Looking to become 1st time snake owner

[BoredTurtle]

I'm a bit socially awkward so not sure how to go about introductions.


My history with snakes is basically that kid that had to pick up everything. I live in NW Tennessee and have received bites from nearly all non venomous snakes in my area with zero venomous bites.



Currently I have several exotics. Most of them are tarantulas with a couple bearded dragons and some other inverts. Was really wanting to add a snake or two.


I did some looking around and am mostly interested in maybe getting an Opheodrys aestivus as my first. They seem easy enough to care for and I can feed them with the feeders I currently have. I'd love to find one captive bred but have no idea where to look. Everything I see with a basic search is wild caught. Can someone help?

[ClockwerkBonnet]

Welcome to the forum!

[toddnbecka]

Rough greens don't generally do well in captivity. Aside from never being available as CB, they're easily stressed by handling. Much better option is to find a local breeder or check out a reptile show. Rat snakes, including corn, king, and milk snakes, are widely available in a variety of natural phases and morphs. Easy to maintain, typically easy to handle too. If you don't want to start with a hatchling or young juvenile check your local Craiglist for available snakes. Those often are available with a full setup, (though not always a good or suitable one.)

[David339]

I've had my rough greens for a while now. I do not handle them other than removal to clean the tank. They need a bigger tank than you might think. I know I have my tank heavily setup with fake plants, pain to clean but the snakes enjoy it. Not sure where you could find captive bred. Snakes at sunset is a great place to buy from. Had good experiences with them but they have wild caught.

[BoredTurtle]

I've had my rough greens for a while now. I do not handle them other than removal to clean the tank. They need a bigger tank than you might think. I know I have my tank heavily setup with fake plants, pain to clean but the snakes enjoy it. Not sure where you could find captive bred. Snakes at sunset is a great place to buy from. Had good experiences with them but they have wild caught.


I'm fine with not handling them. From what I understand they feed mostly on inverts which the main reason I was drawn to them. I keep a constant stock of crickets, dubia, lobster roaches, mealworms, and super worms. Are they difficult to breed in captivity? I wouldn't mind trying. I was gonna make a decent size bioactive arboreal setup before I plan on ordering.

[Bandit]

I've had my rough greens for a while now. I do not handle them other than removal to clean the tank. They need a bigger tank than you might think. I know I have my tank heavily setup with fake plants, pain to clean but the snakes enjoy it. Not sure where you could find captive bred. Snakes at sunset is a great place to buy from. Had good experiences with them but they have wild caught.This sums it up to a tee. I had success by never handling except for during cleanings. The larger enclosure the better, and make sure there are tons of plants (I used fake). Obviously, they like vertical space and will appreciate having plants to climb up into. Use a heat lamp rather than a UTH. I also made sure to mist the tank once per day.


I also used UVB as they are a diurnal snake - but I don't think we need to open that door in this thread. I can't say if it had a benefit or not.