Info on black racers?

A local herper found a racer in their shed and took her in, then passed her on to me since they had boa litters to deal with. She's lived with me for a few months now and seems to be doing well, but I can't really find much information about keeping black racers. Those of you who keep them, want to tell me about your set-up/experiences? Any links to information online? Her set-up is pretty generic right now, and it seems to do fine for her, she eats and sheds perfectly, but I'm always eager to do better.

the reason you can't find info is because hardly anyone keeps black racers in captivity. i've read that they never lose their skiddish nature when kept as a pet. how is yours? i do know that they are a hardy snake, because they do well in developed areas where other species perish. so they are not too demading with their requirements.

I caught one when I was young and tried keep it as a pet but never happened.

These things have a bad temperment and love to snap and not be handled.

And if she hasn't bitten you yet, are you sure she's a racer? :-P

They are seriously snippy...they were one of the few snakes I'd think twice about catching as a kid. Heck, I still caught them anyway, just did it a little more carefully.

I'm afraid I can't offer anything about her care, but would love to see pictures of her. I had assumed that they would be temperamental and difficult in captivity as they are so defensive, but I'm glad to hear she's doing well for you.

Well, she's not a snake that I'd take out and hang out with while I surf the web, and I definitely wouldn't use her for kids to handle, but she's not just evil. I don't even use a hook to get her out for feeding/cleaning, just wear gloves. As long as I'm calm, she is. They're really very smart snakes, not like some of my other blockheads, and she's a great display snake, spends plenty of time in the open being active, which IMHO totally makes up for not being "cuddly" :P I think if one was raised from hatch they'd probably make decent snakes, though probably not beginners. Can't be worse than beauty snakes or BRBs, I'm sure.

I've got some pics of her, I can post 'em up when I'm not at work :D she's very pretty.

They are really great snakes.

Care is non issue just treat them like any rat snake with two exceptions.

1. Give them more room then they appear to need as they like to rove so go a foot longer and a half a foot wider then you would for an equal sized rat snake. This will make for a happier snake and reduce rostal abrasions from rubbing.

2. Give them lots of light during the day. They are day time active snakes and like light.

Other then that just treat em like a big and somewhat snappy rat snake and :rockon:

Yeah, she's not too big yet, so she's in a 20g long until I get her the big enclosure I'm working on. I've read they can get 5-6 feet long, so I'm working on designing her a pretty big enclosure, that I'd like to give lots of naturalistic elements and have for my main display. I give her lots of light and a good basking temp since she's diurnal, with UVB lighting. I occasionally move her to a tank in front of the window, when it's warmer and sunnier, supervised of course, just to be sure she's getting all the light elements she needs. I was originally going to release her again in the spring, since she hasn't been exposed to any other snakes, but she's doing so well in captivity I've mostly changed my mind...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...n/DSCN0242.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...n/DSCN0239.jpg

Here's some pics of her, but that's not her set up, I snapped pics while I was cleaning it and she was in holding. Not sure which format to use for pics.

Thanks for replying. That's the scowling little face I was thinking of. :-)