Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering what these snakes eat, enviroment requirements, and hardiness in captivity. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Most Rhinocheilus that I have tried to keep have taken small prekilled rodents without much problem.
.

-----
Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Wow! I heard that they were primarily lizard eaters. Maybe that's just our local longnoses here. A guy in the herp club I belong to keeps 3 all from different CA locales. Only one of them accepts unscented rodents the other 2 he uses Banded geckos to scent the mice, and one of those 2 is a difficult feeder.

reako45

Yes they are likely lizard feeders by nature, but so are many types of snakes that are bred in captivity and fed a diet of mice.

I've kept a few longnoses and know others who have as well. Most of us were able to get them feeding on rodents w/o much fuss. Young longnoses can be stubborn lizard feeders, but even those can be tricked onto mice if you have the patience. They do well in captivity and behave much like a milksnake in my opinion - kind of shy, may musk when held, etc.

They breed easily too. The hatchlings are small and will likely need lizard scenting.

Wow! That's good to know. Thanks for the info. They are one of the native CA species that I am interested in keeping. I think they're beautiful snakes.

reako45