Jinx, the speckled racer (Drymobius margaritiferus) progression thread

I have been looking for a racer, whipsnake, or coachwhip for a few years and they are so hard to come by, especially captive bred. I was able to find a breeder and put a down payment on this gorgeous girl! All photos are from the breeder, as she is still with him until weather is safe to ship and I make the final payment. First photo is right after her and her clutchmates hatched, along with the second photo. Third was a few weeks ago :)
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...a172139d8b.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...4e4d9b8b8f.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...621847a73c.jpg

Wow, what an interesting choice! Can't wait to follow this one- :D The only racer I've kept was a w/c adult coachwhip, some years back when I lived in the desert- I didn't catch him, he was pre-owned & needed a new home. (He was pretty calm for a coachwhip too, I must admit.)

You don't see these everyday.

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Originally Posted by Homebody

You don't see these everyday.

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You sure don't, & I'm really glad someone is working with them. There's a real down-side to the crazy popularity of one species over all the others.

I have never seen one of these before - how lovely! I will be following this thread - I am excited to see updates.

:D

Thanks y'all! I'm staring at the weather forecast every day hoping for the temperatures to go down enough to get her here. Until then I'm trying not to bother the breeder -too- much for photos :D
He did send me this lovely video of her today!
https://youtu.be/EfFjEdGe0Ug

Beautiful snake! :cool:

Thank you! :) She's here! I cannot tell y'all how happy I am to have her. She is just gorgeous!
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Originally Posted by spazhime

Thank you! :) She's here! I cannot tell y'all how happy I am to have her. She is just gorgeous!
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Wow! Congratulations, she is beautiful! :D

Stunning! I love the way her colors vacillate between green & gold. What a FUN snake to raise-:D

Yeah, gorgeous.

How big do they get? What do they eat? What's the temperament supposed to be like - now and when adults?

I know nothing about racers.

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Originally Posted by dakski

Yeah, gorgeous.

How big do they get? What do they eat? What's the temperament supposed to be like - now and when adults?

I know nothing about racers.

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Right??
And they're one of the smaller species of racer, only getting about 3-4 feet long or so (Though I don't know if that's from nosetip to cloaca, or nosetip to tailtip)
They feed mainly on lizards, but will grab anything they can. Babies can even start out on crickets, though its important to get them on animals as they get a bit older to get the proper nutrients in them. My plans for her include a varied diet, so mice, lizards, button quail if I can get a hold of them, frog legs, etc.
As a whole, racers are incredibly flighty and are not afraid to bite. During the photo session on the last page she got me about three times, lol. Of course, they're so small it doesn't really hurt. But, she is first generation captive bred so I am hoping she will settle just a bit. If she doesn't, that's fine as well, I knew what I was getting into lol.
I've spent about a year researching racers, whipsnakes, and coachwhips, and compared to their size they need a much larger enclosure compared to other snakes of similar size because they are a very active group of colubrids, they are not ones that do good in minimal set ups, which is why they're rarely kept. So since speckleds are much smaller, I figure it would be easier for me to get her a larger enclosure based on her size.
She's already got a 5.0 UVB for daytime basking, and once she's an adult she's gonna be in a bioactive enclosure as well. I am excited to watch her grow! :)

Neat. Good to know you did your research, but I am not surprised.

A little feisty, huh? The 2nd gens will be calm as can be, watch!

I hope she settles down. At least she won't be huge and feisty!

Do you have to feed live or will she take F/T? I assumed F/T would be okay when you said "frog's legs," but I am not sure.

What's her method of killing prey?

Sorry for all the questions. I am interested, but no rush in answering. I am not rushing to get one, LOL.

Very cool on the UVB too.

Really excited for you.

Good luck and keep us posted!

I've only known a few coachwhips (a type of larger desert "racer") & in general, racers don't like to sit still-:cool: so handling is a challenge- you'll need to use very light restraint to discourage nips.

Unlike our nocturnally active pets, racers are one that tend to like & need "daylight"- full spectrum.

They don't kill their prey...they gulp it down quickly, or they may thrash around with it before swallowing...so there is a limit to what they can tackle safely. They can & do learn to take pre-killed- at least the ones I've known did- and they accepted food wiggled from tongs quite well, so I hope the OP's luck is similar with this beauty.

They're very alert, & it's a wonderful feeling if you can hold an adult racer that tolerates you (as I have)- at least this one won't get to be 6' long (as coachwhips can). :rofl:

Needless to say, racers are very alert. And you don't want to have to run after one- so escape prevention is key, remembering these are slender colubrids that can easily escape from small holes. They're also physically more fragile than heavier bodied snakes like BPs, & they don't like being restrained. I'm sure looking forward to updates on this beauty.

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Originally Posted by dakski

Neat. Good to know you did your research, but I am not surprised.

A little feisty, huh? The 2nd gens will be calm as can be, watch!

I hope she settles down. At least she won't be huge and feisty!

Do you have to feed live or will she take F/T? I assumed F/T would be okay when you said "frog's legs," but I am not sure.

What's her method of killing prey?

Sorry for all the questions. I am interested, but no rush in answering. I am not rushing to get one, LOL.

Very cool on the UVB too.

Really excited for you.

Good luck and keep us posted!

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I bet they will! It's always awesome to see how 2nd and 3rd gens start to be a bit more calm in a lot of species.
She was eating live at the breeders, I am going to attempt f/t tonight to see how it goes! If she doesn't take it I do breed my own feeders so I have backup :)
As said above, they just kinda. Swallow them live. Which is another reason I'd like to get her on f.t if I can LOL.

And no worries! I love answering questions, reptiles are a huge passion of mine so I will take every opportunity to gush about them :P

Okay this is the last of the Jinx spam for the week LOL. I took this right before I set her in her enclosure to settle in for the week. Look how prettyyyyyy ;.;
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Spam on! She's amazing! :P And those eyes! :love:

I love her big goofy eyes so much LOL
She took a f/t meal a couple days ago, and I still can't believe how pretty she is :P
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Yay, already on f/t! :gj: That's what I love about Trans Pecos rat snakes too- their eyes & personality. Of course, her beauty doesn't hurt either. :D

I am so incredibly sad to report that Jinx has passed on. (My poor husband had to wake up to me at 3AM hysterical and crying when I found her) I was on a video call with the breeder for a few hours as we went over the setup, lighting, feeding schedule, everything we could think of and we couldn't come up with any answers at all. I'm getting a biopsy done in hopes of some answers.
In the meantime, the breeder has been so incredibly kind and has offered me Jinx's brother. I decided to take him and try again, and hope to the stars that Jinx passing was just a fluke.
I've named her brother Ekko, and I am triple checking the setup and also checking the heat at the hottest time of day in my quarantine room just to be 100% safe before he gets here.
My friend drew a memorial of Jinx, and I thought it would be a beautiful way to end this thread. Ekko's thread will be up at some point.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...478da9982d.pnj

I'm so sorry for your loss. R.I.P, Jinx.

Oh no, that's awful- I'm so sorry! :tears: Rest in Peace, little Jinx.

I'm so sorry she had to leave you so early, you gave her a great life while she was there.
Rest in peace Jinx. :(