Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am very excited. I just got my first pair of WGRs. This is a species I have wanted to keep for a long time. My female is an 07 and the male is an 08. They are unrelated and are both Santa Rita locality.

I know the husbandry of these can be tricky. I have done some reading, and talked to a few people. But I wanted to see if I could get some help from some of you who have kept this species successfully.

I have mine set up in my adult rack. They have about 2" of shredded aspen as a substrate. I have also included a moist hide filled with damp spahgnum for each. I am keeping them in a rack with my cornsnake pair and my Kunashir Island rat pair. This rack I keep at slightly lower temps. The warm end is 78-80F and the cool end is 72-74F.

How do these conditions seem to you guys? I have heard they like both the slightly cooler temps and the inclusion of a moist hide. I figured they could burrow in the aspen, but do you think a dry hide would be prudent along with the moist hide?

If anyone could chime in with their thoughts and experiences with these beautiful snakes I would appreciate it. I am letting them settle in. After a few I will try to get some pics to post.
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God Bless Evolution.

I keep mine in about the same conditions, and so far they have done very well, for me. Yes, I would also provide a dry hide - or two, and I do this for most of the snakes I keep. I have my Green Rats' moist hides inside their larger dry hides, which they seem to like a lot. They like to squeeze into tight spots, like between the inner walls of the dry hide and the moist hide, and spend a lot of time half-way in the moist hides, but still hidden inside the larger hides.

I am currently brumating them, in my unheated snake room, with the heat tape on - providing a warm spot of about 70* F. This seems to be a necessity for this species, in order to avoid a couple potentially deadly health issues. Hopefully they will come through okay, and breed this year.

Best of luck with yours - looking forward to the pics.

Here are some pics of the set-up I am currenly using.

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-Toby Brock
Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research

Craig, congrats! I can only dream! I think Toby's method is spot on, I've been following his success for a while now, and he has been observing interesting behaviors in his Greens. Apparantly they live in and around boulder piles, so the ability to keep warm and moist is a good combo, and a tight hide is almost always in fashion with any snakes. Good luck with yours and keep us posted!
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Todd Hughes

>>Craig, congrats! I can only dream! I think Toby's method is spot on, I've been following his success for a while now, and he has been observing interesting behaviors in his Greens. Apparantly they live in and around boulder piles, so the ability to keep warm and moist is a good combo, and a tight hide is almost always in fashion with any snakes. Good luck with yours and keep us posted!
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>>Todd Hughes

Thanks for the kind words, Todd! I think a major factor in my success with this pair is how well acclimated they were when I got them - thanks to Diego's excellent care. Fingers crossed and saying my prayers for them to come through brumation okay. You will eventually have some of these too.
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-Toby Brock
Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research

okay, but if you push those ugly snakes on me you're gonna have to take some ugly subocs, I mean, fair is fair, right? LOL!

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Todd Hughes

>>okay, but if you push those ugly snakes on me you're gonna have to take some ugly subocs, I mean, fair is fair, right? LOL!
>>
>>
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>>Todd Hughes

Dang! Well, if you insist... LOL Speaking of - how about some new pics of those '09's?
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-Toby Brock
Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research

n/p

That is a big "moose" of a suboc bro!!!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

I'm pretty sure he was a world record, Hoss!
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Todd Hughes

Here are the pics I promised. They were taken under incandescent light so the snakes look a bit brownish, but they are very nicely green colored in real life.

Here is my set up showing the rack drawer with the moist hide, the dry hide and the water dish:

Here is the 07 female sitting on the moist hide:

And here is the 08 male who was hiding under his moist hide:

So what do you guys think of the set up? Is it suitable? I have also gotten conflicting info on temps. Some say to keep temps in the high 70s to low 80s. They say that hotter temps make them regurg. Others have said temps on the warm end should be mid to upper 80s. So whats the official word? Thanks again guys for any help. I am excited to have these animals.
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God Bless Evolution.

Can't help with the triaspis unfortunately (maybe someday) but noticed what appears may be mold in the moist hide. I get that sometimes and wonder if it might be harmful to the snakes? Anyone have an opinion on that?

Thanks,
Brad

Brad,

I think what you are seeing as mold may be condensation. Mold is not good for us, so I think it is probably not good for snakes either. I have found moldy sphagnum before too, and I throw it out, and make a new moistened batch.
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-Toby Brock
Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research

Brad,

Thats not mold, its condensation on the underside of the lid. I just constructed those moist hides last night and the sphagnum is fresh out of the bag.

Craig
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God Bless Evolution.

>>Brad,
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>>Thats not mold, its condensation on the underside of the lid. I just constructed those moist hides last night and the sphagnum is fresh out of the bag.
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>>Craig
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>>God Bless Evolution.

Be careful with that moist hide. It is small with very little air circulation. Mold is harmful to your snakes.

I think your setup is Spartan, but I'm pretty unconventional. I use aquariums. In each cage there's a large water jug, but greens don't soak much. There's a large hide over the heat tape which is a moist hide, but has plenty of air circulation and rolled newspaper for a medium to hide in. I also have a moist hide (tight) with sphagnum moss and open top, which isn't used much. I have a dry hide and the remainder of the aquarium bottom is covered in shredded aspen and rolled newspaper, to hide under. There are a variety of different temps available.

In winter the room they're in varies from about 67 to 73*F, most of the time. The snakes eat occasionally, but not like normal. The warm end is probably in the mid to high 70's. In summer it can get up to 82*, or so. I wouldn't want them below 65* in winter until they are ready to reproduce and then I wouldn't go below 60*, for the most part. They can digest in the 70's, and I wouldn't subject them to temps in the high 80's which seems to cause some stress. In other words they seem adapted to fairly moderate temps year 'round.

TC
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Conserving reptiles by helping to protect habitat...
www.ratsnakehaven.com
www.scenicsantaritas.org

Nice Greens! The set-up looks okay to me, although I might add more hiding opportunites. Mid 70's to low 80's is fine, for keeping them active, with a temperature gradient, and temps can drop a few degrees at night. The "official" word (?), I don't know - but Gerold Merker (aka Thurgess Cranston) and Dusty Rhoads have both put out literature on their husbandry. I kept my pair at air-conditioned room temps, this summer, with very little extra heat (back heat from heat tape, used only occasionally)- which varied from 74 - 78* F, and they have thrived, so far. They can likely tolerate much warmer temps (mid 80's ) at one end, if they can escape to a much cooler end (temperature gradient). Neither of mine have ever regurged while in my care, and they are LTC (WC) from Mt Hopkins in the Santa Ritas.
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-Toby Brock
Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research

Sorry for the crappy pic..I rarely mess w/them as I like to keep all intrusions to a minimum. Smaller male was collected in April and the larger female in Oct. Mine are in a tank set-up w/four hides..a dry and moist hide both on the cool and warm side of the cage. Very little open space as they seem to like to be under cover while cruising. Feeding has decreased during the winter cool down and corresponding shorter day cycle in my snake room but they both still continue to feed. I have a few years to wait until they're old enough to breed.
Bill

Billy, what locale are they?
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Todd Hughes

Female, Santa Ritas, looked on a topo map where I found the male..no mtns.listed..a "non-typical" locale of that I'm sure. I also found a baby Oxybellis on that same trip! My 10 year old son is my good luck charm!
Bill

can I borrow him this year? LOL! I hope to be there sometime this year, but don't know when yet.
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Todd Hughes

Haha! It'll be a few years before he's ready for the girls.

Bill

no, your good luck charm! I need all the help I can get!

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Todd Hughes