Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Was cleaning today and snapped a few pics of my 2.2 Senticolis. 2.1 are fom the Santa Ritas ans 1.0 from the Baboquivaris. I rarely handle them and they are a chore to get to sit still long enough for a picture! The almost solid green female is the oldest..obviously, while the other trio still have hatchling-pattern remnants. Very, very unique snakes to say the least. I have a ways to go to get them to breeding size but they are a joy to observe getting there!Upon review I guess my pics are too big so its only letting me post 3/4. The last male is almost identical to the last snake pictured

Bill

Very nice, I keep a pair and they have been a joy to keep and view daily. Do you keep them in tubs or aquariums? My set ups for my senticolis:

1.1 are very young so they're in shoebox-sized tubs. The other pair are in a 20 gal. long tank. Moist and dry hides and cypres mulch for substrate. I have alot of fake greenery in there so they can cruise under cover..seems to be they way they like to operate.
Bill

>>Was cleaning today and snapped a few pics of my 2.2 Senticolis. 2.1 are fom the Santa Ritas ans 1.0 from the Baboquivaris. I rarely handle them and they are a chore to get to sit still long enough for a picture! The almost solid green female is the oldest..obviously, while the other trio still have hatchling-pattern remnants. Very, very unique snakes to say the least. I have a ways to go to get them to breeding size but they are a joy to observe getting there!Upon review I guess my pics are too big so its only letting me post 3/4. The last male is almost identical to the last snake pictured
>>
>>Bill

They are not really ratsnakes. I remember finding my very first one after midnight on a rainy day. It was a juvenile, and its head was moving sideways back and forth, just like a racer would do. I believe they are actually more closely related to the racers than to the ratsnakes. Nevertheless their green color is quite pleasing to the eye.

No offense but they are in fact a Rat Snake and if you're basing your conclusions on movement it is even more apparent. I've collected 2.2 of which 2.1 were hatchlings from the year before found out in early Spring. All 4 were completely motionless on the road and didn't move an inch until I actually touched them w/my hand. Most accounts from the field attest to the same behavior.

On the otherhand, ALL Whipsnakes were motionless sometimes until I pulled along side them then blasted off the road..others merely blasted across the road as I got w/in 10 yards or so. Additionally they are true constrictors and by no means "sight-hunters" like the local Whipsnakes.

Lastly, I have yet to see the Racer or Whipsnake that is most active in the low 70s to high 60s at the end of the day. Maybe out early basking to start the day but not as the evening dominates.

Pure behavioral points aside, there is a host of physiological reasons why Senticolis has been placed in the Rat Snake category. The differences are obvious to even the casual observer.

Bill