The tortoiseshell snake is the common name for the poisonous snakes of the family Already, the genus Pantoropis. They are also called red rat snakes. The second name they received for the appearance feature. Terrariums who contain these reptiles in their collections call them "gutata" and also "spotted climbing."
Before purchasing such a pet, you should weigh everything well. Do not make spontaneous decisions, relying only on the beautiful appearance of an exotic pet.
Appearance
A snake can reach a length of up to two meters, but more often the average length does not exceed 1.5 meters. Reptile collectors collect tortoiseshells of different species, that is, excellent in color. But the main option looks like this: an orange background, black stripes, surrounded by spots of gray. The abdomen is characterized by the presence of a mesh pattern in a white-gray tone.
In addition to the main color, there are several morphs that differ in color. The most common and loved by owners of serpentarium morph is completely devoid of black pigment. Attracts pink or red eyes, white-pink or red color in this subpopulation. There are morphs with brown or gray-brown ventral scales. There are variations with the complete absence of red pigment.
A very popular morph of the maize snake, bred in a terrarium, with a mutation that forms yellow shades in the places where the red pigment should be. The morph “lava” is interesting in color - individuals of such reptiles have a predominant black pigment, making it look like a black and white photograph of a red snake.
The most interesting mutation is the lavender morph. The colors of his appearance vary from a gentle lavender to a brownish (coffee) shade.
Habitat
Under natural conditions, the maize snake moves mainly along the surface of the soil. In some cases, he is free to climb a tree or shrub. He lives in deciduous forests, but also found on barren soils at the foot of the cliffs. They love rat snakes in large numbers on farmland across America, Mexico, and the Cayman Islands.
In its habitat, the tortoise snake creeps about four months exclusively on the ground, but after often climbs up trees or bushes, rocky elevations.
What does the red rat snake eat
In the wild, a spotted snake prefers to hunt in the evening and before dawn, when prey is better visible prey. It usually attacks mice, small rats, bats, small birds and their chicks, climbs into nests and eats eggs. This should be taken into account by terrariums when feeding the maize snake.
The snake is afraid of them
In nature, very often those who hunt themselves are objects for predators. The tortoise snake has many enemies who are not averse to feasting on its meat. Among the birds of prey that feed on snakes, there are even storks. In addition to them, the secretary bird, kite, eagle, hawk and heron can be considered the enemy of the rat snake. Mammals can also cause significant harm to it: mongooses, jaguars, wild boars, crocodiles, leopards, honey badgers.
Content in the house
This amazing predator became home because of its restrained nature. You can start them in an apartment or in a house, since they are not aggressive. And the size of the maize snake is not large.
With proper maintenance, such a pet is able to live from 15 to 20 years. Caring for the snake requires the implementation of several basic rules: the purity of the terrarium, a stable level of humidity, the presence of clean water in the drinker and timely nutrition.
Comfort in the terrarium
Before choosing a glass house for a scaly pet, you need to know exactly its size and age.
A 40-liter terrarium is perfect for babies who have just recently left an egg. Already grown creeping pets it is better to settle in a terrarium with a volume of 70 to 100 liters. The maintenance and care of the maize snake requires constant attention to the condition of his home.
The substrate can be made of pine shavings, crushed bark, coconut chips, pure gravel. Paper is also used, but it should be changed, depending on the level of contamination, at least once a week. Pet stores have special artificial terrarium coverings for maize snake.
Lighting is best equipped with fluorescent lamps. It is worth considering that, despite the need for lighting, the terrarium should not be under sunlight. It should be equipped with a place where the temperature will be maintained at 28-30 ° C, and the so-called "cold corner", where the temperature will need to be maintained within 24-26 ° C, with a decrease at night to 21-23 ° C. It is not so easy to achieve this, but for a comfortable life it is extremely necessary to do this.
The rules for the care and maintenance of the maize snake suggests the presence of a drinking bowl inside the terrarium with several clean snags (from the roots). Snakes often crawl to a watering hole, and can even defecate in a drinker. Therefore, frequent water changes are an important and indispensable condition for the proper maintenance of this reptile. Of course, tap water will not work. Firstly, a certain amount of chlorine is always present in it, and secondly, it is tough and contains many impurities harmful to reptiles.
It is necessary to monitor the level of humidity. To maintain humidity in the terrarium, spraying is carried out several times a day. They install automatic rain installations to facilitate this task. It is still necessary to monitor the temperature of the water, it should not fall below 23 C. Peat moss can be planted in a shallow bath, which accumulates moisture for the snake.
The content of several individuals
In one terrarium, you can contain several snakes, provided that it has sufficient dimensions for this. In order to avoid clarification of relations between males, usually one male and two females are lodged. But you need to know that after wintering the male is better to transfer to another terrarium.
Feeding snakes is also best done separately. Many factors for quality glass house care affect how much maize snakes live. It is necessary to carefully monitor the humidity during the molting runner, so that the skin does not come off pieces. It looks unaesthetic.
When and how to feed the snake
The nutrition of the maize snake at home occurs every 5-7 days, that is, once a week. More often or less - the number of rodents given out depends on the age and size of the snake. Usually a red rat snake, in accordance with its unofficial name, is fed with small laboratory rats, mice.
Some people prefer to dilute the reptile diet with killed, frozen day-old chickens. Frozen food is preheated to room temperature. But still, most prefer to buy rodents or breed them on their own food. To some extent, this is a concern for satisfying the hunting instincts of the pet.
Also, the main condition for the correct maintenance of the snake is the presence in the terrarium of clean water in the drinker. You need to change it often. In the diet of the rat snake (tortilla), calcium, eggshell must be added. But concentrated vitamins can even do harm. They should not be given without consulting a specialized veterinarian.
How the snake eats
Often, reptile owners are not too sentimental about the fate of rodents in the process of feeding their pet. Sometimes, on the contrary, they observe with interest the hunt.
As soon as the mouse or rat was lowered into the terrarium, the crawl evaluates it for some time, and then makes a swift, lightning throw in the victim’s head area and immediately wraps its body in the rings of its tail, trying to immobilize and strangle it. As soon as the rodent stopped pulling out and went limp, the snake begins to slowly, gradually swallow it, carefully so as not to damage its insides.
His jaw and throat widen, and he, as it were, pulls himself on the body of dead animals, like a sock on his foot. This can last from 10 to 12 minutes. To be more confident in the safety of health, that is, to avoid injuries, the snake can be fed with frozen mice or daily chickens. So that he grabbed the prey, the dead mouse is held by the tail with tweezers and the snake moves a little before the eyes. Being hungry, he will certainly grab her.
Do not throw food on the floor of the terrarium. The snake is most likely to swallow the mouse along with particles of the substrate. After digestion, this will block the digestive tract, and will result in death for the reptile. You can throw it on a clean surface on which there are no foreign objects.
After a meal, you can’t touch the snake or even externally irritate 3-4 days. This can affect digestion and, as a result, overall health. There are a lot of cases when newly-made skid owners did not take these recommendations into account. The snake picked up by them (after the meal) spewed out all the food and subsequently was ill for a long time.
What if he bites?
Most novice owners of this type of reptile worry: poisonous or not, maize snake? What happens if he bites during feeding? You can immediately calm down. This type of snake is absolutely safe, even if it can be provoked by a bite. It is possible that he is able to capture a person, but it does not pose a health hazard, like other pets (except rats and mice).
A bite snake is no more than a needle prick. Another thing is, if instead of a harmless snake, a poisonous copper-headed moth was sold to a person. They are not difficult to confuse to the layman. The muzzle is a very poisonous snake. It differs from the maize snake in the shape of the head, and its color is lighter, there are square spots, which the snake does not have.
In order to prevent a situation in which the host is bitten by a snake, you need to understand that these are not mammals, which for the most part live in groups and have an instinctive need for social relations with relatives. Reptiles have a completely different mindset, by the way, very limited. They do not have emotional attachment to the owner.
Ability to tame snake
Most reptiles are not attached to humans. Only a handful become truly tame. People were not involved in breeding creeping domestic animals, specially shaping their character. The maize creeper, bred in captivity for generations, has a soft character. But do not expect affection from him, as from a dog or a decorative rabbit. It should be remembered that despite the fact that these reptiles have long lived and even breed in a terrarium, they remain wild animals.
If the owner really wants to hold the snake in his hands, you need to do this correctly. It should be understood that this process of joy does not bring reptiles. Therefore, all movements should be smooth. The snake cannot be scared, the reaction will be appropriate. Gently, at a distance of about half a palm from the head, one arm is substituted, and the second hand is taken closer to the middle of the tail. The snake should perceive hands as supports. Therefore, in no case should the body be compressed, otherwise an instant reaction adequate from the point of view of the snake may follow.