Reptile & Amphibian Forums

does anyone own a rough or a smooth green snake. i have a few questions and would really like to talk with some one with experience.

thanks sam

I have three rough green snakes. I've only had them for a few months though. But if I can help let me know.

Kevin

maybe you can, i have a few questions... i have read that the are hard to feed and this could led to starvation of your snake, have you had any promblems with this? how are they with handling? and overall how do you like your rough green snake as a pet? thanks for any help ~sam

Well, I did a lot of research before I bought mine. But unfortunately, there's not a lot of information to be found on them. The information that you can find seems to contradict each other. So I'm kind of making it up as I go along, but they're eating and shedding well... so I'm taking that as a good sign. This is how I've been keeping them. I don't pretend to be an expert. If someone else who has them has advice, I'd love to hear it.

You have to go in knowing that you're almost definitely going to be getting a wild caught snake. And as a result, mine do not like to be handled at all. I also keep Poison Dart frogs and a veiled chameleon, so I'm ok with the look but don't touch type pets. They never bite. However, they musk and try like crazy to escape when I do handle them (for example to clean the cage, etc.).

Now this may be controversial (I know it is for other snakes), but I keep all three together. I"ve never seen any kind of aggression towards each other at all. They're in a large 36 x 18 inch terrarium with a locking screen lid. I wish it was taller, but the taller terrarium they started out in was too difficult to reach into to clean or water the plants. I'd ideally prefer a tall front opening tank for them, but I haven't seen one that was spacious and that I didn't think they could get out of.

They have several grape vine wood basking spots under a mercury vapor uvb/heat light. And they definitely bask during the day. I'm currently using a small undertank heater since it's been getting cold. I try to keep the day time temperature around 80 or so.

They like to hide but not like a ball python or corn snake would in a little cave-like hide. They hide in trees and bushes or whatever, so the back and side walls are completely covered in those suction cup to the glass artificial ficus plants. I use spag. moss as a substrate. I also have added some live reptile safe plants in the tank such as pothos.

They also have a large water dish that I've read they like to soak and deficate in. But mine almost completely ignore it. Mostly, crickets just drown in it but I added over-hanging leaves to it. Now the crickets can usually get back out of it.

I mist the tank with water several times a day and the snakes drink off the fake leaves. I've read in several places that this misting is the key to keeping rough greens happy.

I've been feeding them small crickets pretty much every other day. Supposedly they can't eat anything bigger than their heads like other snakes can. They definitely hunt them down and eat them. It's a neat act to watch.

It took a few days for them to get comfortable in the tank before they started eating though. In fact, I hardly saw them for the first week they were in the tank.

I tried feeding them wax worms just recently just to add some variety and they only ate a couple. But I'm going to try again. I dust the crickets once or twice a week with both a multi-vitamin and calcium.

One last piece of advice actually... Make sure the screen in the lid has a small mesh to it, if that makes sense. The first one I bought had openings throughout that were large enough for them to stick their heads through. It never occurred to me to worry about that. It led to a frantic hour of me watching over the tank to keep them in it, while my wife drove to pet stores all over town looking for a better lid.

I can't think of anything else, but if you have any questions let me know. If someone reading this also keeps them and has advice... again, I'd love to hear it.

They're a fairly active snake that I enjoy watching and so does my cat. It's her tv.

thank you so much for all of your help. i have been reading about hese snakes but like you said there is not too much info on them. but what you gave me was very helpful. i will keep researching, but i am not sure that the rough green snake is the snake for me. i am looking for a snake that stays about thats size but one that does like to be handled. if you know of any i would love to hear. but thanks again for all of your help.

sam

Hmm... Little snakes... Kenyan sand boas and western hognoses stay pretty short though they have a remarkably thick build. Ribbon snakes are little but I know nothing about them. Garter snakes stay small, but they're fast and I understand can be skittish. Arizona mountain kings are a bit bigger, but they're docile and stunningly beautiful. And there are tons of others of course.
I could be mistaken, but I've heard that rough green snakes require full spectrum or uv lighting since their diet of invertebrates lack some minerals. Is this true?
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Still searching for 1.0 WC human

That the green snakes need UVB lighting. I use a mercury vapor bulb. And they definitely seem to bask.

A while back I had a 55-gallon tank set up for a group of rough green snakes. The tank was completely naturalistic, with a deep natural substrate, live plants, and vines. I used a heat lamp plus a 7.0 UVB fluorescent lamp. I bought them all within a period of 3 months and had them all for about three years before I decided to sell them. They bred easily and would lay their tiny eggs under the dead leaves and bark on the bottom. As a matter of fact, I never knew two females bred until one day I saw tiny little baby rough green snakes crawling around on the bottom. I fed the adults dusted crickets about 3 or 4 times a week, and whenever I caught a big moth by the lights in my house (or outside by the huge motion-sensor light) I'd release it in the green snake vivarium and they'd chase it down until one snagged it. I never had a problem with aggression, but then I never really handled them either. They are great little snakes that are extremely interesting, and should be hardy as longh as they are kept the right way (much like lizards like anoles) and not stressed. Good luck.

Joe
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