Red Tailed Green Rats - Page 2

andybe18 · 03-27-12, 11:14 AM

Stunning snakes - they seem a little similar to radiated rats in behaviour?

a153fish · 03-30-12, 07:59 AM

I love these and have tried to keep them 2 different times with no success. Your right about the imported ones, which is what I had. They do well, for a short time, and then they just start going south. I think stress eventually does them in, along with the parasite loads they may be harboring. I know they can be bred, cause I met a guy in Winter Haven years ago who was doing it. He offered me some babies, but I didn't feel comfortable at the time to take them on, and I had other interests. If you get them to breed, and I have any space, I may be interested in a pair of babies. Good luck with them!

Oh P.S. they may benifit from a taller cage, with climbing branches. I believe they are very arboreal, and in the wild most likely feed mostly on small birds, and lizards. Mice shouldn't be a problem, but I had one take a live mouse, and the mouse bit him in his mouth. My mistake! The bite became infected, and he spiraled out of control health wise.

UwabamiReptiles · 03-30-12, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andybe18

Stunning snakes - they seem a little similar to radiated rats in behaviour?

I've never personally kept radiated rats but from what I've heard and what I've researched on them, yes they behave similar to how radiated rats would. These little guys are fast and full of attitude!

UwabamiReptiles · 03-30-12, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by a153fish

I love these and have tried to keep them 2 different times with no success. Your right about the imported ones, which is what I had. They do well, for a short time, and then they just start going south. I think stress eventually does them in, along with the parasite loads they may be harboring. I know they can be bred, cause I met a guy in Winter Haven years ago who was doing it. He offered me some babies, but I didn't feel comfortable at the time to take them on, and I had other interests. If you get them to breed, and I have any space, I may be interested in a pair of babies. Good luck with them!

Oh P.S. they may benifit from a taller cage, with climbing branches. I believe they are very arboreal, and in the wild most likely feed mostly on small birds, and lizards. Mice shouldn't be a problem, but I had one take a live mouse, and the mouse bit him in his mouth. My mistake! The bite became infected, and he spiraled out of control health wise.

Sorry to hear about your two bad experiences, thats the main reason I jumped on these when I saw they were CH. I did have these guys in 6qt with some plastic rods and vines but after a fiasco(I won't even get into it lol) I decided to set them up in 66qts with lots of perches covered in vines and plants. It took me about 2 days to find out these guys are a lot easier to deal with if they have a lot of space. I plan to build a tall cage for these guys when they get bigger. You are right, they are almost strictly arboreal so a tall cage with lots of branches with dense foliage is the way to house Gonyosoma. As far as feeding, the other reason I jumped on these was because they are f/t rodent feeders. Both have already eaten for me so I'm happy that that shouldn't be problem(knock on wood).

a153fish · 03-31-12, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UwabamiReptiles

Sorry to hear about your two bad experiences, thats the main reason I jumped on these when I saw they were CH. I did have these guys in 6qt with some plastic rods and vines but after a fiasco(I won't even get into it lol) I decided to set them up in 66qts with lots of perches covered in vines and plants. It took me about 2 days to find out these guys are a lot easier to deal with if they have a lot of space. I plan to build a tall cage for these guys when they get bigger. You are right, they are almost strictly arboreal so a tall cage with lots of branches with dense foliage is the way to house Gonyosoma. As far as feeding, the other reason I jumped on these was because they are f/t rodent feeders. Both have already eaten for me so I'm happy that that shouldn't be problem(knock on wood).

I'm sure you will do better than I did! Starting with Captive Hatched is the way to go! I also noticed they prefer smaller meals. I am so used to dealing with King snakes, that I tend to want to feed everything heavily. These guys do better with smaller meals. Even if let's say, you give them more than one item, just don't give them large ones. Good Luck, and keep us posted!

UwabamiReptiles · 04-14-12, 08:38 PM

Finally got around to taking some pics of the setups I have for these guys and sorry it took so long Alessia and Kat, I wasn't trying to just ignore your request. Just been busy. These are 66qts, they have a humid hide and a dry hide, pvc perches, and lots of foliage. Here they are:

Here's a quick pic I got of the female, they don't stay visible long.

**millertime89** · 04-15-12, 01:03 AM

very cool snakes.

UwabamiReptiles · 06-07-12, 09:28 PM

Just a couple of updated pics on my female red tailed racer "Mrs. Walton". My male "PITA" isn't a huge fan of the camera so no updated pics on him. But here's my female pre shed.

Post shed

Then a decent shot of her getting a little defensive the other day when I was weighing her. Both of my guys have been gaining weight very steadily and seem to be thriving from everything I'm seeing. Great snakes to work with, completely different from the slower moving pythons I'm used to

.

Snakefood · 06-07-12, 09:41 PM

I almost bought a breeding pair myself at our last show, but apparently, I DO have willpower!!

they are gorgeouss though aren't they!!

Coffee Black · 06-07-12, 10:05 PM

Loving that green!

alessia55 · 06-07-12, 10:18 PM

Amazing. Love the setups too... all that faux foliage

The post-shed pics are great; so bright. Glad they're doing well with you!!

UwabamiReptiles · 06-08-12, 06:14 AM

Thanks all! I've changed their setups a little bit since those pics. I took the flowers out, it was too cramped in there for them. I also added an elevated hide box in there that they really like, thats where my male is most of the time.

leper65 · 06-15-12, 08:27 AM

Those guys are beautiful...love the blue tongue!

Frozenflame · 06-15-12, 06:57 PM

wow... very beautiful.. i have always been fascinated by the green rat snakes but ive always heard they are very aggressive. is this true?

UwabamiReptiles · 06-15-12, 10:19 PM

Aggressive? I'd personally say no. Very, very defensive though. When you go to pick them up, you have to just go and do it with out hesitation. Once they get into defensive mode, its really a battle to get them without them freaking out.

I synopsis so far on these guys is that they are hands down the fastest and most defensive snakes I've ever come across. I've only dealt with pythons before these guys so its a completely different experience. That last pic I posted with the snake kind of perched up is what I'm talking about when I'm saying they are defensive and not aggressive. The aggressive behavior in gonyosoma is displayed when they inflate their throats and perch up and gape their mouths wide open.

Now I've only had these guys about three months now so I have very limited experience and I'm by no means an expert on them. 99% of the red tailed green rats you see are wild caught adults. Now these adults are aggressive and intimidating. I think bladeblaster on here has a thread with a pic of him holding an adult with its mouth gaping.

Frozenflame, sorry for the long winded response, I just really like talking about the gonyos. To answer your question again, WC ones are known to be aggressive. I think my guys are more defensive than aggressive. They do bite and they aren't a snake to hold while you watch tv or anything like that.