Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just wanted to share these two. Im so proud of them. Love these guys. both are such good eaters and look great IMO. I caught the blue in Michigan, and the everglades in florida of course (from the isolated population near cape canaveral which is a long distance from the actual everglades). lots of brown in the paludicola thats not showing up so well. thanks for looking.

love the pics. great looking snakes. i have to travel 120 miles to see true blue foxi. i did just that over the weekend. only seen one DOR.
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2 tham radix
1 Chicago Tham s. semifasciatus
2 elaphe vulpina
1 gray tiger salamander
4 Aphonopelma hentzi
1 G rosea
1 Haplo minax
1 Brachy angustum
1 Brachy sabulosum
1 Brachy vagans
1 Cent. hentzi scorp

yeah. there sure arent even as many as there were even a couple of years ago, not to mention 20 years ago. here is a pic from 2006 at one days catch at my hot spot(they were all released to where they came from)
https://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/112529Mine_and_Johns_Blue_Racers__05-11-2007___1-med.jpg
https://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/112529Mine_and_Johns_Blue_Racers__05-11-2007___2-med.jpg

yeah. there sure arent even as many as there were even a couple of years ago, not to mention 20 years ago. here is a pic from 2006 at one days catch at my hot spot(they were all released to where they came from)

And I thought nabbing up three @ a time from under a piece of sheet metal was impressive. The place I go is still pretty active. Spring is the best time to find them though. Unfortunately the area is aggressively herped for bull snakes by a-holes in the pet trade. They leave the racers though.
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2 tham radix
1 Chicago Tham s. semifasciatus
2 elaphe vulpina
1 gray tiger salamander
4 Aphonopelma hentzi
1 G rosea
1 Haplo minax
1 Brachy angustum
1 Brachy sabulosum
1 Brachy vagans
1 Cent. hentzi scorp

??? I always get that same color on my hand when I get a kiss from a Blue Racer.

Quite the double handful you had there. Nice big animals too. I saw 18 individual animals over the course of two weeks this spring. Didn't collect any. A few years ago, Glades had some hatchling Blues, so I got a pair of those as my captive foxi. They turned out to be iron-tough and really solid captives. They've grown up fearless and completely comfortable in their cages--no nose rubbing, eat defrosted mice off forceps. Highly territorial, they chase my hand out of their cages when I get in there for cleaning. Magnificent creatures.

Best of luck with your foxi. It's a nice blue one--many I've seen are kind of brown.

So do blues adjust better to captive conditions than blacks? I never keep black racers for extended periods for the the above mentioned reason w/ refusal to eat, nervousness, and nose rubbing. I would consider giving a blue a try if they make decent captives.
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2 tham radix
1 Chicago Tham s. semifasciatus
2 elaphe vulpina
1 gray tiger salamander
4 Aphonopelma hentzi
1 G rosea
1 Haplo minax
1 Brachy angustum
1 Brachy sabulosum
1 Brachy vagans
1 Cent. hentzi scorp

To answer your question about which is harder to keep, in my expirence it is easier to find a blue that eats than it is to find a southern black that eats, but for every 5 i find, maybe one will except mice. most will except frogs, some never will eat. This blue made me so happy, it was my one blue that I found this year, so it was my only shot. It excepted f/t mice right away. thats luck. it eats 2 every feeding. it isn't usually that easy. What im really surprised about is that the everglades racer Ive got is just as good an eater. Ive NEVER caught another everglades that would even look at food in captivity. as for the nose rubbing on the blue, she did it while in a 40 gal breeder while I was building her new cage. its been corrected an is looking better every day. Once she got in her new cage, no more rubbing, she lives faast and has plenty of room to practice her 0 to 60 mph times. Im soo happy about these two. I really lucked out. so in summary, if you can find one that eats, keep it, but you'll probably have to go through a few before you do.

That is very interesting. What size cage are you using? Are you using and UV lighting? Any strong heat source?

Thanks,
Dan

Currently they are in a 5'L x 2'W x 20" T cage with a 120 w bulb and no UV bulb right now but Im planning on putting one in next week. the sole heat source is from the bulb, over all day time temp in the cold end is @ 85 F and the other end of the cage stays around 95. Ive found they are most active with this temp range and this is where I keep it. They do have the option of using a recessed hiding "box" that goes down to 75F and they stay out of this for the most part.

thanks. yes its very blue, and one of my favorite snakes in the world.

I have been trying to figure out the best way to keep racers in captivity for a couple years now. the first racer that i tried to keep i kept her in a 55gallon tank but she refused to eat anything i offered. I eventually releases her. Last summer i had more room to play with and had several styles of cages (visions and neoshada) so i went out and caught a few more racers. in the cages where there is only glass in the front, several inches of cypress mulch and just a heating pad every single racer ate f/t mice that was just left in their cages. At first, the more you handle them, and the more you try to feed them off of tongs the more they stress out. I didnt handle them at all for the first 4-5 weeks; once they are eating regualarly then its time to bring out the snake hooks. My advice when taming a racer is to completly avoid eye contact and keep the restraining to a minimum and you will do just fine.
As far s temps go, I keep my racers in the mid-high 70's (room temp) with a heating pad. during the winter they go in a room with no windows and a light is on 10 hrs a day to keep them in their summer mode.
sorry for the long post... the most important thing is to be patiant and have confidence.. and some luck of course! lol

try jacking the temperature up on the next one you find that wont eat, and see what happens. try in the 90s

When I give them a higher basking temp, they become super active and thats when they start to do the nore rub thing. The heat from the heating pad is plenty of heat. I was just saying what has worked for me through trial and era.

ok just an idea.