Rough green snake what does it eat

Rough green snakes are highly arboreal, frequently found climbing in low vegetation, and are also good swimmers. However, they are often found on the ground as well.

They lead a solitary life and unlike many snakes, they are largely diurnal. At night they sleep coiled on the tree branches, in shrubs, vine tangles, or thick vegetation. During the cold winter months, usually from December to February, Rough green snakes hibernate. They are docile creatures, often allowing a close approach by humans, and seldom bite.

Even when bites occur, they have no venom and are harmless. When threatened, Rough green snakes prefer to freeze in hope not to be detected, relying on their green coloration for camouflage. Rough green snakes are carnivores insectivores. Their diet consists mostly of insects and other terrestrial arthropods, but they will also eat some snails and tree frogs.

Rough green snakes are polygynandrous promiscuous meaning that both males and females have multiple partners each breeding season. They mate in spring, and sometimes again in fall.

Females lay eggs, occasionally in a communal nest shared by more than one female. The nest site varies: under boards, under bark in rotting stumps, in deep mulch, or under a rock. The incubation period lasts weeks. Hatchlings are born fully developed and measure about cm 7. Females do not care for their young and baby snakes are left to fend for themselves after hatching. Females usually start breeding at the age of months while males are ready to breed when they are months old.

Rough green snakes suffer from habitat loss due to urban development and especially the reduction of vegetation near waterways, may reduce their numbers. Many are killed on roads, and they may be susceptible to poisoning by pesticides used on their insect prey. When dead, they turn blue. Rough green snakes are also one of the most exploited pet snakes in North America. They are collected by the hundreds each year and wholesale for around eight dollars in U.

According to IUCN, the Rough green snake is locally common and widespread throughout its range but no overall population estimate is available. Rough green snakes are an important food source for local predators including birds, larger snakes, and domestic cats. Rough Green Snake Grass snake, Green grass snake. Fresh drinking water should be available to your rough green snakes at all times and the captive environment should be gently misted at least once a week to maintain adequate humidity.

It is important not to overwhelm your rough green snake with too many live feeders. Too many feeders contradicts what these snakes are used to in nature and it will have the opposite effect often stressing your snake to the point of not feeding at all.

Opheodrys aestivus is a very non-aggressive species of snake and rarely if ever even attempts to bite in captivity. It is however important to keep handling of your captive rough green snake to a minimum because they tend to stress very easily when out of the safety of their enclosure and its dense protective foliage. Remember rough green snakes are designed to be tangled among the leaves and twigs of their natural environment and they know they are invisible there; bringing them out into the open can have very traumatic effects on this species of snake.

If you must handle your rough green snake, handle it securely and close to your body, without letting it hang loosely from your hands. He has over forty years of herpetological experience and divides his time between Cape-Cod and Pennsylvania. Leo Spinner resides on Cape-Cod in Massachusetts with his family. View Archived Comments. Home Big Boxes Snake Care. Above, a rough green snake hunts spiders on June 29, The rough green snake gets its name from the rough-looking scales that cover its green body.

A rough green snake female is seen with its eggs. The rough green snake lives among leafy trees, shrubs and vines, often near water. It prefers lush, thickly vegetated areas, including moist woods, streamside forests and backyard gardens. Unlike most species of snakes, rough green snakes are diurnal, meaning they are most active during the day.

They hibernate during the cold winter months. The rough green snake is a non-venomous snake with a long, slender, bright green body. It lives in leafy trees and shrubs in thickly vegetated areas throughout the Chesapeake Bay region.

The rough green snake grows to 22 to 32 inches in length.