# Insectivorous Snakes?



## lizardminion (Apr 14, 2012)

What snake makes an okay pet(easy to take care of, doesn't look like dirt, can possibly breed in captivity, not always hidden, etc) and feeds on on insects rather than vertebrates? Just out of curiosity and interest. 

P.S. By insectivorous, I mean just that. Not ribbon snakes or garters because they eat worms. Something that'll munch on crickets.
Like snake version of a leopard gecko. (I think that best fits the description of a snake I'm looking for, although I don't want a nocturnal snake. Then again, I'm not too picky about that, so please do suggest a snake even if it is nocturnal.)
Also, please mention how it kill it's prey and whether it is venomous or not.


----------



## Najakeeper (Apr 14, 2012)

I don't think there are very many snakes that fits in your description. Some Echis sp. comes to mind, they do eat crickets and grasshoppers when they are young but eventually they will need mice or lizards. They are also severely venomous and definitely not appropriate for inexperienced keepers.


----------



## lizardminion (Apr 14, 2012)

Najakeeper said:


> I don't think there are very many snakes that fits in your description. Some Echis sp. comes to mind, they do eat crickets and grasshoppers when they are young but eventually they will need mice or lizards. They are also severely venomous and definitely not appropriate for inexperienced keepers.


Well, I'm just looking for a snake that pretty much is a serpentine counterpart to having a pet lizard like an anole or gecko. just wondering if one exist, anyway.
Are shovel noses any good?


----------



## satchellwk (Apr 14, 2012)

I hear rough and smooth green snakes are insectivorous, but I don't know how easy they are to get a hold of.


----------



## pitbulllady (Apr 14, 2012)

The only truly insectivorous snakes that I know of off-hand are the Rough and Smooth Green Snakes, which will eat crickets and roaches.  There are plenty of snakes that eat inverts, just not insects.  Shovel-nosed Snakes will supposedly take beetle larvae that they find while burrowing, but specialize in centipedes and spiders, but I've kept Rough Greens, and I know they'll devour crickets, roaches and caterpillars and probably will take Superworms, too, although I've never tried them on those.  They aren't the easiest snakes to keep and require a very arboreal set-up, with lots of cover, and they are expert escape artists.  They don't make good display snakes because they are very hard to see in a proper set-up, and while they usually don't try to bite(not that they could hurt if they did), they don't really settle down, either, and always stay flighty and nervous, and they can get away from you surprisingly quickly!  I usually see a few of these at reptile shows locally, mostly sold as feeder snakes for young Cobras or Corals.

pitbulllady


----------



## ZergFront (Apr 14, 2012)

What about ringneck snakes? (Diadophis) They eat lots of invertebrates like slugs and worms. I just don't know if invertebrates are all they eat. Also very hard to aquire.


----------



## lizardminion (Apr 14, 2012)

ZergFront said:


> What about ringneck snakes? (Diadophis) They eat lots of invertebrates like slugs and worms. I just don't know if invertebrates are all they eat. Also very hard to aquire.


Well, I was originally asking about snakes that eat anthropoid inverts so let's just stick to that...


----------



## cacoseraph (Apr 14, 2012)

I was looking for an easy fully insectivorous snake for a while and it seems like there is not really one... there are definitely some snakes that just eat bugs but they all are medium to hard to care for... and almost all would not work with just crix and roaches... most eat more goofy bugs


----------



## Galapoheros (Apr 14, 2012)

Hooknose snakes come to mind but, prob the "goofy bugs" caco was talking about, pedes, spiders and I read they eat scorpions but I don't really know.  I've caught them before but never tried to take care of them.


----------



## Anthony Jensen (Apr 14, 2012)

Rough green snakes are insectivorous. And they can be kept communally with gray tree frogs, green tree frogs, and anoles. Kind of like a little eco system. Ringneck snakes are cool too!


----------



## cacoseraph (Apr 14, 2012)

Galapoheros said:


> Hooknose snakes come to mind but, prob the "goofy bugs" caco was talking about, pedes, spiders and I read they eat scorpions but I don't really know.  I've caught them before but never tried to take care of them.


that's pretty much what i mean.  to realistically care for something like this over its lifespan sounds like it would require either hundreds of hours of collecting random predator bugs or thousands of dollars in buying feeder bugs... i don't really have much interest in either of those scenarios or killing something i am supposed to be caring for by not doing a good job



Anthony Jensen said:


> Rough green snakes are insectivorous. And they can be kept communally with gray tree frogs, green tree frogs, and anoles. Kind of like a little eco system. Ringneck snakes are cool too!


  iirc, there is something(s) that prevent ringnecks from being an easily cared for species. i can figure it out in the next week or so if i remember. i think most/all species have obligate prey requirements that preclude them from qualifying as an easy/cheap specimen to maintain


----------



## pitbulllady (Apr 14, 2012)

cacoseraph said:


> that's pretty much what i mean.  to realistically care for something like this over its lifespan sounds like it would require either hundreds of hours of collecting random predator bugs or thousands of dollars in buying feeder bugs... i don't really have much interest in either of those scenarios or killing something i am supposed to be caring for by not doing a good job
> 
> iirc, there is something(s) that prevent ringnecks from being an easily cared for species. i can figure it out in the next week or so if i remember. i think most/all species have obligate prey requirements that preclude them from qualifying as an easy/cheap specimen to maintain


Yes, there is something that prevents Ringnecks from being an easily cared-for species.  99% of them will absolutely refuse to eat in captivity, no matter how nice the enclosure.  I have never had any success keeping one, in spite of almost 50 years of successful snake keeping and breeding.  It's really difficult to replicate their exacting humidity requirements as well, without getting things too damp and risking lethal scale rot, or having them too dry and having a snake that can't shed its skin.  

Like I said, Rough Green Snakes are pretty much exclusive insectivores, and the only snakes I know of that are available in the reptile trade which will eat commercially-available insects like crickets and roaches and silk worms, so you don't have to worry about going out and collecting "goofy bugs".  I mean, with any snake, you're gonna have the expense of purchasing feeder SOMETHINGS.   Roaches are easy to breed, crickets are cheap, much more so than rodents, I can tell you that!  Still, Green Snakes aren't what I'd call "easy keepers", none of the real arboreals are, actually.

pitbulllady


----------



## Crysta (Apr 14, 2012)

ah ringnecks i've kept one for 4 years. Just don't let them get warm and you will be fine. Give them a rock that can be coldish. They usually won't eat with temps over 70 i found. yay air conditioner. I never had problems with shedding, I gave them a moist (dirt) hide and lots of rocks/slate to hide in, and they would come out at duskish/night to look for wormies and stuff if I mist the enclosure before nightfall..kinda cool. 

for insectivors...legless lizard? close to a snake with a lizardy appetite and it blinks! cool!


----------



## satchellwk (Apr 15, 2012)

Something else I just thought of; (American) Brown snakes might work. They almost exclusively prey upon slugs, which may seem like one of those "goofy" bugs, but this is not the case. I know from experience that slugs are one of the easiest things to breed, and can make interesting pets when they are not being fed. Just give them moisture, a hide, and some green vegetables, and they will reproduce quite readily.


----------



## pitbulllady (Apr 15, 2012)

satchellwk said:


> Something else I just thought of; (American) Brown snakes might work. They almost exclusively prey upon slugs, which may seem like one of those "goofy" bugs, but this is not the case. I know from experience that slugs are one of the easiest things to breed, and can make interesting pets when they are not being fed. Just give them moisture, a hide, and some green vegetables, and they will reproduce quite readily.


Slugs and snails are nasty to keep, though.  You have to clean their enclosure almost every day to get rid of the poop, rotting plants and slime, or it will stink to high heaven!  They aren't readily available everywhere, either.  We have been experiencing at least mild drought conditions for the past decade here, and while we get a rainy summer now and then, most of the time it's hot and dry or cold and dry, not conditions that are conducive to slugs or even earthworms being easy to find.  Worms you can buy at any bait shop, but not slugs.  Again, though, neither of those are insects or even arthropods, so I don't think the OP would count them.

pitbulllady


----------



## Arianji (Apr 15, 2012)

I know it's been said, but for redundancy purposes rough and smooth green snakes are almost completely insectivorous. I don't know how easy it will be to obtain but we have a species down here called an eastern mud snake. If you're up for the challenge they are a beautiful nonvenomous semi-aquatic species. Unfortunately they are very specialized feeders so acclimating them is the hardest portion of their captivity. In the wild their preferred prey is amphiumas (an aquatic siren) but these are extremely hard to come by (plus being an amphibian amphiumas are most definitely vertebrates) but I have known people successfully adjust their mud snakes diet to be almost entirely crawdads, if you can manage to pull off this feat they are a stunning, fairly docile, serpent.


----------



## Thistles (Apr 16, 2012)

Arianji said:


> I know it's been said, but for redundancy purposes rough and smooth green snakes are almost completely insectivorous. I don't know how easy it will be to obtain but we have a species down here called an eastern mud snake. If you're up for the challenge they are a beautiful nonvenomous semi-aquatic species. Unfortunately they are very specialized feeders so acclimating them is the hardest portion of their captivity. In the wild their preferred prey is amphiumas (an aquatic siren) but these are extremely hard to come by (plus being an amphibian amphiumas are most definitely vertebrates) but I have known people successfully adjust their mud snakes diet to be almost entirely crawdads, if you can manage to pull off this feat they are a stunning, fairly docile, serpent.


DTS herps sometimes has mud snakes.


----------



## neubii18 (Apr 16, 2012)

Anthony Jensen said:


> Rough green snakes are insectivorous. And they can be kept communally with gray tree frogs, green tree frogs, and anoles. Kind of like a little eco system. Ringneck snakes are cool too!


This is possible but you need a LARGE tank, at least 75 gallons, and that's a bare minimum. But I still think that rough green snakes are the best to go with. I had 2 and they were really interesting snakes. If you offer a basking light, they will often be out basking. If not they are still out often enough though.


----------



## Louise E. Rothstein (Apr 17, 2012)

On the whole,I think that legless lizards might be best.
They really do look like snakes.


----------



## H. laoticus (Apr 29, 2012)

Crysta said:


> ah ringnecks i've kept one for 4 years. Just don't let them get warm and you will be fine. Give them a rock that can be coldish. They usually won't eat with temps over 70 i found. yay air conditioner. I never had problems with shedding, I gave them a moist (dirt) hide and lots of rocks/slate to hide in, and they would come out at duskish/night to look for wormies and stuff if I mist the enclosure before nightfall..kinda cool.
> 
> for insectivors...legless lizard? close to a snake with a lizardy appetite and it blinks! cool!


Yup, good idea!


----------



## compnerd7 (May 2, 2012)

I have 2 Colorado shovel nose snakes, they both feed exclusively on crickets. My ring neck snake eats only worms, those are not insects but kind of close haha. Both my rough green snakes ate only insects as well.


----------



## cantthinkofone (May 6, 2012)

hey i have a suggestion. there are worm snakes all around where i live. they are the smallest snakes i believe and are insect eating. backwaterreptiles.com has some for 9 dollars. they are small and easy to care for you might want to check them out.


----------

