Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Love these snakes. Great look to them with a very interesting natural history makes this high on my list of 'soon to gets'. Got a question though. Been getting conflicting information from the little information I can find on these guys. Some say that these are nippy and jumpy snakes and a few others say that these rats have great friendly personalities. I'd really like to be able to handle the snake, so, let me put it this way. First, are they nippy/jumpy snakes? And second, if I got a CB baby, would it be likely that I'd be able to 'tame' it so it will allow handling and not stress? Just getting into the exotic rats and I think I've found my new herp obsession...

I've heard the same conflicting info on these. Although this is anectdotal, mine are pretty docile. I wouldn't consider them as easy to handle as a corn snake, but I wouldn't hesitate to say that if handled from early on, these will make great "pet" snakes. My kids even get to hold the adults once in a while. I'd recommed them.

Bryan
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Last night I was laying in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and I thought to myself, "Where the hell is my ceiling?"

I have a 6 month old male (Cameron Highlands form). When I first got him at 2 months old, he would rattle his tail and display other defensive behavior. Since then, however, he has tamed significantly, and I am now able to pick him up without being bitten. He is still very flightly, but I suspect this behavior will disappear within a few months, or if I handle him more frequently. I attribute much of his more mellow behavior to the frequency with which he sees me. Since his cage is right next to my desk, he sees movement around his cage every day. Also, I usually mist his cage once a day, if not more.

As for the natural history of ridleyis, they definitely are interesting. It's very clear that mine prefers cooler temperatures. As an experiment, I placed a blowing fan on top of one portion of his cage on a hot day (90 degrees room temp), and he stayed underneath the fan for a while. He will also not remain on top of, or underneath, any direct source of heat over 85 degrees for an extended period of time, always choosing to move to a cooler location (~75 degrees).

In short, I think ridleys are well worth the potential work of taming them as juveniles. Good luck!

My ridleyi pair is almost 1.5 years old. They are named "Satan" and "Bride of Satan". They are gorgeous and interesting and were on my Most Wanted list for years, but I am getting nowhere calming them down. They strike continously when being handled. It's very frustrating.

Dan

sounds a lot like my JCP...aptly named 'Diablo'

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"Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel is just a freight train coming your way"--James Hetfield

Thanks for the replies. Got a better idea on the subject. I'm very optimistic, but not gonna expect the world out of this species.

I just had "Satan" the male ridleyi out for cleaning. He actually calmed down for a few minutes while I cleaned his cage with my right hand while he coiled around my left hand (and his head firmly grasped). Taking advantage of his seemingly mellow mood, I kept him out a bit crawling through my hands. Then he decided to make a dash up my sleeve and ZAP ZAP ZAP bit me three times on the forearm in rapid succession. Mind you, I try very hard not to get bitten by these guys. (I keep no venomous and never will!) They're in the 3 - 3.5 foot range, around 125-150 grams. I'm not entirely looking forward to 6 feet of mean snake.

This brings me to my point: I get a mild reaction to bites from these guys, with very slight swelling around the teeth marks that results in a raised bump in the shape of the snake's jaw. I'm curious if anyone else has a similiar reaction?

I have had similar reactions to O. taenuria bites. I get an even greater reaction from the Gonyosoma I keep and from Watersnake and Gartersnake bites.
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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

2.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

4.3 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)