Steven Bol Garter Snakes

Thamnophis proximus rutiloris: Central American Ribbon Snake

 

General

The species Thamnophis proximus occurs over a wide range from as far north as Chicago, USA all the way down south to Costa Rica.

The subspecies Thamnophis proximus rutiloris is responsible for most of this southern distribution, occurring from Southern Taumalipas, Mexico all the way South to Costa Rica.

Since this subspecies occurs quite far south and mostly at lower altitudes it does not need to be hibernated and can be kept active all year round, although they can skip meals during wintertime when night temperatures are getting low.

This subspecies is highly aquatic and is usually always found close to water.

 

Length and size

You cannot find very much information on specifically this subspecies in literature.

Thamnophis proximus can grow quite long, with females reaching a maximum length of 90 cm snout vent length (Rossman, Ford & Siegel, 1996; part of the tail was missing) .

They have relatively long tails (ranging from 25 to 33%, personal observation), so this female would have had a total length of 120-134 cm.

But this is a very long and unusual size, and most adults measure between the 60-90 cm.

They are very thin and slender build, hence the name Ribbon Snake. I have the impression that Thamnophis proximus rutiloris does not grow as long as the other subspecies of Thamnophis proximus, at least not the ones I am currently keeping.

But time will tell, the oldest ones I have are only 7 years old.

 

Description

The Central American Ribbon Snake usually has an olive green dorsum with 3 pale yellow or whitish stripes.

The 3 stripe are relatively well-defined. Between the stripes you can sometimes see some darker scales forming some blotches, but these are not very well-defined. The ventral scales are pale yellow and the darker dorsal color is not invading onto the ventral scales.

The parietal white spots are quite big and well-defined in the specimens from Atzalan, but this may not be universal for Thamnophis proximus rutiloris.

The labial scales are pale yellow, but towards the tip of the snout they become a more warmer yellow or orange coloration. This orange tip of the snout is unique for Thamnophis proximus rutiloris, but is not equally pronounced in all specimens. Thamnophis proximus rutiloris occurs over a huge area and for sure there will be quite a lot of variation in coloration throughout the range. On INaturalist I have seen pictures of specimens where the stripes are much less well-defined and more tan colored for instance.

Terrarium

A good minimum size for a terrarium for Thamnophis proximus rutiloris is 80 x 50 x 50 cm (L x W x H) for 1 or 2 pairs.

They can be kept in a dry terrarium with a waterbowl, quite similar to what I described in my article on Thamnophis proximus rubrilineatus (Bol, 2014). But currently I keep my breeding group of the Central American Ribbon Snakes in a well ventilated aqua terrarium of 50 x 50 x 60 cm (L x W x H).

The entire bottom surface is water, and I created a land part on pillars (similar to an oil platform) and several branches so they can climb close to the lamp to heat up and bask. Since the landpart is completely dry they do very well in this set up, allowing them also to spend a lot of time swimming in the water. And a higher terrarium gives them a lot of opportunity to climb, and their long and slender bodies are very well adapted for climbing.

Distribution and habitat of Thamnophis proximus rutiloris

The Central American Ribbon Snake is distributed from southern Taumalipas, Mexico all the way south to Costa Ricca and occurs in a wide variety of habitats ranging from swamps, lakes to rivers.

My breeding groups originates from a population close to Atzalan, Veracruz, Mexico where they occur along a small river at 1620 meters altitude.

They live here sympatric with Thamnophis sumichrasti, Sumichrast’s Garter Snake.

The habitat is very green and quite tropical, with a lot of rain.

Several species of frogs and toads occur in the river, together with small fish.

I have seen them swimming in the river or crawling along the shores. And I even found them basking in small willow trees about 2 meters above the ground.

Caresheet

The recommendation from my publication on the Redstripe Ribbon Snake (Bol, S., 2014) can serve as an excellent guideline how to take care of them in captivity.

I do not recommend to hibernate them , so just keep them warm year round in a terrarium.

Shortening the hours of light (and heat) to 10 hours per day, combined with no heating at night (in my snaked room temperatures can drop to 14-16 ° C at night) will slow the eating response and activity down a bit in the winter.

They have one litter per year, usually early spring.

Although they likely feed predominantly on amphibians in the wild, they do accept defrosted smelt and pinky mice readily. Newborn babies sometimes need to be started on live guppies offered in small water dish.

Breeding group

My current breeding group consists of (offspring of) 4 unrelated wild caught specimens.