I am very privalidged to be caring for three of these, two silver phase and this stunning Green phase.
She has got the hang of strike feeding already.........




And seems quite relaxed in her new home....



I do have a long way to go with the three of them, they are wild caught, the silvers have mouth rot and they all have infected scales......... but I am getting there, have witnessed all three drinking, the mouths are clearing well and although I am very aware they are hard to keep alive, I am going to do my very very best for them.

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Fantastic snakes! Silver phase are stunning adults, best of luck with these, I know how hard it must be!

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cool snakes good luck with them

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nice nice, i wouldnt mind one of them myself

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Very nice. I used to have one, they are one of my personal fav's. Keeping them alive isn't too hard once acclimatised. The only issue with them is to what extent their parasitic load is to begin with and wether they survive the treatment and initial stress etc. You should do fine

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If you don't like my decisions visit here then do this My current collection1.0 Purple phase albino retic0.1 Malaysian blood python0.1 Macklott's python1.1 Royal pythons0.1 Texas ratsnake het T+ albino0.0.2 Western hognose0.1 Argentine black & white tegu1.0 Nile monitor (common)

Lovely snakes. My local importer had some recently but they all went before I could get some.

I had a couple of green phase many years ago and they were fairly easy to maintain once you rehydrated them and got rid of the (in my case massive) parasite burden.

They were good feeders taking any type of bird or rodent and it is great to watch them drinking water from their scales.

Best of luck with them.

Mark

gorgeous looking snakes and the best of luck with them.

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MY COLLECTION1.4 ROYALS1.0 BEARDED DRAGON1.0 WHITES TREE FROG1.0 REDFOOT TORTOISE0.0.1 B.SMITHI0.0.1 G.ROSEA

I would just like to say to everyone who is thinking about snapping these up when they come up "cheap" from wholsalers, please do not do it!

These snakes are vastly unsuitable as initial WC especially when coming from large importers.

My original pair I got direct from someone on the forums, and although WC - they were acclimitised and in perfect condition, feeding and big healthy specimens.

So when I saw some more on a wholesale list I snapped them up. It was a big mistake, and I will admit my mistake if it'll help others decide maybe not to.

They all came in with severe dehydration, severe mouth rot, mites, ticks, a large internal parasite load, and of course, non feeders. Of the 4 I bought, 1 had an injury to the head from banging the enclosure. It had necrotised to the brain, and he had to be PTS. Of the other 3, I spent over £150 (far more than I paid for them originally) with treating the parasites, mites, and injections every 3 days for 2 weeks to try and clear up the majority of the mouth rot. And before you ask if the wholesaler offers refunds or takes animals back... only if they arrive dead and with photo evidence. Other than that, you buy WC animals you take the risk of the condition they arrive in.

I have high hopes now for the remaining 3 as they are in the very best of hands... but please, this is one species that suffers horficially during import and the majority of newly imported specimens do not make it.

In addition, in the Asian marketplace, the gallbladder of snakes are highly valuable for medicinal purposes. I have heard a fair bit of evidence that these snakes when purchased by the wholesalers at the market by the trappers, have already had their gallbladders farmed. The snake can live for around 3 months after the gallbladder has been removed but usually lives in pain, discomfort, cannot eat, and dies a slow death. The incision is made underneath one of the belly scales and unless you are looking very very hard, is often unnoticeable. If the snake survives the operation they are passed on to wholesalers who may or may not know about the practice.

Sorry for the long post, but I will never buy this species from an importer again, no matter how beautiful or how cheap or how tempting - there's a fine line between arguing the validity of WC vs CB but in a species like this, I am not sure it can be validated.

My LTC adult captives I am very privilidged to own... but saddened when I now know how many others had to die for these ones to beat the odds and make it.

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nice snake! I would love one of them, their from Africa, aren't they?
Any way, beutyful snake.

Firstly I am sorry you have had so much trouble with your racers and I hope the remaining 3 specimens make a full recovery

I totally agree that taking this species on from importers is not an ideal route and certainly not for those without a lot of experience in rehabilitating reptiles but if no-one had done it in the past there would be no LTCs or captive bred youngster to obtain. If no-one continues to try and rehabilitate WC breeding stock the bloodlines will degrade though inbreeding.

My importers are also long established reptile keepers and breeders and tend to provide good stock and I go there and pick my own specimens and check anything I get carefully .

I have kept and rehabilitated WC racers before so I knew I might be taking on a long and expensive task.

The story about the gall bladders being removed was around back in the 80s when I first kept the species and have never been sure whether it is an urban myth or not . I am not saying it is but I have never encountered any evidence of it being proved by necropsy that a snake had it's gall bladder removed. My first ones lived several years so obviously it hadn't happened to them.

Lastly I agree it it sad how many animals die in transit or soon after (of this and other species) but the last time I saw figures I believe around 100,000 snakes a year were shipped from Asia to Hong Kong each year to make Winter Soup which is believed to be a cold remedy. At least those which go to the pet trade have a chance to survive and establish viable captive breeding stocks.

Mark