Hello, Frank Indiviglio here.  Garter Snakes (Thamnophis ssp.) have long introduced aspiring herpetologists to snake-keeping and remain popular today.  A number of North America’s 30+ species are regularly available in the pet trade, and they remain the most commonly encountered free-living snakes in most areas.  Although often thought of as “beginner’s snakes”, I maintain that [...]

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here. It’s hard for snake enthusiasts not to be taken in by the Eastern hognose snake, Heterodon platyrhinos. It puts on an incredible defensive display, it’s stout, viper-like body is variably patterned in many hues and its natural history is quite unique. However, a preferred diet of toads precludes it [...]

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here. Please see Part I of this article for information on the history of corn snakes (Elaphe/Pantherophis guttatus) in the pet trade and breeding preparations.
Color Strains
Young herpers may find it hard to believe that there was a time when only normally colored corn snakes were to be found in the pet [...]

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here. The books Snakes: the Keeper and the Kept and Snakes and Snake Hunting, written by Staten Island Zoo curator Carl Kauffeld, turned “Okeetee, South Carolina” into a household name for legions of snake enthusiasts worldwide (myself included). An incredibly productive snake collecting area, Okeetee was especially noted for its brilliantly colored [...]

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here.  Southeast Asia’s bizarre tentacled snake (Erpeton tentaculatum) is a long-time favorite of mine and I’ve kept and bred a great many in zoo collections over the years.  Despite watching them intently for so long, I’ve never quite been able to figure out how they manage to so effectively catch fast-moving fishes [...]

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here. Watersnakes are largely ignored by herptoculturists, and I’ve never quite understood why. Hardy, prolific, and often colorful, their utilization of two habitats makes for very interesting observations. Today I’d like to focus on the northern watersnake (Nerodia sipedon sipedon), and to mention a few others.
Description
Background color varies through shades of pale [...]

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here.
Please see Part I of this article for further information.
Handling and Enrichment
Red-tailed ratsnakes are best suited as exhibit animals.  Most do not hesitate to bite when approached, and fight vigorously when restrained.  Some may become moderately tame, but such individuals must be watched closely and not allowed in the vicinity if one’s [...]

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here.
My first contact with the strikingly marked red-tailed ratsnake came many years ago, when they were rarely seen in the pet trade.  It was a wild caught adult and showed up, unexpected, in an order sent to an animal importer for whom I worked at the time.  She would eat only birds, which, [...]

Iridescent coloration is exhibited many snakes, but in none is it as spectacular as that featured by the rainbow boa (Epicrates cenchria cenchria).  The “glow”, of its brilliant coloration, caused by microscopic scale ridges that refract sunlight, have long made this species a pet trade favorite.
A rather plain colored (and less expensive!) subspecies often disappoints [...]

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here.
Shedding problems, collectively referred to as “dry sheds” by herptoculturists, are a not uncommon occurrence in snake collections.  As I’ve never encountered a wild snake bearing unshed skin, despite having handled innumerable specimens, I am led to believe that establishing proper environmental conditions in captivity helps greatly in avoiding problems in this [...]