Coachwhip

[Mike177]

hey,

i dont know much about coachwhip care in captivity and i am haveing a hard time finding care sheets and such on them. if you could give me some links to care sheets or some advice about owning coachwhips ( feeding, cage, ex.) it would help me out a great deal thanks.

[fr0glet]

They have a terrible reputation as captive pets, never taming down and being known biters. As they are a diurnal snake you will find they thrive with the addition of a UV-emitting light source. They might eat rodents for you but are known to eat birds, eggs, lizards and other snakes (even other venomous snakes) in the wild. They grow to be one of the biggest snakes indigenous to the US and are very fast and active all day. Due to their large size and high activity level you need a quite large cage. I'm not positive on how hot they need to bask, but being indigenous to places like Texas I would think they like it pretty hot. They're typically found in desert/grassy plains/dry flat atmospheres.

[Vanan]

That's pretty much it what Froglet's covered. Also if it's a WC, you might wanna start it with small meals. Rather multiple small items. They're elongate bodies make bulky items a tad difficult to swallow.

[Simon R. Sansom]

Hi,
I happen to know a breeder who has a pair of spectacular adult "Red-Phase" Western Coachwhips (Masticophis flagellum) which are so tame as to be easily handled by his young daughter! If I hadn't seen the pic, I wouldn't have believed it.
Just goes to show that there are exceptions to every rule.

Ciao!

Simon

[J_Riley]

Simon, send me this fellow's name, PLEASE! I've been hunting for CB red phase for quite a while....

[JD@reptiles]

i know a coachi specialest. PM me for his adress

[Mike177]

Thanks if any one has some links let me know. and how much floor space do you think they need?

[Vanan]

My personal recoomendation would be a 5x2 or 6x2. They'll use it.

[Jonathan Crowe]

Coachwhip (and racer) care:

http://www.herper.com/snakearticles/racers.html

[J_Riley]

I wouldn't give an adult coachwhip less than 8x2x2

[fr0glet]

Originally posted by Simon R. Sansom
Hi,
I happen to know a breeder who has a pair of spectacular adult "Red-Phase" Western Coachwhips (Masticophis flagellum) which are so tame as to be easily handled by his young daughter! If I hadn't seen the pic, I wouldn't have believed it.
Just goes to show that there are exceptions to every rule.

No offense intended by this post... but even the most evil of snakes can appear calm and docile in a picture. Cooling a snake is a common way for less-than-reputable breeders to make their never-handled herps seem docile. Buy it, take it home, warm it up, BAM! PSYCHO SNAKE!

Not saying the breeder you know is that way... just sayin'.

[reverendsterlin]

came within inches of catching one yesterday, have the Mesquite bush gouges to prove it, the only second he slowed was a fast strike when I nearly got him tailed, but nasty brush and a large group of mesquite let him out fox me lol, every one I have had was nasty and evil, but now without kids in the house I could keep one long term.

[Nanashi04]

Originally posted by fr0glet
I'm not positive on how hot they need to bask, but being indigenous to places like Texas I would think they like it pretty hot.

I wouldn't say really hot, but probably fairly warm. They're also native to Kansas; just not my particular area; more to the west. My best guess would be 80-ish, but I'm not really sure.
That seems to be the average for most snakes found out there. Just my guess, nothing to go on, I'm not completly sure.

[Hamster of Borg]

In my experience, adult WC coachwhips (from TX anyway) do very poorly in captivity. Rarely switching to a rodent diet, if you're gonna catch one to keep, try to get a baby - better chance of getting it to accept the change in diet.

Ham

[Simon R. Sansom]

Froglet;
With all due respect; there are exceptions to every rule. The Masticophis flagellum testaceous pair are owned by Dr. Philippe Blais. I have dealt with the good doctor previously, and I consider his reputation sterling. I see no reason for him to falsify the tameness of his animals.
If you visit the Racer/Coachwhip forum at "the other" site, you'll see pictures and read a description which will illustrate better than I can the exceptional temperament of the animals in question.

Cheers!

Simon

[Hamster of Borg]

My western coachwhip is perfectly calm, she musked me once when I first got her, and she's never done it since... but when buying these animals from a breeder, I would certainly expect the typical traits of the species - which is an attitude. Would be like buying an amazon tree boa and expecting it never to bite - some don't, most do. :)

http://www.ravnos.org/photos/colubrids/brigit.jpg

Ham

[reverendsterlin]

I never had any problem getting them switched over with a frozen frog skin to rub the mice with