Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've got 2 Ringnecks and a Dekay, 13" long in a 10 gallon tank with extended sides (no top on tank) lots of climbing room. Is dinner time always going to be a fight? The Dekay I feed by hand, but even after eating (worms) it will try to take the others food. I worry about injury. Also, will these snakes hibernate? I'm in South Florida, my apt is warm even in the winter. Thanks

I've had ringnecks attack each other over food...

And I've had ringnecks eat brown snakes like it's nothing.

Brown snakes aren't immune to the little bit of venom that southern ringnecks have...

And they pretty much won't hibernate.
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.kingpinreptiles.com
^ Updated 9/23

Thanks Mike, the snakes are the same size, thats no defense to being swallowed whole?

Should I remove the Brown for his own good?

I did post a picture of my snakes. I saw more of that behavior today, the Ringneck laying on the Brown, forcing it off a branch.

I was thinking about this when I first saw you posting about the two species together. In general, don't keep any snakes together when one includes snakes in its diet, even if they're the same species (even baby gopher snakes will eat other snakes, for example). Even if it would be rare for a ringneck to eat a brown snake of the same size, you just don't want to risk it. For example say that the ringneck smells a little worm slime on the brown snake, starts chewing, and then tries but fails to ingest the brown snake - the brown snake still gets killed in the end.
Phillyherping

Exactly.
I've seen ringnecks attack each other when the smell of prey is around... Especially Southern Ringnecks... They are agressive feeders.

A brown snake of the same size might not be consumed, but it would be killed.
And I'm not saying it couldn't be consumed...
Because I've seen ringnecks eat other snakes 2" bigger than themselves.

Ringnecks will fight... Even freshly hatched ones...
(Photo belongs to John Gunn... who knows if he still lurks around here)

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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.kingpinreptiles.com
^ Updated 9/23

Thanks, so it could get ugly for the Brown. It may be time to put it back in my yard and look for something with more color. Those "Designer" snakes (Morph?), whats up with that? Are they healthy? For now the 2 Ringnecks will keep me entertained. Should I move them up to pinkys?

What "designer" snakes?

And you can move the ringnecks up to pinkies if you want, they'll be fine on what they are feeding on now, but with pinkies they'll grow more and have more weight on them.
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.kingpinreptiles.com
^ Updated 9/23

I copied this from another web site. Thanks for your help

"These beautiful and in many cases brightly colored snakes seem to come in almost every conceivable color and pattern. Like the Corn Snake or Rat Snake, the Kingsnake is fast becoming a “Designer Snake”. Breeders have become so successful in managing specific genetic traits, that they can almost create a color mutation to match your shoes. This concept of purposely creating various radical “Color Mutations” ........."

"Designer" kings are just natural aberrancies... That are selectively bred in captivity to continuing production of them. Nothing unhealthy about them... They're just snakes.
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.kingpinreptiles.com
^ Updated 9/23

Did you catch them in your area ? I recently moved to Miami havent found a single snake in fields,etc.

Have found a zillion Bufo Marinus-Cuban treefrogs-brown anoles -House geckoes and common water snakes but no "neat" little snakes.

thanks

Yes, in my backyard under stuff. Keep looking....