My tiny snake (Rough Green Help?)

FangsAnarchy · 03-15-12, 09:45 AM

Well sorta. We picked up a rough green at the last expo in Columbia. I was hesitant to pick it up to be honest. I have heard they are very shy and very difficult to keep. There were four of them all wild caught. All of them were in tiny plastic containers. 35$ which is more than what I hear they normally go for.

We had wanted to get one a few years ago, and then decided they were too fragile and the feeding issues were just something we weren’t interested in. We talked about it over and over again. More so because we felt sorry for the little things as they were being sold to small children who’s parents probably thought the snake was like a fair gold fish.
So we bought one. If it didn’t eat or didn’t work out well then it was caught close to home and we could just let it go back to nature. Brought the snake home, put it in a different room. Printed off care sheet after care sheet to compare notes.

I know they like to climb and they need to be fed crickets and meal worms dusted periodically with calcium stuff. We put in aspen since I don’t trust leaves from outside even after freezing. We purchased a bird ladder and cut it in half to give the snake lots of places to climb. We picked up some plastic plants and a water dish. We bought 6 live large crickets tossed them in and hoped and prayed the snake ate.

Thank goodness she did. Within the hour 5/6 crickets are now in the snakes belly! I couldn’t be happier. So now that the snake is eating, (It is unsexed but we call it a she) I have questions that I couldn’t find answers to or had conflicting info on.

1 is it ok to use PAM and/or Jurrasimite? Being wild caught I am keeping her far away from the other 7. She is just so small and supposed to be fragile and I know PAM is technically poisonous to snakes I am worried about how much to use if I should use it at all.

2 How much space does she need? I am assuming she is full grown and is currently in a 15 gallon. It can be a temporary thing. She looks so small in it but I wasn’t sure

3 How big of a water dish does she need. One said big enough to swim in another said small and shallow and yet another said no water dish is needed as long as the leaves are kept moist and the snake can drink from them?

4 Do I need to feed her anything more than crickets and meal worms. A guy at the expo saw us as we were walking out and said he couldn’t get his to eat except one time he threw a spider in there and it ate. I read they can eat small amphibians. Do they need to?
I’ll get some enclosure and snake pictures up soon if anyone is interested. She is not shy in the least. Explores the enclosure explores when we have her out.

infernalis · 03-15-12, 10:07 AM

They love spiders, and spiders provide the necessary enzymes that crickets cannot.

Put lots of fake plants in the cage, I have some pics I can dig up for you...

Now that you have taken this on, good for you to ask questions.

will be happy to help as much as I can.

FangsAnarchy · 03-18-12, 06:48 PM

Thank you for the help. I have a bunch of fake plants in there so that 'she' can be completely hidden. Demiting tomorrow as a preventative. Any suggestions on what spiders to feed? I am way too much of a sissy to catch them so that will be left for her father.

infernalis · 03-18-12, 09:18 PM

I have been asked that before, and no I am not certain what ones.

All I know is, (I read this) that one of the reasons they fail in captivity is no spiders in their diet.

another is humidity, Rough green snakes are from the south where it is hot and humid, so when they are kept with improper humidity and not fed spiders, their chemistry changes and their organs fail.

It's sad that they are offered in the pet trade at all, but since they are not an endangered species, and abundant, they are caught by people herping for like $5 a snake and sold as pets.

FangsAnarchy · 03-19-12, 11:40 AM

I read that about them. The humidity part I mean. I am in SC where they are wild so if it looked like it wasn't working out Jade would go back to the wild where she was caught. someone said small and brown was the way to go however I know brown recluse (spelling?) are making their way up here especially since we had such a mild winter. I'll look into native species and try and pick something not packing too much of a punch