Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Howdy, it's been a long time since I've posted on Kingsnake.

Anyway, I've been having a problem and then remembered how smart you guys all are when it comes to these things so here I am.

About a week ago I caught a Smooth Greensnake (Opheodrys vernalis) from the wild for a local lake center/aquarium/zoo to use for educational purposes (we have a collection permit for any non-threatened/endangered species). I've read in a number of places that this species is difficult to adapt to captivity as it does not adjust easily to new foods and this particular specimen is no exception. Usually when a snake is brought in from the wild it will take food within 24 hours but this guy (about 30 cm total length) is on day 9 with no food.

We've tried crickets, small worms, meal worms, and small meal worm beatles. The crickets are about the same width as the greensnake's head and the other foods are much more slender but longer and have pretty thick shells. Well... not the small worm anyway. Should we try smaller crickets? Is there anything that can be done to get this fella eating in the near future?

Thanks a ton for any advice you have to offer

Anuraan

Hi,

I have no experience with the species, but one thing jumped out at me in your post - your comment that most wc snakes will take food within 24 hours.

That is not my experience. Assuming there's no extreme weight loss or other symptoms of declining health, I usually wait at least a month until I start worrying about a snake not eating. Day 9 is a little frustrating, but I wouldn't be worried.

A good rule of thumb is to put the animal into an appropriate terrerium with plenty of hides and a temp gradient and don't bother it, don't touch it, don't open the cage, just leave it alone for a few days before you try to feed it. It's so tempting to keep looking at a new snake, but that can set you back in trying to acclimate it.

As for prey items, try waxworms, other small caterpillers, or soft-bodied grubs from the snake's habitat too - worth a shot.

Good luck, and please post how things work out with it. It's an interesting species, and not one you hear about in captivity very often.

Billy

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Phillyherping

I recently found one in the wild. The only thing I noticed different about this area as different from the countless areas where I have not found them was an excess of large spiders. There were large brown spiders under every piece of cover, I was thinking the greens may enjoy eating those.......especially the ones with the huge egg sac on their back.

Matt

For the last few days the snake has been much less skiddish around people and did not shy away from our tweezers while we attempted to feed it. The only problem recently has been that it still showed no interest in the food. I finally decided the crickets and mealworms we were trying were definitely too large so I ran down to the store and picked up some 3-week old crickets to try. In the half-hour that follows our little bugger ate 5 helpings

I'll make a thread with a few pics next weekend. Thanks for the advice,

Anuraan

That's great news. Hopefully he continues eating well for you. For long term health, make sure you gutload the crickets prior to feeding and dust them with calcium and vitamin powder. I feed my crickets fish flakes or smashed high quality dry cat or dog food with orange slices for moisture. I dust them with rep-cal with vitamin D3 and herptivite. My shovelnosed snake eats crickets almost exclusivey and he's been doing very well on this diet for over a year now. I can't wait to see pics!

-Alice