Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi.im new to the forum.i have recently become interested in racers.ive been reading alot about their natural history but i cant find alot of info on their captive care.can someone inform me on how to care for them.the biggest thing i need to know is the cage size one needs.thanks for your time
nick

Racers and coachwhips are a bit on the active side, but they will spend most of their time under their hide bark if well fed. I find that mine do OK in a cage about 20 by 20 by 12 high during quarantine, and I expect a 15 gallon aquarium is the minimum for a medium snake like a Black Racer.

I worry about quality of life for my snakes--the standard assumption is that they don't really care about their lives, but humans have a way of assuming things and calling them facts. I try to provide good-sized enclosures for active species, so I like to have mine in a 40 by 20 deep by 12 high at least, following quarantine.

Cypress mulch for a substrate, or Aspen, clean water always available, a bit of cork bark for a hide, and some toys like logs, branches, stones, that you relocate from time to time to mix things up a bit. Racers and coachwhips are slightly prone to skin problens like blister disease, so I like to keep the substrate pretty dry. Occassional moistening is desireable, but the steady humidity appreciated by Corn Snkaes and others is probably too much.

Snake mites apparently think racers are pretty yummy, so treatment of the hide bark or box with Provent-A-Mite, and/or use of pest strips might be something to consider. No sense exposing a herp to pesticides when there are no pests, so use these treatments during quarantine of new specimens, and after that, only when pests are present, but keep a sharp eye on the racers for mites as long as you have them.

Racers and coachwhips feed readily on carrion in the wild, and typically accept thawed mice without hesitation. They never really cuddle like corn Snakes and Boas, but they can be handled easily enough with patience and gentle acclimating. They are beautiful animals, with their satin finish and bright eyes, and I very much enjoyed the time I spent with mine. In fact, currently, I'm getting back into coachwhips and plan to keep and breed them as a permanent part of my hobby.

thanks for all the info.it really sounds like you know what your talking about.i just have a few more questions.what is the smallest racer or coachwhip.i believe it is the striped or yellow belly racer isnt it.i would like to start out with a smaller one and then eventually start keeping blue racers.i live in oklahoma so the only one realy in my area is the yellowbelly and somtimes the black racer.are these good starters for keeping this species.thanks for your time.
nick

I've kept several and they are pretty representative of the group. If you see those in your area, you might start out with one, although locating a captive-hatched animal is always preferable to taking a wild one. However you end up with your first one, the Blacks are handsome animals, not too large, and decent captives if good husbandry is followed.

Taking an animal into our care carries a certain moral obligation. It was never considered significant when I was young, and the animals suffered for it. Now, there is a strong acceptance of responsibility among reptile keepers, and I hope you will embrace that view. When you collect an animal, it will likely have parasites that may not pose a health threat in the wild, but in captivity may become dangerous, due to captive stress (confinement and boredom are stressful, even for reptiles). It would be nice to take the snake to a vet that understands herps and is able to treat them. This will add expense to your life, but hopefully, not more than around $100 for the visit and any treatment. If you accept the ethical responsibility associated with being the caretaker of a living thing, and always do your best to provide not merely basic needs, but some measure of quality of life to the creatures in your care, you stand to enhance your apprectiation of your animals and life in general, and may enjoy your hobby with a minumum of regret over the captives' situation.

thanks for all your help.now that i know more about them i just need to convince my dad into letting me get some(either wild caught or find cb ones).if i can persuade him i will start building a cage.probably a little bigger than your demensions since i have the space.i just want to make sure he doesnt feel the need to rub his nose all over the cage to find a way out.ive had this happen in a few of my first lizards.thanks for your time.
nick

If you look in a fieldguide, and I would sugest the one by Bartlet,There are some beautiful whipsnake that are small in size and there are VERY FIEW people that work with them. Some of the whipsnakes are awsome, last year we found one that had banding and stripes in the Christmas Mountains.

I have been breeding coachwhips for the last 8 Years. The most important thing to know is that they need a hide box. Since they are VERY high strung it works like Prozak for them. They are not like king snakes when they are well adjusted they will come out. The second most important thing is 112 degree basking sight with the cool spot no hotter than 82.