Keeping a Ringneck snake as pet?

[Praireboyfarmer]

I caught a ringneck snake a few months ago (April 27th at the very least) and I've gotten it to consistently eat Earthworms coated in calcium dust on a regular basis and it's pretty active. I don't handle it, as that stresses it out severely. I'm keeping it in a 2.5 - 3 gallon tank, I'm not exactly sure, which it can stretch fully across plus has about 5 inches of deep substrate consisting of 3 parts dirt that the gophers dug up (really soft stuff) to 1 part sand to burrow in, which is where it spends most of it's time. It holds moisture well.

The snake seems to be fine, but I've read a lot about how these snakes rarely did well in captivity. and while this one is eating, drinking, and seems to be doing great... I'm contemplating letting it go.

[Minkness]

They are just a delicate thing. Someone on here has had one for like 3 ywars or something.

I say if it eats and you don't mind not seeing it alot, keep it.

[that1guy]

If you want a snake as a pet I don't understand why you don't buy one instead of keep catching wild ones. This is the 2nd snake I've read about you catching to keep as a pet, unless I am confusing you for someone else. There are 100s of websites you can order both colubrids and pythons from for reasonably cheap prices.

[Praireboyfarmer]

If you want a snake as a pet I don't understand why you don't buy one instead of keep catching wild ones. This is the 2nd snake I've read about you catching to keep as a pet, unless I am confusing you for someone else. There are 100s of websites you can order both colubrids and pythons from for reasonably cheap prices.

I probably am the guy you are thinking of. The other got loose, I found him and released him. This ring neck was actually caught before that. I haven't caught, or attempted to catch any other reptile since then because... well as you said, there are better options. The only reason I kept the Ring Neck is because I had everything I needed readily on hand for him.



Don't worry. There won't be any other wild caughts for me.

[Minkness]

Heads up, even if you order a ringneck onli6, it was wild caught. There is only like one pwrson ever who managed to get these to breed in captivity.

[Sasha2]

Ringnecks are everywhere here. You are almost guarantee'd to find one under every rock on the side of the road. Ive never tried to keep one, some are so tiny its amazing they can find anything to eat. Very cool little snakes.

There is nothing wrong with wild caughts, how do you think this hobby even exists.
Its the importers and harvesters that are causing the damage, not the occasional wild caught pet.

[Minkness]

[Qhote]
There is nothing wrong with wild caughts, how do you think this hobby even exists.
Its the importers and harvesters that are causing the damage, not the occasional wild caught pet.[/QUOTE]

This ^^^^^

[Albert Clark]

Ringnecks are everywhere here. You are almost guarantee'd to find one under every rock on the side of the road. Ive never tried to keep one, some are so tiny its amazing they can find anything to eat. Very cool little snakes.

There is nothing wrong with wild caughts, how do you think this hobby even exists.
Its the importers and harvesters that are causing the damage, not the occasional wild caught pet.

Sorry, but that is not entirely true! What is wrong with wild caughts is that it throws off the eco system and the native environment where the animal resides. The balance of the flora and fauna gets disrupted as well. This is why there are laws in place to protect certain species. The market is flooded with enough captive born and bred animals to keep wild populations safe. On the same token wild caughts are usually hosts for a lot of opportunistic diseases that can infect and decimate captive populations. So yeah, Born free live free has several real considerations. :)

[Minkness]

And yet so many animals you buy online aren't cbb yet. Croc skinks have a VERY limited cbb population. In fact, I only have heard of ONE guy and he only produces like 10 a year or something. Ringnecks are the same. People haven't successfully gotten any cbb yet. Not to mention that every so often it's a good idea to cross a cbb with a wc to help keep cbb genetics more diversified for the health and stability of the future cbb animals.

Poaching is bad, hadvesting is bad, but keeping a few wc isn't the end of the world. Disease and parasites will happen, even in cbb specimens. Just make sure to properly medicate and quarintine any animal brought in from the wild.

[Albert Clark]

If 100 people collect 1 animal from the wild that's 100 wcs. If 1000 people collect 1 animal that is 1000 wc animals taken from their habitat and the numbers continue to grow. Cbb should be outcrossed with other cbb animals. There is enough diversity in the market to not disrupt the wild populations. To each their own, that is my take on it. Once again born free , live free!

[Minkness]

And yet 1000 individuals taking 1 isn't as bad as 300 individuals capturing hundreds a piece.

Just saying.

This is obviously kne of those 'agree to disagree' moments.

Please, don't think I am someone who says 'heck yeah go herping and keep everything youbcatch!'. That's not the case. But when someone has something wild caught that even if purchased knline is wild caught anyway....there's no reason for that person not to just keep it.

Besides, alot of people like cbb for the pretty colors that don't happen in the wild anyway.

[Jrich]

I've had a northern ring neck for about 3 years now. I keep him in a 10 gallon since he's about as long as his tank but not quite. I give him a lot of hides, even a hide right by his food dish where he eats his worms so he can dine in secrecy. Very secret animal. I notice he likes the cooler temps, mid 70's to mid 80's. I keep about 3 digital thermometers to monitor his tank and he usually hangs out on the cool side or in the middle of the gradient unless he's just eaten a meal. I don't handle him a lot and they are the masters of escaping anything. He really enjoys his humid hide too. Sometimes I'll put moss beneath his log and mist it from time to time. I try to keep the tank pretty complex so he can stay hidden but he comes out occasionally to see what's up. Best of luck, I've heard they can be hard keepers.

[MDT]

interesting thoughts from a multi-species Thamnophis keeper. yep, they may have been captive bred for you, but their ancestors were wild caught at sometime. but i guess that doesn't count.

PBF, enjoy your ringnecked snake. i got started in the hobby with a lined snake (Tropidoclonion). wild caught. it set me down the path of herpetoculture and ultimately my course of study in undergrad. if it's eating and shedding, it's growing and doing well.
just be cool and don't grab every single snake you find.

everyone remembers Raymond Ditmars, right?

[Albert Clark]

interesting thoughts from a multi-species Thamnophis keeper. yep, they may have been captive bred for you, but their ancestors were wild caught at sometime. but i guess that doesn't count.

PBF, enjoy your ringnecked snake. i got started in the hobby with a lined snake (Tropidoclonion). wild caught. it set me down the path of herpetoculture and ultimately my course of study in undergrad. if it's eating and shedding, it's growing and doing well.
just be cool and don't grab every single snake you find.

everyone remembers Raymond Ditmars, right?

We are not talking about ancestors sir! We are talking about collecting and taking from the wild and keeping them as pets today not 100 years ago. :) Also none of my captives were ever w/c nor are they native to N.Y.C or N.Y.S where I live.

[MDT]

not saying yours are/were wild caught (refer to the first sentence). my point is, you are enjoying your garter snakes because someone grabbed their great great grand-pappy from the wild.

there's ringneck snakes under almost every rock in oklahoma. i seriously doubt prairieboyfarmer is gonna plunge the ecosystem of our great state into chaos with the removal of one ringneck snake. but, standby, i'll let you know when things start to fling apart into their elemental particles.

[Albert Clark]

Thanks but no thanks. I don't need your interpretation of when you think things are going awry. I am quite capable of thinking and interpreting things with my own mind . I am not waiting for you to validate anything for me sir. Born free, live free.

[MDT]

Cool...good to know. Carry on :D

[Minkness]

Is it just me or does this happen every time PBF posts? He asks a simple question and people tyrn it into a war zone. Jeezus, answer the man and let it be. I can't speak for him, but if it were my posts that kept getting this kind of attentuon, I might stop posting. Then I would be without alot of good info and miss out on some awesome people. Let's try to stick to the OP and not get lost in our own oppinions. Just because we have them doesn't mean we have to shout them from the soap box at every opportunity.

That said, PBF, I'm jelous. I've always wanted a ringneck since a work buddy of my mom's found one when I was in grade school and gave it to me. It one day mysteriously went missing....I have a feeling my mom freed it due to the 'no snakes in my house' law she upheld with an iron fist. Congrats on it'ssuccess. They can be a tricky snake to keep up right. =)

[Albert Clark]

Is it just me or does this happen every time PBF posts? He asks a simple question and people tyrn it into a war zone. Jeezus, answer the man and let it be. I can't speak for him, but if it were my posts that kept getting this kind of attentuon, I might stop posting. Then I would be without alot of good info and miss out on some awesome people. Let's try to stick to the OP and not get lost in our own oppinions. Just because we have them doesn't mean we have to shout them from the soap box at every opportunity.

That said, PBF, I'm jelous. I've always wanted a ringneck since a work buddy of my mom's found one when I was in grade school and gave it to me. It one day mysteriously went missing....I have a feeling my mom freed it due to the 'no snakes in my house' law she upheld with an iron fist. Congrats on it'ssuccess. They can be a tricky snake to keep up right. =)

Soap box? I research my own questions, and the questions of others. I think outside of the box. That is why I am passionate about the stories I read here and feel like I can try to help someone but it doesn't always work out that way. I am a leader and not a follower. Born free, live free, die free. Captive , that's another story. :)

[Minkness]

I think you are getting fact and opinion skewed. There is no fact to support your opinion on this one.

The fact is, yes, he can keep it as a pet.

Your opinion is that he shouldn't because it's wc.

Simple as that.

[Albert Clark]

Oh, and injured or sick while free, captive for awhile to rehabilitate, then if animal survives or deemed able to fend for itself. Set free!

[MDT]

Oh, and injured or sick while free, captive for awhile to rehabilitate, then if animal survives or deemed able to fend for itself. Set free!

but what if it catches a disease while in captivity and you unleash that on the unsuspecting wild population??? man..i'm seeing "my name is legend" all over again. zombies man, zombies.

[eminart]

I also see no issue with keeping WC's, as long as it isn't rare or endangered. I don't think most people understand that the vast majority of offspring (of almost any animal species) ends up being just fodder. Nearly all the young die or are eaten in the first year because an environment will only support a certain amount of wildlife. Animals produce excess so that, in the event of an opening, they'll have offspring there to fill it. Taking babies has no impact unless it is done in very large numbers over a sustained period. Taking adults of most species has very little impact as well, because, as I mentioned, there are many babies waiting to fill the hole left when one dies (or is captured). Obviously, it can go too far, but common snakes aren't in any danger from collectors in the U.S. at this point. And, you can't get much more common than a ring neck snake.

[D Grade]

Im an avid herper and enjoy catching and releasing, but here's my .02. Keep what you want as long as you're licensed, its an unprotected species, you're keeping it to raise it, its legal to in your area, and if you're confident/competent enough to keep it. My Sonoran Gopher is WC, my first WC. I chose to keep it because Central and Southern Arizona are heavily populated by this species and because I really wanted a Pituophis species. Since the population is heavy, I honestly feel as if I'm giving this girl a chance to have a long happy life. I cant tell you how many DOR Gophers I see on the road from being hit by cars and how many Ive seen picked up off the ground by Harris Hawks. Ill feel the same when I collect my first C. Atrox and first C. molossus. Why you ask, because those snakes wont have to worry about some ignorant prick taking a shovel to them just because they're scared of Rattlesnakes.

If you're licensed, legal, competent, and confident....keep it if you really want it.

[RAD House]

I am with you Albert, I also believe there are enough captive bred snakes that no one should be taking wild caught specimens. The fact is that no one here is qualified to truly talk about the effect that collecting one animal will have on the ecosystem. "I see them all the time" means little on a scientific level. Also I think it is very reckless to encourage people to take wild caught animals on a open forum such as this due to the number of people who could potentially read it. Form what I have read of ringnecks is that they are not the easiest to keep in captivity, especially by someone who is new to the hobby. My gut reaction on this is that the little guy is better off where you found him.

[MDT]

For those of you keeping score at home...well...it's pretty obvious.
Now back to the thread....

[RAD House]

Not sure what you are getting at MDT. As for associating yourself with commentators, I would not recommend it as they are not the brightest crayons in the box.

[Aaron_S]

Ringnecks are everywhere here. You are almost guarantee'd to find one under every rock on the side of the road. Ive never tried to keep one, some are so tiny its amazing they can find anything to eat. Very cool little snakes.

There is nothing wrong with wild caughts, how do you think this hobby even exists.
Its the importers and harvesters that are causing the damage, not the occasional wild caught pet.

Sure that's how it all started. Doesn't mean we need to continue it with better means available. Evolution in the hobby. Things change.

We've gone past the need for wild caught pets.

EDIT:

I read more of the thread and have a few additional points to add.

1. It's not a black/white issue. It's a grey issue. There's pros and cons to both sides here and neither is 100% correct. There are species that I think are okay to keep because no one can figure out how to consistently breed them CBB. Then there's others that I see no merits in taking from the wild. Corn snakes for example.

2. If the OP caught this snake, wants to keep it for awhile then go bananas. If it fuels your passion, again go bananas. However I think, since it's a delicate snake in captivity I would ultimately push to have it released. I know the OP is doing a fine job currently but why possibly sentence the snake to death purely on a "I want to have it" factor? That's selfishness at the highest level. I know the OP means well and they are doing well with THIS specimen but we don't know if long term it will be okay.

3. If the OP, or anyone for that matter, had more captive animals I'd be against any capture/keep/release idea. Reason being the snake could bring something into your home collection OR vice versa. The captive animals could possibly give something to the wild snake that it wasn't built to handle. It could kill the animal or worse be released and devastate the native population.

4. Zombies dude, zombies.