Rough greens kept in pairs?

[SnowFoxx]

If I got a pair of rough grren snakes to keep together, how large of a cage would be appropriate? Also, what should the pairing be? MF, FF, MM? Is it possible to keep the heat up enough if I had them in a Reptarium? I'm just bouncing some ideas around...

- Victoria :w

[BoidKeeper]

In my opinion, which I'm basing on things I've read and things that I know large breeders do, I feel that snakes should never be housed together.
Here are some points that I keep in mind and reasons why I do not house them together.
1. The presence of another animal in their space represents competition, competition leads to stress.
2. Stress leads to loss of appetite and or disease.
3. If one sick gets sick they can both get sick.
4. How do you know who is defecating and who’s not?
5. Snakes are not social animals so although captivity its self is not natural forcing two animals to live together is even more unnatural.
Cheers,
Trevor

[J_Riley]

Opheodrys aestivus is semi arboreal and likes to climb on bushes, small trees and vines. Since they are insectivorous, that means you need to treat them like lizards, which means UVB light and dusting their crickets. Minimum 20 tall gallon for a single specimen. Being that they are small and slender, escape is a very real concern which IMPO, I don't think a reptarium addresses very well, never mind the fact you won't be able to maintain humidity, unless ambient humidity of the area it's kept in meets requirements. I echo the comments above wrt housing specimens together. In the O. aestivus's case, keeping multiple specimens together, how would you be able to tell which one has eaten and how many items?

They should have a small bulb (not CHE unless you have other lighting provided) to provide a basking temp between 80-85. Bear in mind this species will probably bask in an elevated position, so be sure to monitor the temperature there, not 1" above the substrate. Other than the basking spot, low to mid 70's throughout is perfectly acceptable.

They should be feed (again) like lizards, offering, depending on size, 2-5 crickets of about 1/2 the girth of the snake 3 times a week. Gut load the crickets to ensure maximum nutrition, and dust them at least once a week, alternating calcium with multi vitamin (centrum silver, the ones that come in the capsules give a lot of mileage out a small bottle with a good balance between essential minerals).

Water: like lizards, many specimens will not drink from a dish, but droplets from leaves. This means you will have to mist the enclosure daily to provide drinking water.

If they are wild caught, they will need to be dewormed, parasites are the most usual cause of death in Rough Greens. The next most common is malnutrition due to lack of calcium and Vitamin D3 (see UVB reqirements).

They are truly great snakes in my opinion, and highly underrated. I consider them a Green Anole in snake form.