New to Colubrid

[Enmity213]

I recently acquired a Pacific Ring Tailed snake in my wouldn't be the first time. But I want to keep it i'm just not sure what would be the most humane way of taking care of it. If anyone had any links or advice with them I'd love to hear it. Right now it's chilling in a 10 gallon fish tank. For the most part it's docile and not very aggressive at all. Super pretty snake I just want to know how to take good care of it. I think it's a adult it's about a foot long and a little thicker than the other ring tailed snakes I've seen on my property.

Any help or advice would be appreciated. I live in northern California about 2 or 3 hours north of San Francisco if that helps.

Thank you in advance

[sharthun]

Originally Posted by Enmity213

I recently acquired a Pacific Ring Tailed snake in my wouldn't be the first time. But I want to keep it i'm just not sure what would be the most humane way of taking care of it. If anyone had any links or advice with them I'd love to hear it. Right now it's chilling in a 10 gallon fish tank. For the most part it's docile and not very aggressive at all. Super pretty snake I just want to know how to take good care of it. I think it's a adult it's about a foot long and a little thicker than the other ring tailed snakes I've seen on my property.

Any help or advice would be appreciated. I live in northern California about 2 or 3 hours north of San Francisco if that helps.

Thank you in advance

This may help:

Pacific Ring-necked Snake - Diadophis punctatus amabilis

[Enmity213]

Cool I actually saw that website. I actually have a friend that know a ton about herpetology. I set up the tank a little bit more today. It's a work in progress.


It's very docile for the most part. I've heard they can either be very friendly or a bit aggressive. From my experience the smaller ones have been a little more aggressive but the one I got is very friendly. I pick it up and it just chills it doesn't try to escape or run off it will chill on my lap. But i'm very new to owning a snake so I'm just learning right now.

[Enmity213]

It's a work in progress. I'm still learning what's the best way to take care of it.

Except from the faux plants it's all the same kind of grass I find these kind of snakes in. It has a lot of places to hide. I was told to get heating pad's.

I'm trying to feed the thing worms. There are a ton of baby reptiles on my property but I like lizards and salamanders so I would rather just feed it worms.

I was told to feed it once or twice a week and it's only my 3rd day having it. I put a worm in the tank today but it's still there so I dont really know how to tell when they need to eat

[drumcrush]

When it comes to worms, every other day should do fine but make sure they are dusted with a vitamin powder(found in pet stores) a couple times a week, don't dust too much though, the tip of the worm should be fine. I wouldn't expect it to eat right away, it still might be stressed out from changing environments.

[Enmity213]

Ok thanks man. I'll keep that in mind. I need to hit up a pet store. I just live in the stick's and the closest one is about a 40-50 minute drive. Like I said it's a work in progress.

[drumcrush]

Originally Posted by Enmity213

Ok thanks man. I'll keep that in mind. I need to hit up a pet store. I just live in the stick's and the closest one is about a 40-50 minute drive. Like I said it's a work in progress.

Alrighty, good luck!

[pdomensis]

Given your local environment I wouldn't think it would need much of a heat source, just enough to give it a slight thermogradient to chose from. I'd be curious to hear about feeding these guys. It seems to me that any worms you put in are likely to just burrow and escape (unless you put them in a bowl or something) You could always do a bioactive setup where worms are a part of the ecosystem and let the snake hunt at will.

[drumcrush]

As said above, not much heat is needed, maybe just a small heat pad to get 80-85f on the hot side . I put my garters on a small heat pad for a 5 gal. Worms will try to run away, they always do this with me and get substrate stuck all over them lol so I really do suggest setting them in a bowl(maybe even cut them up a little) or feeding with tongs.

[sharthun]

Originally Posted by drumcrush

As said above, not much heat is needed, maybe just a small heat pad to get 80-85f on the hot side . I put my garters on a small heat pad for a 5 gal. Worms will try to run away, they always do this with me and get substrate stuck all over them lol so I really do suggest setting them in a bowl(maybe even cut them up a little) or feeding with tongs.

I would recommend some wet sphagnum moss to keep it moist. They live in damp areas.

[Enmity213]

Ok my snake right now is very moist and humid. I live in a brick house so the temp could be 100 degrees outside and 80 degrees inside.



I still haven't fed it. The snake has actually taken very well to the environment I've given it. I pretty much tried to duplicate the exact area from my yard where it's from. I was thinking about feeding it one of the spider's that are around but I've been told different things. It's a snake from the wild so I think it might be ok with eating a small spider. Also I realized it would be easy for me to get worms from outside. Not a fan of paying for worms when I can go outside and get them for free.

Should I feed it something that's still alive?