Ringnecks are generally considered harder to keep than corn and kingsnakes for two reasons:

1) They have humidity requirements (like DeKay's and redbelly snakes) that are somewhat exacting. If not kept humid enough, these snakes can have problems - if kept too humid, they get skin infections.

2) King and corn snakes get all the nutrition they need from whole rodents. We really don't know if earthworms are enough to sustain a ringneck over a long period of time. In nature, these snakes eat other vertebrates and perhaps need a balanced diet of several different food items.

You also need to consider that virtually all ringnecks for sale are wild-caught and therefore almost certainly carry internal parasites. In addition, if feeding a ringneck wild-caught snakes and salamanders, you are most likely introducing parasites to its diet.

On top of all that, ringnecks, like most small snakes, spend the majority of their time hidden and don't seem to tolerate handling as well as corns and kings.

There are very few ringnecks that have been successfully kept for over five years, yet there are many corns and kings that have lived 10 to 15 years.

These are some things to take into consideration when contemplating keeping ringnecks.

Tim

Third Eye

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