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Rough Green Snake

Family: ColubridaeOpheodrys aestivusPhoto © Animal-World Courtesy David Brough

   The beautiful Rough Green Snake is not only lovely to look at, but is so very gentle that it is a pleasure to handle!

   The Rough Green Snake is and excellent climbers and very agile, but they are also quite wiggly. They never display a bad temper and rarely if ever, attempt to bite. Despite their pleasant temperment they are a more difficult snake to maintain in captivity, and are suggested for a more advanced snake keeper.

For more Information on keeping Snakes see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Herptile

Distribution:    The Rough Green Snakes are found in North America. Specifically they are found in the eastern part of the United States; Connecticut to Florida, the Gulf States, and the Mississippi Valley to Kansas, Illinois and Ohio.

Description:   The Rough Green Snake is slender with keeled scales and a very long tail that tapers sharply to a pointed tip. They can reach up to 28" (71 cm). Void of patterning, this snake's coloring is iridescent leaf green on top with whitish to yellow to yellowish green underneath.

Feeding:   They should be feed live insects once or twice a week. Good insects to feed are crickets and moths. Soft-bodied insect larvae such as waxworms, butterworms, and mealworms are also good choices. Fresh water in a shallow dish should always be available.

Environment:   The rough green snake is an excellent climber and likes an arboreal type setting, so a vertical or semi-vertical tree limb with plant vining is great. The terrarium should be at least a 10"x14"x10". See Basic Reptile and Amphibian Care for more information.

Temperature and Lighting requirements:    They do well in 70° to 80° F with moderate humidity. Lighting requirements are minimal, they do not need full spectrum lighting though it is good for long term maintenance as it helps them feel good. You can use a substrate heating device for basic heating. For additional heat, you can add a full spectrum incandescent daytime bulb and a blacklight bulb or red incandescent bulb for nighttime heating. Be sure you use a thermometer so you don't let the terrarium become overheated!
   For more detailed information see the Basic Reptile and Amphibian Care: Housing.

Breeding/Reproduction:    These snakes lay four to twelve very elongated eggs. They will be deposited under a flat stone or a log, usually at the edge of the woods, where it meets a meadow. The young can be a grayish green to a pale delicate green at first, becoming the beautiful iridescent leaf green as they mature.

Availability:   Though the Rough Green Snake is generally available, they can be difficult to maintain in captivity. This is thought to be because we don't fully understand their natural diet. A variety of foods is probably best.

Author: Clarice Brough, CRS

Lastest Comments on Rough Green Snake View all 35 comments on Rough Green Snake Add Your Comment

noel - 2012-03-19 Can you put more that one together if there not mating?? I wanted to get mine a friend but not sure if they can share the same aquar? Jeremy Roche - 2012-03-20 you can put like sized ones together. Keep an eye during feeding time. Reply

donna - 2010-01-17 These little snakes are going to be wild caught, and VERY heavily parasitized--to have a chance of keeping one alive for more than a short time, you will need to have it treated for parasites immediately. If you catch one yourself, this is the very first thing you should do once you have it eating for you--take the snake to a vet for a checkup, along with a fresh fecal sample, and have it deparasitized. Be sure to take it to an experience reptile vet--you don't want someone who will just shoot it up with ivomec and send it home. A proper course of fenbendazole and possibly metronidazole will most likely be what is used. Reply

Anonymous - 2012-01-30 Hey how come there is 34 comments on this snake? Charlie Roche - 2012-01-30 Guess it must be a common pet or people have many quesions on it. Reply

Anonymous - 2011-10-12 Snakes are cool! Reply

Rebecca - 2011-09-05 Hi, my sister is watching my baby and said that he isn't doing so well. Usually he will squirm when you first pick him up then settle down after a bit, but now she says he was literally lifeless when she picked him up. We have a branch, and a hiding rock, that he stays up in and he's about a foot and a half. We always have a food supplies for him. She says he looks fat on the belly but skinny on the back. I've had him for a little over a year and he's never done anything like this before. I don't want to lose my baby, what do i DO!!! Toby Jungle - 2011-09-06 Could it be something simple like he is molting? Reply

Juhi das - 2011-08-10 I also wanted a rough green snake at home. Because my mom is just like that because I love it . She is not snake something more than that. Rough green snake is really lovely and the colour is also super. Charlie Roche - 2011-08-10 When I was 10 years old, a boy in school who was very big and very mean and also 14 and in 6th grade put a live snake down my back. I am still very frightened of them. I am sure your mom loves you and would not want you to not have one cuz you love them --- Maybe you could compromise. They can be neat and people enjoy them but a Bearded Dragon is really cool and they are affectionate and so is an Iguana. You just sound like an intelligent person and I thought you might like something a little more in line with your intelligence. Something a little more challenging. Good luck though ... Reply

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