Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I'm new to the forum and I have some questions about keeping a juvenile (12-14 inches long) olive ratsnake in captivity.

My kids, aged 6 and 9, found it and we agreed to let them keep it, provided we found a way to do it properly. A biologist identified it for us (Senticolis triapsis), told us it was a male and told us to feed him newborn mice. The thing is the snake doesn't seem to be interested in the mice at all and we have had to resort to feeding her (after gently getting him to open his mouth) ground meat once a week or so. So far, he seems to be doing OK. We've had him for close to two months now. Aside from further advice on food, I am worried that he started to shed his skin about two/three weeks after we found him and it has never really stopped: once it looks as though he has shed 90% of his skin (it takes him about 10 days to do it), it starts to look blue around the head and the process starts all over again. Could it be the substrate and surroundings? We keep him indoors in a lidded terrarium with some gravel and pieces of bark. Any advice will be appreciated.

Jorge

I gotta be honest, i've never heard of a shedding problem like that but I can offer some thoughts. First, I'm assuming that you're here in AZ. The humnididty level indoorrs is often significantly lower than outdoors. You might need to offer a moist hide spot for the little guy. Try putting damp moss in a small, dark Rubbermaid container with a hole cut in the side for him to enter. Also, he may be very stressed. Snakes can go a surprisingly long time without eating, if they are overall healthy. I would try leaving him alone for a full weeek. This means no feeding or handling. The shedding may also be a product of the diet. You didn't really say what kind of ground meat you were feeding. The fur and calcium of a whole animal are important parts of the snake's diet. He may be missing important minerals. If you force feed him, at least try offering pinkies. Once the pinkie is partly in his mouth, he will probably bite down and start swallowing it on his own. These guys also feed on lizards. You can try scenting the pinkies with lizard smell. You could accomlish this a few ways. One is by catching a lizard to rub on the pinkies. They are hard to catch but sometimes you can nail one with a flyswatter. After scnting, you can freeeze it. Then next time you can put the pinkie in the bag with the frozen lizard and use it again. Another way, that some friends use (very successfully) is to go to the pet store and ask to have some of the shavings from the bottom of a lizard cage. Keep it in an airtight container and put the pinkies in there for about 30 minutes before an attempted feeding. This may help stimulate his feeding. Even within species, individual snakes can exhibit a wide variety of preferences. This one may be more of a lizard feeder and need help switching to rodents.
Lastly, Senticolis are a great find adn I would love to see it work out for your boys. I live in Tucson and I'd be willing to help out if you are nearby. You can send me an e-mail if you have more questions or would like some assistance.
Later today, some other folks may have some better ideas for you. Good luck and keep us posted.

DO you know what temperature your keeping him at? Does he have a good hiding spot? What is the substrate? Pine shavings have oils that can make a snake ill.

Dear Mark,

Thank you for the info. I'll be sure to check your long post on kingsnakes.

I forgot to say in my own posting that I live in Mexico (Cuernavaca), so I guess I couldn't really be of help in trying to steer you to a wild Senticolis in Arizona.

All your points about the snake needing the calcium from bones and the hair of whole prey as part of their diet have been duly noted as is the lizard scenting "trick" (we have plenty of small lizards in our garden and perhaps we could even offer our snake a live one).

As for temperature, we keep its tank at room temperature, which is normally somewhere around 85º F (we have very stable temperature in Cuernavaca throughout the year and the tank is indoors). It does have some tree bark for it to hide under, but even though it always has a lid filled with fresh water, my guess is that, overall, the conditions of tha tank are fairly dry (the substrate was bought in a petshop and is made of small brown pebbles). So I guess providing it with more humidity might be the answer to its constant shedding.

Thanks again for the useful questions.

Jorge