Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i just got a green snake but people say they don't last. what would be good. also what else can be kept with the green snake.
thanks

What kind of green snake is it? Smooth or Rough? Green snakes should only be kept with other green snakes.
Michael

Michael's Place

My rough green didn't seem to mind being house in a 40 gallon tank with 2 full grown ribbons and a young red stripe. He lived for 6 years and I got him pretty big. He and my western even shared the top of a plant!

I think garters are pretty cool, nice colors, easy to obtain, and from my experience eat well on a "non mammal diet".

Steven

The problem with non-mammal diets for garters is that people have a tendency to feed them goldfish...and that will eventually kill them. The thiaminase will get them if the parasites don't.

I've always converted garters over to feeding on rodents by scenting with nightcrawlers. Nightcrawlers are a pretty good feeder item, but rodents make a better "exclusive" diet. Garters tend to eat on a schedule more like other colubrids, when fed rodents, and their droppings are a whole lot less offensive.

Plus, in some areas garters will feed on rodents in the wild, so this is not an "unnatural diet" for them. I once acquired a huge wild-caught melanistic female Eastern garter, and she exhibited an immediate and unmistakeable feeding response to mice. She'd been living in a farmer's grain field, and it was obvious that she was used to eating mice.

I think that adult garters have a tendency to eat mice when they are at that size. Not all garters are able to get worms and most of the bigger ones won't be just satisfied with one nighcrawler, no matter what the size. Mice are probably the main food for them because they come across it more than they would come across worms, lizards, fish and other prey items in the wild.
Michael

Michael's Place

Hi there:

Green snakes do well in captivity; they simply require some specialized accomodation. I have also kept greens with ribbons in a 40-breeder without a problem.

DAVE