Gonyosoma Says Hello

[macandchz]

absolutely beautiful! that last picture should be captioned, "don't mess with me!"

[SWDK]

Originally Posted by toddnbecka

Beautiful colors, but I don't ever recall seeing any CB babies available. I still want a bright green rat snake or two for my collection, haven't run across the right one yet.

CB babies are hard to come by. I'd like to try to find one someday.

[SWDK]

Originally Posted by macandchz

absolutely beautiful! that last picture should be captioned, "don't mess with me!"

Right after I took that pic I got bit. So you're right on point with the caption.

[Andy_G]

Very nice, Dave. Such a lovely species to look at and work with. Some day...

@ Piggybuns-They are a nervous species, not a great beginner snake IMO...but I haven't personally kept them so perhaps OP will chime in. Also known as the red tailed racer.

[dave himself]

Originally Posted by Andy_G

Very nice, Dave. Such a lovely species to look at and work with. Some day...

@ Piggybuns-They are a nervous species, not a great beginner snake IMO...but I haven't personally kept them so perhaps OP will chime in. Also known as the red tailed racer.

Right so these are what red racers look like thanks Andy . Every days a school day

[Andy_G]

Originally Posted by dave himself

Right so these are what red racers look like thanks Andy . Every days a school day

Red racers are a bit different, actually. The red racer is Masticophis flagellum (that may be the outdated name, but I am sure google would still spit something out for it) and is found in the southern united states. It's colouration varies from rusty brown to pink (a lot of variance). The red tailed racer/red tailed green ratsnake (the one in here) is an asian species.

Hard to beat those greens!

[dave himself]

Originally Posted by Andy_G

Red racers are a bit different, actually. The red racer is Masticophis flagellum (that may be the outdated name, but I am sure google would still spit something out for it) and is found in the southern united states. It's colouration varies from rusty brown to pink (a lot of variance). The red tailed racer/red tailed green ratsnake (the one in here) is an asian species.

Hard to beat those greens!

I'll look this up tomorrow Andy thanks for the info

[SWDK]

Originally Posted by Piggybuns

I adore this snake. If I'd had room for more than one bab, I would have snagged one of these. I had no idea they had existed at the time. .) Are their tempers good? Is there a guide anywhere that explains how their husbandry is?

Originally Posted by Andy_G

Very nice, Dave. Such a lovely species to look at and work with. Some day...

@ Piggybuns-They are a nervous species, not a great beginner snake IMO...but I haven't personally kept them so perhaps OP will chime in. Also known as the red tailed racer.

Their temperament seems to be hit or miss. He was a wild caught snake so he's definitely a bit defensive. I've got bit by this snake more than any other snake I've owned. This snake has also given me the worst bite to date...lots of blood and 3 stuck teeth in my hand that I had to pull out with tweezers.

That being said I've only gotten bit while working in the enclosure or taking a picture. I've handled the snake several times and it hasn't shown any aggression. It's a flighty snake and wants to be on the move when handled.

It always eats frozen thawed rat pups weekly. I have to lay them on a branch and by morning they're always gone.

IMO they're not a beginner snake. They require a larger arboreal enclosure and very high humidity. Mine will not drink from the water bowl and only drinks 2x per day when I spray the enclosure. He's begun to realize that now and comes right to the spray bottle when I start misting.

[pet_snake_78]

To Minkness, the ornate flying snake seems not imported in a long time. I asked DM Exotics to see if it is possible since he imports all the time. He has paradisi cb and wc I think, though, and asked exporters if they can get ornates, no word back as of yet but I imagine it takes a while for this kind of thing to be asked around.

[EL Ziggy]

Stunning critter Dave.

[SWDK]

Thanks EL!

[Roman]

Originally Posted by Minkness

Will it eventually turn red? Or is yours special? I really want a green snake to add to my collection and have looked into these before.

The tail is not red, the coloration ranges from light brown (reddish brown) to grey. I have two snakes with a brown tail (male and female) and one female with a greyish tail, all are from the same clutch. With my snakes there is a narrow yellow band separating the green from the brown coloration. If you look at the base of the tail you can see it in Dave’s snake as well.




The problem with keeping Gonyosoma oxycephalum is the high mortality rate of WC animals. WC Gonyosoma usually carry large amounts of worms and other parasites, combined with dehydration and transportation stress a lot of them doesn’t survive 6 month in captivity. If you get a stabile, healthy snake the keeping is not so difficult. Here in Europe we have several breeders, so if you do a little research you can find captive breed snakes for very reasonable prices.

You will need a large arboreal enclosure (4 x 3 x 4 (5) ft.), with high temperatures and humidity. WC snakes can be tricky to get them feeding, they seem to be specialized on certain food in some regions (e.g. some snakes from Borneo feed on bats).

As Dave already mentioned, they will only drink water droplets from water you sprayed, my snakes needed more than 6 month to discover the water bowl and what to do with it – and my snakes are all CB. They still prefer to drink fresh water directly during spraying.

Originally Posted by SWDK

Their temperament seems to be hit or miss. He was a wild caught snake so he's definitely a bit defensive. I've got bit by this snake more than any other snake I've owned. This snake has also given me the worst bite to date...lots of blood and 3 stuck teeth in my hand that I had to pull out with tweezers.

That being said I've only gotten bit while working in the enclosure or taking a picture. I've handled the snake several times and it hasn't shown any aggression. It's a flighty snake and wants to be on the move when handled.

IMO they're not a beginner snake. They require a larger arboreal enclosure and very high humidity. Mine will not drink from the water bowl and only drinks 2x per day when I spray the enclosure. He's begun to realize that now and comes right to the spray bottle when I start misting.

It is harder to predict how Gonyosoma is going to react than most other snakes. I got bitten during maintenance work when the same action would cause a small tongue flicker at almost any other time. You can’t be sure if the snake will just be curious or if it might nib you after all. Most of the times I can handle my snakes without any issues, but sometimes they will remind me that they have a nice set of teeth…

Roman

[Minkness]

Great info! Thankd Roman!

[Piggybuns]

Huh, interesting! Thanks for the info! Still a gorgeous snake! I could probably deal with the unpredictable tempers, but arboreal enclosures and very high humidity are something I'm not sure I could handle given where I live, but hey that's knowledge!

[franks]

oh boy. That is a stunning animal. So tempted.