Colubrid Questions

[Mephibosheth1]

Greetings all

So, I'm looking into colubrids as another species of interest, and have some general questions and some specific ones

First of all, are all colubrids the same when it comes to care??

Second, what are some of the care concerns that make keeping these guys different from other snakes??

And also, I see corns (which are colubrids...right??) group housed at the pet shop I go to...can these guys be group housed??


Thanks

[NH93]

This is a fabulous forum for corn snakes!

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/index.php

Actually, I think compared to BPs, colubrids (and specifically corns) are "easier" to care for. They are much more forgiving to lower temperatures and whatnot, and eat mice -- typically take very well to f/t. In fact, it is advised, and most are only ever fed f/t.

I would definitely NOT house colubrids together. Some have been known to be cannibalistic!! :S Which is where pet stores can have problems. I think they house the snakes together to save space. The problem is, not only is there a cannibalistic possibilities, but the snakes are competing for resources (heat, hides) and are stressed out. Some people do house them together... but I wouldn't. If there is a regurge, you wouldn't know who's it was.

Definitely check out a few books, talk to some breeders, etc. Good luck!

[Mephibosheth1]

Any book recommendations??

[Mike41793]

Colubrids are a family (i think the largest) of snakes. Like elapids or vipers. Saying you wanna get into them is too broad imo, i'd do research and figure out what species, or even a genus, you want to focus on. Some species need to be kept together, others do better without it. They don't need as high of temps so i think they're probably easier than bps. I really like hognoses and would like to get some once morphs come down in price a bit.

[Mephibosheth1]

Which branch do y'all recommend??

I've tried to do research on the snake families and breed breakdowns, but always end up with a headache when I try and read about it online.

Things like this I just have to have a book in my hand to really understand...

[Skiploder]

A couple of good genera to get into are pituophis and lampropeltis.

Easy husbandry requirements, fairly foolproof, come in some cool localities or morphs, easy to breed, fun to interact with - you get the point.

Wilomn (Wes) has recently posted pics of his kingsnake morphs on these threads:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...Kings-for-Sale

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...89#post2137889

............. and Jonel Lopez at Selective Propagations in San Jose has some amazing pit morphs.

http://www.spsnakes.com/

Check under "Current Availability" to see his Kingsnake adds. Jonel take some amazing pictures.

I've done business with both gentlemen and can recommend both whole heartedly.

Colubridae has been the taxonomic dumping ground for many species that have yet to be properly classified (for example rhamphiophis - which will probably end up in Elapidae one day).

As such, there is a wide variety of sizes, dispositions and baseline care guidelines across the board. These range from easy to care for - pituophis, lampropeltis, lamprophis to more difficult - the dispholodines, spilotes, pseustes, drymarchon, etc.

[Mike41793]

Which branch do y'all recommend??

I've tried to do research on the snake families and breed breakdowns, but always end up with a headache when I try and read about it online.

Things like this I just have to have a book in my hand to really understand...

x2 to what skip said. First thing that came to mind when you asked was one of those inkdrops from Wes. Seeing the thread about them made me really want one, and as of now all i have are bps. I'm still not sold on kings in general, but those inkdrops are wicked cool looking.

EDIT: i haven't done business with him but none of his actions/posts on here have ever given me a reason to not want to. You're in cali, right meph? Lookup his store, Ratamatic. Not sure how close you are but it'd be worth a drive to go see the snakes in person and absorb anything he has to say.

[Mephibosheth1]

He's down in southern cali (where I used to be from) but if I end up down there I'll be sure to stop by.

[Mike41793]

He's down in southern cali (where I used to be from) but if I end up down there I'll be sure to stop by.

NRBE Anaheim sept 21/22nd

[Mephibosheth1]

Sacramento Reptile Expo; 29 SEP 13