Blue Racer snake good pet or death wish?

[Matthew B Grice]

My mother used to tell me that the blue racer, a snake that lived in
Eastern Iowa, was poisonous. However, I was skimming through snake
entries in the encyclopedia the other day, and I came across a snake,
i cant remember which one, but it was black and lived east of the
Mississippi. Anyway, the encyclopedia mentioned that the blue racer
was its western counterpart, and was easily domesticated and friendly.

So, here's my question: would a blue racer be a good pet?

The next time I go home, I'm thinking about catching a snake on my
parents' farm and domesticating it. Is this a bad idea? Are store-
bought snakes somehow better? Please note that I'm not worried about
'screwing up the ecosystem' by taking a snake. I just want to know if
wild snakes are suitable for domestication, specifically the blue
racer. Any snakes that my parents see wind up in two or more pieces
anyway, so I'd probably be rescuing the sucker.

There are also garter snakes and other assorted snakes running around.
They aren't as cool as blue racers, but might they be more suitable?
Which snakes of the Midwest are most suitable for domestication?
After living in Wisconsin for most of my life, I can't believe the
number of snakes that are slithering around this place. Last time
I mowed the lawn I killed five of them, and I could have gotten
twice as many if I would have tried.

--
Matthew B Grice
mgr...@iastate.edu

[Peter Jason Ward]

To the best of my knowledge, most blue racers I've heard about have ben
real nightmares. (This is all second-hand, it could be wrong) I've
heard that they don't settle into captive life and will be aggressive
towards any handling at all, sometimes repeatedly striking the wall of
their enclosure, giving themselves snout infections, etc.

BUT, they arent poisonous, their saliva has an anti-coagulant in it. If
you get bitten, your wound will bleed more than it normally would but
won't ever become even remotely life-threatening.

Peter Ward

[Raksha]

In article <mgrice.7...@pv1423.vincent.iastate.edu>,

Matthew B Grice <mgr...@iastate.edu> wrote:
>My mother used to tell me that the blue racer, a snake that lived in
>Eastern Iowa, was poisonous.
>

>So, here's my question: would a blue racer be a good pet?

No, not poisonous, but not likely to make a good pet either. Most racers and
coachwhips, from my understanding, are quite aggressive and don't calm down
well in captivity; additionally some of them prefer cold-blooded prey to warm
-blooded, and that can be a little hard to provide sometimes.
In time I will be working with elapids as research animals, and a friend
of mine who keeps them has always told me, I should get myself a racer to
practice with, before handling elapids -- they're equally fast and equally
aggressive, if not more so. Then again, it still depends on the individual
animal; I had a black racer a few years ago, who was fairly skittish when I
handled him, but only tried to bite me once when he got startled. Had him
eating mice too. Give it a try, and see if you can calm the animal down with
frequent gentle handling -- but be prepared to get bitten, especially in the
beginning.

>
>After living in Wisconsin for most of my life, I can't believe the
>number of snakes that are slithering around this place. Last time
>I mowed the lawn I killed five of them, and I could have gotten
>twice as many if I would have tried.
>

Um ... can't you be more careful mowing the lawn?

--Raksha

[daf...@ritvax.isc.rit.edu]

In article <Ihdi28C00...@andrew.cmu.edu>, Peter Jason Ward <ironma...@CMU.EDU> writes:
>To the best of my knowledge, most blue racers I've heard about have ben
>real nightmares. (This is all second-hand, it could be wrong) I've
>heard that they don't settle into captive life and will be aggressive
>towards any handling at all, sometimes repeatedly striking the wall of
>their enclosure, giving themselves snout infections, etc.

I don't know about blue racers, but black racers from back home in
South Carolina are a nightmare to keep in captivity. Even the baby ones are.
They don't eat (except for baby ones), and bite every 5 seconds if not held to
the neck. They are all over in August time (I find them year-round), and
I catch them for the challenge (their speed is incredible!), but like hell do I
keep them. The last time I had a black racer was a last summer, and I
caught him on a neighbor's porch. The black racer a young one at about 1 1/2
feet long. I put him in a 55 gallon, and that racer sure could go one side of
the aquarium (4 ft long) to the other before the blink of my eye (exaggeration,
perhaps). He didn't like it at all as he was always trying to get out, and
kept bumping his head on the glass. The only thing he ate was carolina anoles,
but only ate when I am out of the room. Bit me every time he moved in my hand,
geez. After letting him go, I don't think that I'll ever have another one, but
the challenge of catching them stays! I like them a lot, and it is too bad that
they don't make good pets.

>BUT, they arent poisonous, their saliva has an anti-coagulant in it. If
>you get bitten, your wound will bleed more than it normally would but
>won't ever become even remotely life-threatening.

That is correct. Although, I do think (am not sure) that they are
poisonous to their prey such as frogs, anoles, and fish. I have been bitten by
a 5 foot black racer, and here I am.

> Peter Ward
-Andrew

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From DAF...@ritvax.isc.rit.edu "Support the NRA"
Rochester Institute of Technology "BORN TO HUNT, FISH, AND HAVE SEX"
"A SOUTHERN BOY IN A NORTHERN COLLEGE"
********************************************************************************

[jhust...@gmail.com]

I don't know how a racer would be when caught but I had a pet racer as a teen that I found as one of many eggs and hatched it. It was the best snake I could imagine having for a pet. It would come out of it's hiding place in the cage to wrap around my fingers. I watched it hatch and touched it even before it had fully emerged from its egg, so that could have been the reason it liked me so much. Not sure if snakes can imprint on people. But as far as aggressiveness it never bit at me or attacked its cage. It eventually found a way out when the lid was left open and got lost in the house where my mom accidentally stepped on it. It was heartbreaking. I don't know if it would be as good if you hadn't hatched it yourself. My racer would strike at people other than me sometimes. Making a wild snake a pet sounds mean to the snake.

[jdon...@mindspring.com]

Exactly my Missouri experience with younger, smaller blue racers. The Mommy blue racers would come at you, though!