Frozen-thawed mice are widely available and can be stored easily. For diet variety and stimulation, blue racers can also be fed the occasional grasshopper. But note that grasshoppers are not as convenient to store as mice and should not be their exclusive diet. The water bowl should be shallow enough for your blue snake to climb in and out of easily. Racers are not known to soak so their bowl does not need to be large enough for their whole body.
Blue racers can live up to 10 years in the wild and slightly longer in captivity. Males and females live to be about the same age. Because pet blue racers are usually wild-caught they share many of the same health problems with other wild snakes. Fungal diseases are commonly found on wild snakes. They show up as crusty lesions or yellow scales around the mouth and sides of a snake. Ticks are usually found with their heads buried under a scale.
Bacterial diseases can be caused by poor husbandry and dirty bedding. Racers have a large home range that is about 0. In the cooler months Blue Racers will move to less-covered areas such as abandoned fields to soak up the sun.
Racers like to have a lot of ground space in captivity. They should have at least enough room to stretch out to their full length and prefer to have more ground space to height. Because of their speed they should be able to move around their enclosure to avoid stress and boredom. They like to roam and will need quite a bit more space than a ball python or corn snake. An adult racer should be housed in at least a gallon terrarium:. An enclosure should have a temperature gradient to allow your snake to self-regulate its body temperature.
A ceramic heat bulb can be used if the nighttime temperature is too low. Racers do not need a specific humidity beyond the regular ambient humidity. However, it can be a good idea to include a humid hide with sphagnum moss when your snake is shedding.
Blue racers can be flighty so it is a good idea to provide multiple hiding places for your snake. Place lots of decor in their enclosure too. Good examples include: branches, boxes, tunnels and plants real or fake. The blue racer is intelligent and will likely explore anything you place in its cage. They are not like a corn snake i. Substrates can include wood shavings avoid pine and cedar , coconut fiber or paper towels.
Paper towels are more utilitarian but are far easier to keep clean and change. Loose substrate can be spot-cleaned as needed and should be changed completely every month to avoid diseases. Blue racers enjoy basking in open areas to relax.
However, this is a species that likes to be on the move and so will not spend much time under substrate or in a hide box. In the wild this snake will share burrows with other species.
Racers will also hibernate with other snakes in rocky crevices and old animal burrows. If startled or threatened racers will first try and run away. If their enclosure is too small for them to feel safe they will stand their ground and bite repeatedly.
Blue Racer snakes are non-venomous but they have a lot of curved teeth that make for a painful bite. To avoid bites it is best to start with a young snake in a large cage and get it used to being around people. Blue racer snakes are aggressive and can strike from a long distance. They do not tolerate being picked up. In addition to biting, they will musk and twist their bodies around to make themselves difficult to hold.
Blue racer snakes are in part named after their speed. The color of the scales covering their backsides varies from brilliant blue to dull grey. They have light brown to grey dorsum.
Hatchlings of these Racers have dark blotches on their backs. Eyes: Their eyes are larger compared to that of many other species of snakes. The skin around their eyes is generally darker in color than the rest of the body. Picture 1 — Blue Racer Snake. The range of their distribution extends from Canada in north to Guatemala, Mexico and Belize in south.
These reptiles can be found in open as well as semi-open habitats. They prefer to live in savannas, hedge rows, meadows, weedy lake edges and marshes.
It is believed that all these habitats are necessary for fulfilling their ecological requirements. The range of their habitation extends to an area of 25 acres. Adult Blue Racers feed on various songbirds, rodents, smaller snakes and frogs.
Different insects such as spiders, worms and crickets are the foods of the Blue Racer Snake hatchlings and juveniles. Large birds of prey including northern harrier, red-tailed hawk and great horned owl are known to prey on this snake.
The Blue Racer hatchlings and eggs are the prey of various carnivorous birds and mammals. Female Blue Racer Snakes mature at 2 years of age, but they cannot reproduce until they become three years old. The males become physiologically mature at 11 months. But they are able to reproduce only after reaching 2 years of age.
These oviparous snakes generally reproduce twice every year. The females build their nests in sand, tree cavities, leaf litters and unoccupied burrows of small mammals. They lay 6 to 25 eggs in communal dens during late June and leave the dens afterwards. Picture 2 — Blue Racer Snake Photo. These white, oval eggs are 2. The hatchlings do not receive any parental care, but they may remain near the female Blue Racers for a few hours after birth.
They are known to hibernate in groups during the cold winter months. Hibernation generally takes place in rocky mountain areas. These snakes are generally not kept as pets for their aggressive nature. They tend to attack and bite anyone who approaches them.
Their large size also makes it difficult to keep them in glass tanks or cages. Due to these reasons, they do not make good pets. Picture 3 — Blue Racer Snake Picture. Picture 4 — Blue Racer Snake Image. Once was in about in the sandhills of Nebraska beside a cattle tank and the second on a sandy road in the sandhills in about Being scared I ran!
My question is, would those have been blue racers and are they normally in any way aggressive like that? Neither snake could have helped but have heard and seen me. Contrary to what I have read, blue racers can be a bit aggressive. Two of us were bitten on the heels by the little suckers.
When threatened they will rattle their tail in the leaves mimicking that of a rattlesnake like lots of other species do. Blue racers can also commonly be confused with fox snakes when they are juveniles and rat snakes as adults. They prefer a drier habitat with sunny spots along with some cover in the mix.
The racers love open forest, fields, old farm pastures, thickets, around marshes, and although they are mostly terrestrial ground dwelling , although snakes they will often climb and forage. However, like many other species on this planet, due to habitat loss and degradation, the population of blue racer snakes is in decline. Blue racers are diurnal hunters, meaning they hunt during the day. This allows them to hide away at night while their predators come out to hunt.
Neonate racers will feed on crickets, beetles, and grasshoppers. Adult blue racers feed on a variety of species from rodents, frogs, other snakes, and even some small birds. After a long winter of hibernation mating season begins in April and ends around May. Males will combat other males for territory.
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