Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is this biggest Coluber constrictor mormon I've caught, it was a good three feet missing a few inches of tail. It seems all the big ones have lots of battle wounds this guy actually had what looked like bird talon scars, it takes alot of snake to get a bop TO LET IT GO.

sorry about the lack of shirt but I tend to wander the desert without to many clothes.

Great photo!!...where do you generally find them?...scooting along?...or under tin,rocks etc?...just wondered.

Paul (uk)

The biggest one I ever caught was a hair under five feet. I caught her on a night hike crossing a trail. She was pretty mellow once I got ahold of her, cool looking snake.

Kevin

Where was that at? I've caught hundreds of these guys in oregon and washington and this was by far the largest, He also had a belly looking like he raided a rodent nest. Also quite mellow for a racer.

I'm actually gonna try to keep a couple of choice WC's this year, any knowledge about aclimating these guys would be great. I know most ways to get snakes eating but If anyone has any pretty foolproof ideas that would be cool.

Nate

Coluber mormon is a great snake.
Adults generally accept rodents or lizards, even both, and I have discovered that juveniles absolutely relish crickets.
As far as housing, I would recommend a moderately large cage, with some vertical space to allow for climbing. A 36" by 24" by 24" would probably be a good size for one, or even a 48" by 24" by 24" would likely be even better. A nice tight hide spot and lots of climbing branches. I especially recommend manzanita for this purpose as it a good, spindly branch and the racers love to climb on it. As for substrate, dirt or decomposed granite works well, especially with a layer of oak leaflitter over the top as it promotes foraging activity.
Any more questions, just ask. Good luck!
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Roy Blodgett
Green Man Herpetoculture
royreptile@yahoo.com

1.1 Drymarchon corais
1.1 Pseustes sulphureus
1.1 Pseustes poecilonotus
1.1 Lampropeltis getula californiae (desert phase)
1.0 Boiga dendrophila dendrophila
2.3 Pogona vitticeps (snow and red/gold)
1.0 Iguana iguana

“All men lie enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks; but it is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realize the silent, subtle, ever-present perils of life.”- Herman Melville

The enclosure isn't what has me worried, take a small chunk of the natural habitat and place it in an enclosure. The thing that bothers me is the rep for being picky eaters, I guess I'm just gonna have to catch a couple and give it a go. I would love to catch a juvie but as I've caught hundreds of adults and only a few babies I might just start with the youngest I can find.

I'm getting ready to move to a place where their is no shortage of natural prey which is prompting me to give these guys a try, I just cant get over some of the blue colors I've seen.

Roy I notice you have some more Pseustes. I hate you! Lets see some more Pics! and how those babies coming?
Nate

I used to live in the bellingham area until I was about 12 and frequently went fly fishing on the methow river in central WA in a town called Winthrop. There was (and still is ) some Fish and game land out and around that area and it is LOADED with snakes. It was when I was a kid and was this summer when I went back,

The largest Yellowbellied I caught was along a cliffside overlooking the river. It meassured at 52" and was quite girthy for a racer and covered in scars.

If you are looking for some WC animals I would go there.

I'm not kidding you when I say this; there is a snake under EVERY rock and every 10' along the cliffside.

Some others I found included GB gopher/PAC gopher crosses and numberous rattlesnake species.

I thought I saw that post about the snake your holding being a gopher? I have hung out in winthrop when I lived in the seattle area, didn't do much herping, mostly mountain biking. I also believe theres only northern pacific rattlesnakes up that far in washington?
Nate

Yes, the one in the picture is a gopher (annectens to be exact) but it was just a random attatchment. Winthrop is a way cool place for just about all outdoor activities but if you can find that place a few miles east of the town there's snakes on snakes out there.

It's possible that there is only one specie of rattlers out there however the specimens I saw seemed to varry in color and some degree of pattern.

Ps, the racers deffinitly aren't pit size or even close but they are of considerable size for those that I've seen.

If you end up heading that way, give it a go. They certainly aren't hard to come by out there and they colors on them varried from specimen to specimen in everything from near brown to light blue to regular green.

Haha! Well, these are the other species, poecilonotus, and they're pretty cool. Mean as hell, and they don't puff up much compared to sulphureus. They're a bit skinny still, as they are fresh imports, but eating well. I'll post pictures once they've put on a bit more weight!
The babies are doing very well. The six I still have (I sent those two off to Dan) are perfect. They are growing so quickly it's incredible. I will be doing an update post soon about them to show how much they've grown. Today, three of them ate their first quail chicks at only two and a half months of age!
Hope all is well.
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Roy Blodgett
Green Man Herpetoculture
royreptile@yahoo.com

1.1 Drymarchon corais
4.4 Pseustes sulphureus
1.1 Pseustes poecilonotus
1.1 Lampropeltis getula californiae (desert phase)
1.0 Boiga dendrophila dendrophila
2.3 Pogona vitticeps (snow and red/gold)
1.0 Iguana iguana

“All men lie enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks; but it is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realize the silent, subtle, ever-present perils of life.”- Herman Melville

Hi Roy!
Quail chicks? At 2 month old? Are you really serious? Can you tell me more about the temp you keep them and your feeding schedule? It would be really interesting to ear about it.
Thank's and take care!
Justin

Justin,
I just did an update post on the indigo forum. Check it out!
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Roy Blodgett
Green Man Herpetoculture
royreptile@yahoo.com

1.1 Drymarchon corais
4.4 Pseustes sulphureus
1.1 Pseustes poecilonotus
1.1 Lampropeltis getula californiae (desert phase)
1.1 Boiga dendrophila dendrophila
2.3 Pogona vitticeps (snow and red/gold)
1.0 Iguana iguana

“All men lie enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks; but it is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realize the silent, subtle, ever-present perils of life.”- Herman Melville

while walking in the dunes of northwest indiana on mother's day 1999 I found one of the largest snakes i have seen in all my years of herping. it was a female blue racer, she was 6ft plus with an attitude to match her size. I took her home for a few weeks where she laid 27 perfect eggs, shortly after that I released in the same juniper bush that I found her. 26/27 eggs hatched out, leaving me with 28 babies which were also released. it was a great experiance! by the way, thats no typeO two of the eggs hatched out twins!

it looks like maybe a rodent nest but they also look like that wen they eat another good size snake I got a really mellow eastern yellow bellied racer right now I named her helena