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Rough Greensnakes

Are you keeping Rough Greens or have you ever?

  • Yes, I have some now.

    Votes: 3 12.5%

  • Yes, I've had them in the past.

    Votes: 14 58.3%

  • Yes, I've had them in the past and have them now.

    Votes: 1 4.2%

  • No, never had them.

    Votes: 6 25.0%
  • Total voters
    24
S

Snyds

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Hey All you herp lovers,
I'm pretty new to this cite and I'm new to keeping Rough Green Snakes, so I thought that I would start a thread to invite a little bit of help. Anyone with thoughts on how to keep these guys happy and healthy, please contribute. It seems despite their beauty there are not many people keeping them as pets. Perhaps because they are tricky to keep alive.:shrug01:
Let's do what we can to help keep their population growing.
Dave Snyder



Cage for my 3 Rough Greens
View attachment 111264

My adult(front) and yearling(above thermometer) Rough Green
View attachment 111265
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I got a buddy down here that is actually attempting to start breeding RGS.

His advice (and mine as well) is: do not treat these snakes like your typical snakes. Treat them like you would a green anole or something.

These snakes do not fare well in the traditional glass tank with aspen shavings, a water bowl and a cave. Set them up in a naturalistic terrarium with lots of foliage to climb through/on. Mist daily and feed small inverts.
 
Now that is good advice. Too many times the RGS / SGS die prematurely due to incorrect husbandry practice.
 
I can't see the pics either.

Right now I have one rough green snake and I really wish more folks were breeding them.

That's spot on what you said about treating them like anoles.
 
Update of your rough green snakes

Hi!
I'm looking into setting up a Naturalistic environment for 1-2 Rough Green Snakes. I'm curious to know how things have gone with your snakes so far. Any luck/tips with either breeding or care that you have by now?

:)
 
I have always set them up in planted terrariums with frequent misting.

I feed them crickets, moths, and spiders.

I've never had one live longer than 5 years though. And that one was one I hatched.
 
I've had one now for almost two years. A few things that I have learned... if you leave crickets in the cage for them to eat, always keep plenty of food for the crickets otherwise they will bite the snakes (esp the smaller ones) and for some strange reason, cricket bites are toxic to snakes and can kill them.
I've got a total of five currently. I am introducing silkworms and green hornworms as a food. Some take one and not the other, some take both. They definitely like to mix it up.
Also, apparently a diet of only crickets will kill them as well. I've been told that it is the exoskeleton of the crickets...
Also, when I can find catepillars and grubs, they love them.
Let's keep posting what works.
Snyds
 
Great info Snyds. I think this varied diet is the main reason its hard to find them captive bred and hearing stories of them dying soon after they've been caught form the wild. The diet needs variation.
Breeding a number of different grubs and insects at home could be a useful way to always have a variation to offer.

So far I've heard of the following being fed:
Soft bodied insects

-crickets: but only occasionally b/c of hard skeleton.
-waxworms
-silkworms
-green hornworms
-moths
-meal worms: head squished as they've been known to bite.
-superworms
 
Shonarkin,
Have you fed your greens super worms and meal worms?
I've been worried b/c of the exoskeleton issue. Good advice about
crushing the head though. The same guy who warned me about too
many crickets being harmful also mentioned that he had seen a rough
green which ate a meal worm, it didn't digest it fast enough and the
worm ate its way out of the snake.

Also, what about earthworms? Have you ever tried?
Snyds
 
Hi Snyds

I don't have any Rough Green snakes YET! Right now I'm gathering info from around the web and people I talk to on forums and stores. I want to be prepared and more informed when I get one. Am prolly moving down to Florida next summer, so I might be working on building a Live plant Terrarium until then and once down there get a Rough Green Snake.

Nasty to hear about the meal worm eating out of the body of the snake, thats terrible. But yeah, a varied diet and special care with "harder" food seems to be what works the best.

Good luck!:)
 
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