields and irrigation ditches, which are both flooded in summer, are now providing good habitat for this snake. Pesticide and fertilizer runoff from agriculture are also responsible for killing some of this snake's prey, including native Red-legged frogs. Grazing of vegetation along water sources also threatens this snake. Introduced watersnakes (Nerodia) in the Folsom area could possibly threaten this snake if they were to spread downriver into the valley. Conservation Status The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published several times each year by the California Department of Fish and Game. Organization Status Listing U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) FT Threatened California Endangered Species Act (CESA) ST Threatened California Department of Fish and Game None Bureau of Land Management None USDA Forest Service None Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks G2G3 S2S3 Imperiled World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List IUCN:VU Vulnerable

[CrazyHedgehog]

sad, we should all be allowed to shoot a few 'bad eggs' in the world, then there would be more room for wildlife! lol

[Stefan-A]

Ah, farmers. Screwing up the world one acre at a time and getting indignant whenever someone even dares to suggest that how they do things may have negative consequences.

[chris-uk]

When I was reading up about this species I read that they were very difficult to keep in captivity. Obviously now they are protected. Sorry, I don't have a link, it was over a year ago that I read it.

[-MARWOLAETH-]

Shame hope somethings done to help them. I suppose I'll have to get some Nerodia or a N.natrix if I want a large Natricine .

[thamneil]

Was there not an old post on here about someone in the UK getting a pair of these? Not sure what ever came of that. Do remember coming across it a few times though.

Ive always been curious about this species. Think they are plain awesome!

[guidofatherof5]

Thank you Steve Schmidt for this link.

http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/five_year_review/doc4009.pdf