Does anyone have any suggestions for a blue colubrid? The way I understand it a lot of green snakes can have a Blue Phase morph (Which I assume is basically an Axanthic green snake). I have done some research, but I wanted to start reaching out on the forums to see if there is something I missed or if anyone could shed more light on the species that I have found already. I would like something that is handle able and not super "bitey". Also it has to be non-venomous for sure. I would vastly prefer captive bred. I am in US also if that makes a difference on availability.
Here are the ones I have found so far:
Before we start, a note on 'blue' animals of a species that should be green.
The big issue with green snakes - and this applies to the green species on here as well such as
Philodryas and
Opheodrys - is that many that are said to be 'blue' are in fact actually 'mint green' and suffering from a vitamin deficiency. To understand why this should be one needs to understand how the colour green comes about in reptiles. The colour yellow is expressed by a variety of chromatophores in the skin known as iridophores, guanophores, xanthophores or erythrophores. Different chromatophores use either pteridine pigments (which are yellow) or carotenoids (which are red or orange) in conjunction to create a yellow colour. When the yellow pigments are overlaid over a crystalline substance in the reptile's skin called guanine, which is blue, the refraction of light from the skin is what creates the colour green.
If there is a deficiency in carotenoids (which are associated with vitamin A), what happens is that the yellow pigment does not express well and you get a green animal that instead appears distinctly bluish or mint green. For the record this is also why dead green reptiles become blue after a day or two as the yellow pigments break down or leak away and the blue crystals remain giving that pretty 'powder blue' colour.
Good examples of reptiles that should be bright grass green but instead often appear a dull mint green or bluish if not fed correctly are various Lacertids such as green and ocellated lizards and
Gastropholis prasina; Iguanids such as
Laemanctus spp., and even frogs and toads (Oriental firebellies,
Bombina orientalis). Baron's racers also frequently suffer from this and many (but not all) of the 'blue' animals sold are in fact just mint green through malnutrition.
What this means is that among green reptiles and amphibians, there may well be a blue morph (which is the case in Baron's racers) that can be bred from... but there also is always the possibility of animals appearing 'bluish' through deficiency in one or more vitamins, which will have nothing to do with genetics. Worth remembering.
Also worth noting - if the coloration is down to a vitamin deficiency, it can often return to the expression of a bright, beautiful yellow-green in a matter of weeks if the diet is corrected! In fact in
Lacerta bilineata it can happen in as little as a week.
It is difficult to give advice on whether a species is suitable as some of the ones listed are quite specialised species. But I will take each suggestion one by one.
1. Australian Common Tree Snake (Dendrelaphis punctulatus) - A blue phase CTS is actually my dream snake, but since I don't live in AUS I am pretty sure that they are impossible to get. If anyone has any information for a breeder that is outside of AUS I would be very interested.
These are to my knowledge not in the hobby. They are an Australian species so will not be exported. They can also be found on Papua New Guinea so theoretically it may be possible to source them via Indonesian shipments and I am aware of several people that have done so in the past - but this could by no means be considered a common occurrence. In any case,
Dendrelaphis is not always the easiest genus to acclimate, although some like
D. pictus can do well with patience. Others like
D. formosus are more delicate. It should be noted
D. punctulatus is not even always blue, they can be yellow, brown, green or greyish too. I would resign myself to the fact you are never likely to find these - and certainly not as captive bred.
2. Blue Racer (Coluber constrictor foxii) - I have heard these guys are extremely aggressive and bite a lot and are therefor not very handle able. Also I understand racers are actually very "darty" quick snakes.
3. Buttermilk Racer (Coluber constrictor anthicus) - Same as the Blue Racer I hear they are not good for handling.
True blue Racers (
foxii) are virtually impossible to get, mainly because it simply is not legal - they are protected across almost the entirety of their range. It is a fond pipe dream of many (including myself) to keep some but the legal ramifications of doing so are weighty.
An alternative might be
Coluber constrictor mormon, which are usually brown or greyish but in some localities can be a pretty blue (in fact some of the ones I have seen images of have been bluer than most foxii). They also are not always protected and quite common in parts of their range, and ostensibly are the easiest subspecies of
C. constrictor to adapt to captivity. The odds of getting a really nicely coloured specimen are slim though as most people would keep the truly blue ones for themselves (I am aware of a really nice blue specimen caught just recently). Short of going out to California, purchasing a fishing license, finding a locality where blue specimens are around and catching one yourself then legally exporting it (which actually is possible), I would doubt it will be possible to get a blue one. Would be a kickass trip either way though, California has some great herping. The chances of getting a captive bred animal are also very slim indeed, although I have seen captive bred 'normal'
mormon for sale in the last few years on American boards.
I have seen
anthicus offered on American classifieds more often than most other Black racer subspecies, Dan Fryer who posted on here years ago also had some. It is highly unlikely - but not impossible - that you would find captive bred animals though. Although WC do get offered. In which case, as with any of the
Coluber constrictor subspecies, you are going to have to ask yourself 'do I have the space to dedicate to an animal like this' - a six foot enclosure is going to be a bare minimum as these snakes are flighty and active. One of the issues I have noticed most people that keep them suffer from is lack of humidity (and this may be the reason
C. c. mormon does better than the other subspecies as it actually can come from relatively arid areas; the others all exist in places with some degree of localised humidity and wide shifts in temperature). It is a fair bet that they will also need extremely high quality lighting (both UV and bright white, 'full spectrum' style lighting with colour temperature at least 6000k), low ambient temperatures and localised high surface temperatures to stand a good chance with them.
Dave Clemens and Ambrose Burton have succeeded with
C. c. constrictor, it may be worth seeking their advice should you choose this species.
4. Rein Rat Snake (Gonyosoma frenatum) - I have heard that they can also not be good for handling and can be aggressive, but I couldn't find a ton of info on their temperament.
Younger animals start out a slaty blue colour and become green, there are indeed some extraordinarily blue animals on record as well. Of the
Gonyosoma species, I regard these as most delicate - and that is saying something compared to
G. oxycephalum, which at least are easy captives when captive bred. They can be very aggressive once fully acclimated and prone to leaping out of a high enclosure. The problem with this species is the wide range and diversity of climatic conditions they come from - usually though they are montane species with all the specialist environmental needs that entails (low ambient temperatures, high humidity, drastic night temperature drop but a localised source of heat that can create a basking spot to one side of the enclosure). A glass viv such as an exo terra is one of the best ways to keep them in my opinion, with halogen lighting directed to one side of the enclosure. They also need a lot of security.
5. Blue stripped Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) - These are a bit smaller than what I was looking for and are less blue and more blue stripped. I am unaware of any pattern less blue garter snakes.
Garter snakes in general are easy snakes to keep and there is a nice variety available both in the UK and from European specialists such as Stephen Bol. You have a relatively high chance of finding captive bred examples too, not too long ago Snakes n Adders had some lovely
T. s. tetrataenia (San Francisco Garters) for example. There is some debate as to the genetic predisposition of that subspecies but the animals I saw looked very nice. Definitely one of the better options if you like that kind of thing.
6. Rough/Smooth green snake (Opheodrys aestivus/Opheodrys vernalis) - I hear these do very poor in captivity. Because of that most seem to be wild caught and therefor very rare to get blue phase. These are also smaller than I was looking for, but I wouldnt mind that if everything else was good about them.
These can be found as captive bred, but the overwhelming bulk of those sold are still going to be wild caught. All the animals I have ever seen for sale that could be described to be anything like 'blue' have been down to vitamin deficiency (this is down to being fed nothing but crickets, which is usually the case for insectivorous reptiles and amphibians that turn from green to blue).
O. aestivus is much less difficult to keep than is often purported as long as you treat it like a well kept insectivorous lizard with all that entails. But still not a species I could really recommend.
7. Baron Racer (Philodryas baroni) - I dont know a lot about these. Mostly because the head shape distracts me from the rest of the snake. I am not throwing any shade/hate toward them, but they arent ideal for me because of this. However since they are racer snakes I assume they have similar temperament as the other racers though i could be totally wrong about this.
Now we are talking. I have been keeping this species from about 1998 and started with both wild caught animals and captive bred animals imported from Germany. Of the species on this list, this and the following are the two I recommend most of all but one thing must be born in mind -
Philodryas baroni are venomous.
They are not 'racers' but they are semi-arboreal and females in particular can get very large and impressive indeed. My males maxed out at about 52", females will hit 60" and some will grow past six feet. They will invariably be captive bred, which is good. Many of the animals you see sold as 'blue' are suffering from carotenoid deficiency. There is a bright, sky blue morph out there though. There was a persistent rumour that crossing a brown animal with a green animal led to some of the first sky blue animals, I am not sure whether that is accurate though.
Very hardy, very easy to keep. These are not rainforest species as commonly depicted, but experience a pronounced seasonal cycle. They like to climb but need plenty of horizontal space as well. Will eat extremely readily, and that feeding response has to be taken into account because if they think there is food and you have not target-trained them, they will attempt to eat you. Otherwise, very easy to keep and good pets as long as you are aware of their venom.
8. Vietnamese blue beauty (Elaphe taeniura callicyanous) - These seems more gray/blue than blue, but I suppose that could just be the few pictures I have seen. I didn't see a ton of info on these regarding temperament.
This subspecies is variable, they can be bluish, greyish or yellowish. Very hardy and beautiful snakes but they can get absolutely
huge. A seven to nine foot Taiwanese Beauty is already mighty impressive;
callicyanous can hit eleven feet. And they are very active snakes on top of that so would need the according amount of space; a Colubrid like this deserves the kind of enclosure normally reserved for larger pythons. This snake will need lots of horizontal space and lots of vertical space.
Often accused of being 'aggressive' or 'defensive' - and yes a wild and flighty animal can be freaking imposing (given a big one is capable of striking you on the face from the floor). But I find they can become incredibly passive and inquisitive as long as they are not restrained or constantly being picked up and allowed to move around on their own terms. Also can develop a tendency to feed aggressively.
Unfortunately it seems like most blue snakes tend to be morphs of green snakes and most green snakes tend to be bad pets. If there are any other green colubrids that I am missing that make good pets I would also love to know about those as well as they may have blue phases. Also I know there are some green/blue pythons, but I am looking for a colubrid. Any additional information on any of these snakes or suggestions for things I have missed would be awesome.
Lots of green snakes make absolutely great pets.
Philodryas baroni are very easy to keep - I would say beginner level were it not for the fact they are rear-fanged.
Elaphe climacophora (Japanese rat snakes) also have a blue form called 'Aodaisho' or Blue General, which is most common in Kunashir Island locality animals. These can develop sky blue heads and have olive green bodies.
Extremely hardy and long lived snakes - I would rank them way up among the easiest pet snakes to keep alive and I have some now well into their third decade. Have a feeding response that has to be seen to be believed.
There are very rare blue specimens of the Rhino rat snake (
Gonyosoma boulengeri), which is a relatively easy species to keep once the babies start feeding. Northern Lights Imports had some beautiful specimens in the last few years. I have not seen many at all but the species itself makes a great pet.
A bit more far out, you could win the lottery and buy
Boiga dendrophila divergens, the Luzon Mangrove snake, which has electric blue markings on an otherwise black and yellow snake. They cost about ÂŁ1500 though.
Aside from the obvious Blue tree pythons, you could also go for a DWA licence and then get access to
Trimeresurus insularis and
T. trigonocephalus, both of which have blue/ turquoise forms.
