Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i bought a rough green snake today and it looks gravid and it has mites is it ok to use mite guard with on her?i have not seen here eat but ive only had her one day.i offered a cricket could someone tell me a few other thing a could offer her i was thinking about earthworms or even a small anole or treefrog i really wont her to live ive read alot of storys about these snakes and alot ended with failure.and also if she is gravid(im pretty sure she is) how do i care for the eggs?

You certainly have a dilemma on your hands, as the last thing you want to do is create stress for a gravid female and treating for mites appropriately will certainly stress the female.
I am not familiar with any data pertaining to the safety of mite sprays and the use of such with gravid females, perhaps someone who has had a bit of experience with such will chime in. However, it is very common for gravid females to go off feed, so I would not worry too much is your new acquisition did not feed on the first day, as most snakes will not, as it may take days, even weeks, for them to settle into their new environment. Also, you should be more inclined to hydrate a new acquisition, rather than feed it, as dehydration will cause a much faster demise, especially if they feed while dehydrated.
You may wish to review an article produced by Dave and Tracy Barker regarding mites, as it is perhaps one of the best and most comprehensive pieces of work regarding such. Here’s the URL:

www.vpi.com/9VPITipsAndTechs/TheWarAgainstSnakeMites/TheWarAgainstSnakeMites.htm

If your female is indeed gravid, you will need to create a conducive environment for her to begin oviposition. Since green snakes normally begin oviposition in June – July, you should not delay setting up a nesting box. You can use slightly moistened potting soil, moss or even paper towels placed within a small flower pot or plastic container for such, which is placed into the enclosure. Green snakes normally produce four – eight eggs, but have been known to produce as few as two and as many as 16. You can incubate the eggs within a plastic shoe or sweater box on moistened pearlite, vermiculite, moss, or paper towels, making certain the incubation substrate is slightly moist and not wet. Also, it would be a good idea to place only two ventilation holes on each side of the box and add a small container of water within it. Incubation temperatures should be maintained at the low to mid 70’s. The lower incubation temperatures will cause for a longer incubation period, but you will find such will limit embryonic mortality rate and spinal anomalies, while allowing for increased size of the neonates upon pipping. Incubation, at lower temperatures, will normally take 60-80 days…

Best regards,

Jeff

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Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947

i have witnessed her drink i saw het drink from her water bowl(weird for rough green snakes) and also how big of an enclosure does she need?I i have been reading and im getting many different answers.

she was inded gravid she is habving them now i can only see 2 eggs at the moment but i dont think shes done.

I hope all works out for you. Hope you have your incubation box set up and have determined where to place it.
Keep us posted and best of luck to you.

best regards,

Jeff
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Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947