Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello everyone i just got a black racer and i want to know basic care. is it the same as cornsnakes??
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NO!! lol, racers are not good pets at all, but some can be,, but most never calm down, they have to have a HUGE cage, or they will rub there nose raw and have some problems, how big is the snake and how big is the cage?? they probally want eat rodents well, i seem to think fence lizards are good but its all on how big the snake is and the cage reply to this and tell me...

have to agree, though a friend had a monster 6' that was puppy tame and ate mice out of his owner's hand.

If it's very young you can cross it over to pinks by scenting. Again...a big cage is a must.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

i dont care if he become tame her bites dont hurt that bad. she is about 3 feet and i was going to put her i a 125.
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Do you mean a 125 gallon aquarium? If so, I would recommend covering three sides with something opaque to help reduce stress on the snake. In addition, in a cage that large you'd want a lot of tight, secure hideboxes and other cover. With that much space, and that much glass, a visually-oriented snake is going to feel completely exposed and may not do well at all. Also make sure you have a wide thermal gradient with a warmer basking area than you would give a corn snake.

With a 3 foot racer i would just house him in a 20 gallon or a little larger then that. This would just be fine...

They can get nose rub regardless of the cage size the important thing is to make them feel secure. Hiding boxes and layer of substrate several inches thick will make a big difference, in my experience they dig down to hide themselves when they feel threatened rather then charge the side of the tank, if they have the option.

I assume it is a wc snake. I don't know where it's from so I won't guess the ssp.
It has been my experience however that TOO large of a cage can be just as bad as too small of one. That is, the snake always seems to feel "wild" and when anyone approaches, it will bolt as they do in the wild and injure themselves by hitting the side of the enclosure. Also they sometimes will adopt the defensive posture of continuously striking and never really calm down.
I have seen this with wc coachwhips and actually did better with feeding in a smaller enclosure.
That said, most stayed pretty high strung, but I have had my share of tame ones that would even accept food from my hands.
Down here the ssp. is the southern black racer and they will take the plentiful brown anoles thankfully.
Wild ones are sometimes difficult to get to take frozen/thawed prey items as they are sight hunters and something about the movement of lizards turns them on.
:Mark

The too wide thing can be countered by including lots of branches and hide outs which will help keep the snake from building enough speed to whack himself on the glass. My racers at that size do very well in 20 gal (long) aquariums as I allways make sure they have ample cover to prowl.

I also am in the land of the Southern black racer. Have caught several in my yard. Brown Anoles are readily accepted and as I said above, pinkies can be introduced and eventually acepted if you scent them.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."