Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi
just wondering if there are any snakes that withstand cold temperatures and live in places such as alaska or canada

doug

I'm pretty sure there are snakes in canada, but I don't remember what speices.

I saw a black rat snake near school. It disapeared when I tried to get a good look at it, but it was big, and black, and I don't think there are any other big black snakes in america that aren't black rats. I live in massachusetts, it's pretty cold. It was -8 degrees the other day.

I saw another even farther north, but I was little and I hardly remember. I was in vacation in new hampshire, and I was looking for frogs but I nearly caught a small striped snake. It must have been a garter, but back then I thought they where called gardener snakes. I think it was red, but again it was a long time ago, could have been a different color.

Several species of garters get as far north as Canada. So do redbelly, ringneck, bullsnakes, some hognose, milk, and the prairie rattlesnake. The black rat crosses into Canada at the northern edge of its range also. I'm sure I missed a few of the N. Am. snakes, not to mention species from other parts of the world. Of course, these snakes will spend the cold months hibernating (brumating). Curious: Are you asking because you are wondering if any captive snakes can be kept at cooler temps than you usually hear about? That was my original thinking when I first started trying to choose a species. I have come to believe that some of these snakes can be kept at "room temperature" more or less, especially if your home is warm in the summer, and brumating is an option in the winter. Duffy

also is the milksnake a hard snake to take care of? what size tank do you recommend?

doug

Some of the posts below list some options for cooler temp snakes.
I don't keep milks, and can't answer your question on them. You might try that forum. If you are looking for a fairly common, inexpensive snake that might do well at room temps, black ratsnakes make good beginner snakes. One question: Do you keep your home cool year-round? If it is cool in the winter AND cool (air conditioned 72ish) in the summer, then you may still want to consider an under tank heat pad at one end. I think my "cool" snakes tolerate room temps in the winter as part of their seasonal change partly because our home gets warm during the summer months. Do some more research, pick a species, and learn lots about it first. Good luck. Duffy

There are a couple small Asian ratsnakes like mandarins that love temps at 72 degrees all year round. I wouldn't really recommend them for beginners though. A black rat can probably take any living condition you throw at it. I keep mine at 'room temp' but my temps run pretty warm in the summer. He dives for his waterdish if it gets above 85 though.
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"The serpent crams itself with animal life that is often warm and vibrant, to prolong an existence in which we detect no joy and no emotion. It reveals the depth to which evolution can sink when it takes the downward path and strips animals to the irreducible minimum able to perpetuate a predatory life in its naked horror."
Alexander Skutch

Hi
just wondering if there are any snakes that withstand cold temperatures and live in places such as alaska or canada

doug

Argh!! Not all of Canada is like Alaska. Did you ever see the Molson Canadian commercial where the arrogant american is mocking our straping Canadian protagonist and gets a whoopin for it.

Anyways, Canada has 40 varieties of snakes including 2 boas, 3 watersnakes, 4 storeria, 11 garters, 2 hognoses, 1 ringneck, 3 racers, 3 green snakes, 2 rat snakes, 3 gophersnakes, 1 milk snake, 1 sharptail snake and 4 rattlesnakes.

The red-sided garter goes into the North-West Territories (it's in the northwest in case your like the guy from the commercial).

See the link below for a decent site about Canadian Herps.
Link

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"I'm tired of being a wannabe bowler! I wanna be a bowler!!"
-- Homer Simpson

Rubber boas do quite well without any outside source of heat (I know, I know, they occur in Canada). They will feed and fare well in captivity with cage temps in the upper 60s.

Black Milksnakes from Costa Rica will also fare well in cool cages.

There are actually some montane Asian Ratsnakes that do better at cooler temps, such as Hundred-flower Snakes (mollendorfi) and Mandarin Ratsnakes.
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Chris Harrison

You can add to the list the Russian and Korean Rats Elaphe Schrencki sps, which are good competitors for the world's most northerly ranging snake.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

the snake wich lives in the coldest place is vipera berus (Adder, Northern viper, vipère péliade) that you can find beyond artic circle ...

not suitable for anybody ... even if its venom isn't very potent ...

I wouldn't be suprised if they still like it warm in the summer... not sure, just wouldn't be suprised. My northernmost snakes are from the Caspian sea and they're being heated at 95 degrees right now.
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"The serpent crams itself with animal life that is often warm and vibrant, to prolong an existence in which we detect no joy and no emotion. It reveals the depth to which evolution can sink when it takes the downward path and strips animals to the irreducible minimum able to perpetuate a predatory life in its naked horror."
Alexander Skutch

... for sure !!!
but it's very hard to know which temp. they have in summer ... artic circle is quite big ... !!!
but with the few datas i've found we can imagine they don't have temp over 75 °f in summer (considering they're in the south of artic circle ...) as far as i read ...?!!

Check out the black milk snake. See care sheet at vpi.com