Captive produced greens typically acclimate to a caged environment much more readily than young wild caught greens, but that is not an absolute. On a few occasions I have seen wild caughts that did very well, but these were very young animals and that is definitely not the norm. Your chances of getting a wild caught green that is over a year old to become a calm, acclimated snake in a captive situation is extremely remote as greens this age and older are notorious for doing very poorly in captivity.

While acquiring a young captive bred green is definitely a major plus, just as important in my opinion is the genetics behind that individual. Calm parents that are genetically prone to becoming acclimated more easily and have nice demeanors will produce young which in general will have these same tendencies. While 100% of the young produced by these calm adults will not necessarily make great captives, your chances of acquiring a nice young green with a good temperament is increased immensely. I would say that well over 95% of the 100 or so greens Jud and I have produced over the last decade have been exceptionally calm animals with no tendencies to bite. They have also been produced from three different bloodlines of proven calm adults. The few that did not prove to be relaxed when handled were not necessarily biters, but were just more active than the others when handled and were just not as calm about being picked up. It is important to remember that the conditions under which a snake is handled can make a difference, and even normally calm tempered snakes can possibly bite when startled.

Kelly

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