Hi, I'm new to the forum and I have some questions about keeping a juvenile (12-14 inches long) olive ratsnake in captivity.



My kids, aged 6 and 9, found it and we agreed to let them keep it, provided we found a way to do it properly. A biologist identified it for us (Senticolis triapsis), told us it was a male and told us to feed him newborn mice. The thing is the snake doesn't seem to be interested in the mice at all and we have had to resort to feeding her (after gently getting him to open his mouth) ground meat once a week or so. So far, he seems to be doing OK. We've had him for close to two months now. Aside from further advice on food, I am worried that he started to shed his skin about two/three weeks after we found him and it has never really stopped: once it looks as though he has shed 90% of his skin (it takes him about 10 days to do it), it starts to look blue around the head and the process starts all over again. Could it be the substrate and surroundings? We keep him indoors in a lidded terrarium with some gravel and pieces of bark. Any advice will be appreciated.



Jorge

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