my first snake: a ring neck...

[rivkah]

Hi,

I just did what I tell others to never do: I bought an aminal without reading, reading, researching then reading some more. So am doing this backwards and did not follow my own advise: know about the creature and have its enclosre set up before you buy it. Also, never buy a creature you feel sorry for.... I did both.

I went to a rept show over the weekend and came home with my very first snake: a 4-5 inch long ring neck snake. Talking to the seller: it eats bugs, flightless fruit flies, small crickets and also red wiggler worms. And that it will grow to about 10-12 inches. Someone who was standing at the same stand, also mentioned that it will eat newts/salamanders, and should max out at 18 inches.

This guy is currently about 5 inches long, jet black back, yellowish ring, and solid dark circus peanut colored underside.

Once home, I set up a small 3gallon container as temporary housing(round, 12inch wide and high), with about 3 inches of soft soil, complete with pill bugs and springtails which I culture (as food and for substrate maintenance for my other terrariums), substrate then covered with cushion moss (live) and decorated with palor palms (live), a rock and a small "hide". And truthfully, I cut the fine netting from a fish net and using a rubber band secured it around the top to keep the snake in and also allow for good ventilation. After a couple hours in this enclosure and once I noticed that the snake started to settle in, I added several fruit flies (which I also culture, but not that I saw him eat any).

I went to the internet to find something, anything, more on this little guy.
Depending upon which site I stumbled upon, I found alot of conflicting information, rarely did I find anything that appeared to agree.

Later today, I will be going the a bait store in seach of red worms and wax worms to entice the guy to eat.

So please help this little guy by giving me some guidance as to what I should be doing for him: I understand that at some point in time, he will require a larger enclosure. What would be the most appropriate size enclosure? What type of "furnishings" are most appropiate for this particular type of snake. Does he need and what kind of water feature: dish, pond, creek, waterfall, etc? What is the ideal temperature and humidity range? What is the best foods to feed for long term health? How often should he be fed? Would is be okay to leave several red worms in the substrate for him to hunt down at his leisure

Let me add: I have been a fish keeper/breeder for almost 50 years, I currently have 15 fish tanks, 5 terrariums (bumblebee toads, frogs, newts), 3 turtles, 3 gerbils, 4 cats, 2 dogs, and a man that puts up with alot. So I am not a stranger to creature keeping, but, this is my first snake. Although this snake was only $2.00, does not mean that he is disposable, I truly wish to create an environment in which he will be most comfortable. I strive toward as "naturalistic" as possible and underpopulate, perferring a happy creature to my ease of viewing. Any and all suggestions will be most appreciated.


Thank you
Rivkah

[exwizard]

Im sorry, I wish I could help. I know nothing about Ringnecks. This is a large forum and I am sure there is someone out there who could. I'm rooting for you though.

[BarelyBreathing]

If I'm correct, ringnecks do horribly in captivity and usually won't live more than a few months.

[Jlassiter]

Earth worms are typically a great food source for ring necks.

[rivkah]

First, thank you for your responses...

I did indeed puchased some red wigglers, and added three to his enclosure. I did not see him eat, nor did I see any interest in the worms. I do not hover, only catching the rare glimsp of him.

I am in the process of collected the necessary items to built out an 20L (30X12X12") as a woodland with small creek for the ring neck's long term health and comfort.

But, I also have read somewhere that ring necks do poorly in captivity. So then the question becomes: should I then release him? Let me add that I am opposed to releasing any domesticated creature into the wild, or any captive bred creature... you just never know what it could be carrying that could impact the native populations, or if it were to estabish itself, such as what is going on in Florida with escaped pythons and boas. The ring neck snake is a native species throughout most of the US. From what I could find, these are not captive bred (seller's lie)

Snakes are not domesticated animals such as a dog, they are not bred to be what we want them to be, rather they are ever bit the wild animal. Again, life long fish keeper, and during the past 20 or so years I have also been keeping newts/toads/turtles and frogs.

For what I have read the natural range of the ring neck is through out most of the US, perferring wooded areas near a water source. I live near Pittsburgh, PA, so that is certainly not hard to find. I also read that they are social creatures travelling oftentimes in groups. How do I know where to find a group of them?

At this moment, I can go either way, creating an enclosure in which he will thrive or release him back to whence he came.

On a silly side note: the last time I did something this stupid (not investigating first) was when I was 8 years old and bought a couple of those adorable little 5&dime store turtles.... your know red ear sliders... well... a baby wading pool and 38 years later the first one passed away, the second followed the next year. I thought I learned my lesson....

RIvkah

[infernalis]

Join the Thamnophis forum and talk to Mike, he's the god of ringnecks.

View Profile: annulataarethebest - Garter Snake Forum (http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/members/annulataarethebest.html)

Mike's care sheet..

Smaller Snakes - Kingpin Reptiles (http://www.kingpinreptiles.com/smallersnakes.htm)

This guy knows his ringnecks!!

and he's in the same neighbourhood as you, if I recall he's a pitt as well.

[jarich]

39 year old slider? Thats impressive, especially given you started at 8 years old. If only all those Chinatown turtles had such a long life.

Sounds like you are just the right kind of person to set up your new snake well. Id say keep him and do everything you can to make it work.

[rivkah]

I will search for "mike", to talk to the "god of ringnecks"... I so appreciate the lead.

Yep, I take critter keeping very seriously, maybe too seriously. Honestly, I did not expect the turtles to last that long... they become part of the family, then a habit, then such a fixture in your world, that it does not seem the same without them. I told myself that I would never do that again.... so now I have musk turtles (2) and a southern painted male, all of which will only max out around to only 3-5 inches.... no baby wading pool!!!

I got my first fish pitching ping pong balls at a street fair and won the "big prize", a black moore goldfish, when I about 6. I cried like a baby when that fish died 9 years later, even though by then I have 10-12 other fish tanks and was breeding angelfish and beginning to work on a "new" color strain. There is nothing like that first fish... so I still keep one tank of goldfish.

Again, thank you all for the directions... and I will of course keep everyone ported as to how the little ring neck is doing.

[rivkah]

Just an update... although I did not actually see the snake eat, I can tell from his new size that he did indeed swallow a worm. He is noticeably larger. Also, his color is changing from jet black back to a more dark grey, looking more like the pictures I have seen of adult ring necks.

I did contact "Mike", and have re-read his care sheet several times. He is "no longer working with ring necks".

I have kept and bred various frogs, toads, newts. I really have been at this for a long time, but I can't seem to get my head around care of a snake. With lizards, toads, newts, etc, it is easy to judge the size of a food item (with width of its head), but with a snake, I don't seem to understand how big is too big, or how small is too small.

I tend to grossly underpopulate the enclosure for the newts, frogs, etc, and understand that an enclosure can be too small, causing stress, and too big, the engery used to catch food is more than is in the food. How big is too big for a snake?

There is such conflicting information about ring necks: although not a basking in the classical sense, perferring instead to warm up under a warm rock, generally speaking what would be an ideal range of temperatures?

Any information is most appreciated. I use it, coupled with my general critter keeping experience, to continue to work towards the best possible environment for this little guy.

Thank you.

[rivkah]

Oh, by the way, I have a friend that has had her turtle for about 30 years, getting it when it was around 12-14. It is heathly, happy and shows no signs of slowing down... turtles are a life committment... and sometimes must be included in a will since small can live over 100 years.