Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A couple of years ago, I had a snake that was sold to me under the name of "Desert Flower Snake". For the two years I had him, I could never figure out his real species or get a picture of him to post here for help identifying.

At any rate, I was surfing the web and found him at last. Now I'm wondering if owning one of these beauties is even legal? Since I can't find any breeders for this species, I have to wonder. Unless I'm just not searching correctly which is highly possible.

Any feedback would be highly appreciated.

desert patch-nose snake

I can't answer the legal question, but there are a lot of snakes that no one is breeding, either because they don't make good captives or because so few people are interested in keeping them.
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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.

*sigh* Looks like the only way I'm going to find one is try every single breeder from the western part of the US. -_-; Or just go out and catch one.. which is just... a really big no. Thank you for your time! =)

Wow, cool. What are you feeding it?

Typically patchnose are not kept because they are lizard feeders, though I wonder if they can be switched to mice.
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Mark

O .o Well... he did rather enjoy the green anole I threw to him once. But other than that, he was purely a mouse eater. He wouldn't eat hoppers (mid-sized mice) even though he could. But he'd eat fuzzy pinkies like there was no tomorrow. I fed him five a week (I fed him ten at one time once and he ate every one of them, but I didn't want to over feed him so I didn't do it anymore.)

^^; I hate there is no edit option.

Anyway, in case I hadn't made this clear, I no longer have my patchnose. I had to give him away due to job issues while I was in highschool, though he's currently living with some guy that raises snakes here locally. So I'm sure he's doing much better than he was with me.

As for the "lizard feeder" Crowley was fed on mice from the time he was only 12" long. So, so long as they're not wild caught, I'd say it'd be easy to keep them.

Could be one of those things too where folks do not even try keeping patchnose for the most part and are predisposed (like I am, or was) that they wouldn't feed on mice, so the reality of what can be done in captivity with them has not been realized by enough people. Neat snake in any case.
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Mark

Even the WC ones can be switched to mice. I have a friend who got one from AZ (one of the salvadore hexaplexis ssp), and getting it to eat mice was as easy as offering it to him. They're intelligent and racer-like I've heard.

reako45

I think they are intelligent, but my patchnose was my first snake and the only one I've had thus far. So I'm kinda biased. I know that Crowley would watch TV with me, which I always found weird.

Legalities on Patchnoses depends on your state. Ca. allows you to have 2 with a valid freshwater fishing licence, but you cannot buy, sell, or trade them.
In California, This basically leaves you with catching one, which is one of the reasons you dont see many in the hobby. They arent the most likely snake for most people to catch, and they are really fast.
Not much information is out there on them, and many people think they are not easy to keep, and that they are solely lizard feeders. I think people also shy away because they seem like such nervous animals, and most people prefer easily handled snakes.
My Desert Patchnose is wild caught, and eats small rodents great. Its easily handled- just dont ever let it go on the ground haha. I dont handle it much though- it seems to do great being left alone.

Man... that does suck. :/ Are they considered an endangered species or something?

Thanks for all your input, guys. I guess I'm just gonna have to 'jump on the bandwagon' and stick to Kings, Corns, and Rats.

They're not considered endangered species in CA. Here in this state there are only 3 CA native snakes that are able to be kept and bred for the pet trade (w/ a license from the DFG @ $48). Cal Kings any Gopher ssp (not sure about P.c. pumilis) and Rosies. This is despite the fact that several other "pet ready" Cal natives (Glossies, Shovelnose or Longnoses) APPEAR to occur w/ the same or greater frequency as those 3. Very interesting post topic. I'm hoping to see a Patchnose this year.

reako45

Okay, so now I have another question. O .o If you can only catch and keep one with the license, but can't buy/sell/trade them, how do you get a second one? And, what if you don't live in CA? I've heard of a breeder that showed up in PA that specializes in SW breeds, so does that mean he got them illegally?

You can posess/catch 2 with a licence, not one, sorry if my wording confused you. The only legal ways I know of in ca. to get them are to catch them or to have them given to you.

I also do not know if we can legally buy natives from out of state dealers and have them shipped into ca. but I am guessing it is not legal.

As for out of staters, legally they should at least buy a weekend license to catch them in Ca. otherwise they are poaching- although patchnoses and other s.w. snakes are found in a few different states.
Each state has its own set of laws. Most require some sort of hunting or fishing permit to collect herps. Some of the other states might allow much more collecting than ca. as far as limits. I am really only familiar with ca. laws.

An out-of-stater can keep breed as many Patchnoses as he/she likes provided they were all obtained legally AND the state he/she is living in has no restrictions placed on the snakes. Bob Applegate wrote about a mass trade where he, due to changing CA law, was forced to trade his breeding colony of zonatas for celeanops or annulatas (can't remember, but it was some sort of TX native Milk that was having restrictions placed on it as well).

reako45