Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello Folks,
I’m posting this question on this and at least two other forums, “Rat Snakes” and “Racers and coachwhips”, since these three groups include animals (Keeled Greens came to mind here) that spend a significant portion of their day above ground and may climb small bushes or trees.

My question is designed for you to give your opinion and be anecdotal, not a scientific study.

The question:
In your experience have you ever added greenery (plastic or real) to a cage and observed a behavior change in any of your animals?

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Regards, Bill McGighan

Hello,

I once owned a pair of rough green snakes that always refused to feed when there was no greenery present. After plastic plants had been added to the vivarium, the animals would begin feeding ravenously. Hope this helps.
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DAVE

0.0.1 green treefrog
0.0.1 Oriental fire-bellied toad
0.1 Western hog-nosed snake
0.0.1 Okeetee corn snake
1.1 red-cheeked mud turtles
0.1 Dubia day gecko
0.0.1 yellow * Everglades rat snake
0.0.1 Eastern mud snake
1.0 Yunnan beauty snake
1.0 scarlet kingsnake
0.1 albino African clawed frog
0.0.1 Northern black racer
0.0.1 African brown house snake (Zambia locale)
0.0.1 Sonoran gopher snake
1.2 European fire salamanders
(parthenogenic) Brahminy blindsnakes *

Last season I collected a juvie lepidus on Boy Scout Rd., in the Davis Mntns., TX. I initially kept him in a plastic box with paper towel substrate and a plastic hidebox. He fed well, but never seemed to emerge from his hide. I later put together (using one of those new "exoterra" 18 in. cube vivariums)a naturalistic enclosure including a rock "cliff" with fissures for retreats, several desert mountain plants, including a small juniper, and intense UV lighting (compact flourescent). He's a different snake! He spends most daylight hours basking on a ledge, or a branch of the juniper, in plain sight. And his colors look much better under the more natural light! Definitely a more appropriate environment for such a magnificent and highly-evolved ophidian!

Another plus-the new enclosure is lockable! Exoterra offers an accessory combination lock which fits all their glass enclosures.....

Brad Chambers

....not in a cage and not a good idea........but I once bought 3 green snakes from a local pet shop..I pitied them..took them home and placed them in the living room on 4 big potted plants.....one was a palmetto....all were about 4 foot tall........the greens hung out on the plants and never left for a couple weeks........(I watered them and tried to feed but of course they would not feed with me handing them food or just being there even).......*(I released them in prime habitat before they got thin at all.......)......

so if they would stay on the plants and not even roam away from them at all.......I would say they really would prefer to have plants.........
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you think????

Thanks, Brad,
I'll have to try Juniper on the subocs!
By the way, I met you and another fellow last year on BoyScout Road. I was looking for the red Suboc I was in the white Isuzu Trooper.
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Regards, Bill McGighan

Hi Bill!

Sorry-didn't realize this was you-good to hear from you. If you're out there we may meet again-I'm headed back to find a mate for that little guy (who's added a couple of rattle segments since then!). You heading west again this year?

Brad

I'm only semi-retired, so I commit to working in Dallas about 5 times a year. We usually attach field herping to each of these trips. Soooooo, I'll probably be in Big Bend region sometime in the week of May 28th.
Yourself?

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Regards, Bill McGighan

Bill-

i tried to email you, but might have got caught in your spam filter lol....We'll be down there the 22-june 2. We're basing in Alpine-before we go I'll give you my cell number so we can meet and compare notes.....

Brad

Sorry for the delay.
I emailed you back with the only details I have at this time!
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Regards, Bill McGighan

Thanks Dave,
Part of what spawned this question was that I had the same experience long, long ago.
I had kept a variety of Rats, Kings, and Racers in Spartan cages with climbing branches and a hide. They thrived.
I moved south and caught my first Keeled Green.
Kept it in the usually sterile cage for two weeks plus.
I introduced all forms of insects and arachnids, including smooth green caterpillars. – Nothing..
I decided to release the animal in our garden on the front shrubs, since I never used insecticide. I watched it for 5 minutes. I was walking in the back yard and spotted a grasshopper, so decided to offer it to the Green Snake. – As you guessed – e grabbed it immediately and a second.
I took the animal to the back same cage, appropriated my wife’s Swedish Ivy plant and put it in the cage, trellising it around the climbing branch. I offered the snake a caterpillar – he ate it immediately.
I’ve repeated this experiment twice over the years with the same results.
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Regards, Bill McGighan