Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm trying to find care info for glossy snakes (Arizona elegans). A care sheet or website would be nice, but specifically, are these prone to being lizard eaters in the wild/captivity, or can they take to pinkies/mice in captivity?

They like to burrow, right? Would a substrate of half play sand/half top soil or coir work for one of these?

Also, would hamster trail tubes or PVC pipe be something a snake would enjoy in an enclosure as a hide spot or enrichment?

Katrina

I kept one once had a buddy of mine kept several glossy snakes. There care is pretty basic. Typical colubrid set up of dry substrate, small water bowl, and a couple of hides. Pretty much same temp requirements as a typical corn or king. Most are WC and can be prone to be lizard eaters, but should convert to rodents pretty easily. Shop around. I believe there are some adverstised on kingsnake.com that are rodent feeders. Neat snakes for sure.

Glossies make excellent captives once feeding on mice. Some take to mice with no hesitation, others are tougher. Hatchlings and young ones can often be tricked by scenting a thawed pinkie with lizard scent - you may use a dropped lizard tail - freeze the tail, and when you need to scent, cut a tiny piece of the tail off and rub it all over a washed, thawed pinkie.

Glossies have somewhat flat snouts, presumably for pushing under sandy soil or objects. However, they will take advantage of almost any hide you provide. A friend of mine kept a glossy for many years. The hides were clay flower pot bases. He would mist the underside of the clay base to boost local humidity during drier times of the year. BTW, his glossy got quite large and was as tame as a snake could be. Really bright white belly, just a nice snake all around.

Substrate is your choice of course. They don't need sand persay. Sani Chip is a great alternative, as is Desert Snow, or a mix of those two. Aspen is good too.

I do recommend undertank heating for glossies. If you want to do overhead heating, use a ceramic heat emitter instead of a light bulb. They seem to prefer mass temps (heated ground or heated object or heated snake - not heated air).

Even though they are desert snakes, they need some moderate humidity, at least in a hide place. They aren't quite as sensitive to dry conditions as say milksnakes or kingsnakes, but they will use a box of damp sphagnum moss periodically if the ambient humidity is too dry for too long.
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Mark

I kept a wc adult for a number of years. Care is similar to that of a Gopher Snake or California King. Perhaps juuuust a bit warmer than average. Mine fed on f/t mice as soon as it was acquired but would skip meals now and then, perhaps 30% or so, especially as it got older. It always maintained excellent weight and health however. It never attempted to bite.