Reptile & Amphibian Forums

They appear built arboreal, I currently have him housed terrestrial, but that pic of the Texan got me thinking. Anyone have an arboreal setup for there drys? How bout something to climb on?

eric, i always give hatchlings a tilted branch to work out on and they use it quite a bit. i think it's good for them overall plus they really seem to like the exercise. i have seen adult bts & unis go up trees like no tomorrow [!] but in captivity there's no real need for this as they get room service instead of exercise. anyway, i gave mine some screwed in twisting series of long, 1'' thick branches down the length of the cage [up high but allowing head room] for them to use and i often found up there when they're out. amf, it seems like they always go to the b/room from up there anymore [making an even larger mess than usual]. that little stretch up and pull seems to be like a laxative to them...........:>/

What we “know” about Drymarchon in the wild indicates they are primarily terrestrial, but fearless and will climb, swim, or rappel down cliff facings if needed. Indigos will sometimes use higher places as lookout points to scout for prey.

I think the general rule is that adults appreciate as much space, be it floor space or vertical space, possible.
Vertical room, if you have the space in your house for it, does make for an interesting display, and may provide a little more stimulus for the snake.

I would say in a perfect world floor space AND vertical space would be best, but that would be hard to heat. If I had a certain amount of square footage to work with, and I had to choose vertical or floor space, I would take the floor space. They will spend the majority of their time there.

The collective view of YT's from Trinidad is that the population has gone arboreal due to the introduction of the mongoose and the on sight slaughter by man. This presupposes that the snakes were already somewhat arboreal and that those individuals with a higher perpensity to climb thus passed this genetic code on to their offspring. The thought was these snakes were more arboreal as juveniles and sub adults (not hatchlings) and returned to the terrestrial life after they attained some size. On Trinidad
they are rarely seen because of this tree dwelling habit.
The YT's on Tobago are more commonly seen and are considered less arboreal because of this.
I have personally seen a four foot D.cooperi about twenty feet high in a tree being mobbed by blue jays.
I have observed black racers hunting in trees as well ( they were also discovered through blue jays).