Red tailed green ratsnake

[Skiploder]

@Roman

Not all rat snakes are arboreal. Also juvenile retics are arboreal and often yearlings and larger can be found in branches and stuff, but do you see people providing climbing space? NO.

It's not cruelty because you provide them with other means of hiding versus climbing. Especially when using artificial heat and lighting, this is because if a thermostat gets knocked loose or something like that it can get hot enough to do some damage to the rat snake, so for the new keeper yes I would easily recommend a terrestrial setup versus an arboreal for that simple fact.

While yes, I kept mine in a terrestrial cage but gave them branches to climb on which they did. I also clearly stated that I never had this species so if you're going to quote me, then quote the whole post. Rat snakes are highly variable with localities and such.

Providing no climbing for a Green Tree Python would be cruelty though.

Keeping a gonyosoma in a terrestrial setup would be just as cruel. Gonyosoma should be kept as a purely arboreal species with lots of branches and foliage, etc. They are much more active that a GTP and make much better use of an arboreal environment.

We use the term ratsnake too loosely. Spilotes are a world apart from pantherophis who are a world apart from many old world elaphe which bear little in common with gonyosoma which have different needs than coelognathus.. They are all referred to as ratsnakes, yet they are very different animals with unique husbandry requirements. What applies to one, does not necessarily apply to another.