Snakes

[Action]

Just wondering how Tortoises do with snakes ? I have some from time to time but not a lot.
Thanks
Jack

 

[Action]

forgot pic

 

[Tom]

Best for everyone involved to keep the snakes out. Lining your yard or the outside of the enclosure with 24" tall 1/2inch hardware cloth will keep them out.

Rattlesnakes usually won't bite a tortoise, but if they did, and found a soft spot in the armor, the tortoise would likely die. Most likely place for a bite would be the face or legs, both of which have soft spots. Larger gophers might try to eat a baby tortoise, but racers and kings should be too small to swallow anything but the tiniest of baby tortoises.

If the snake poops in your enclosure, and the tortoise eats it (Which is likely...), parasite transfer is likely.

 

[6strings]

Is that a Western rattlesnake? Very nice.

 

[Action]

Yes that is a baby rattle snake.......I have not had any at my house but they are around so was just asking for future Knowledge.
Thanks

 

[TammyJ]

forgot pic

View attachment 274909

Adorable little guy.

 

[6strings]

Rattlesnakes, with some exceptions, are rodent feeders, hence the heat pits. Some species that live in wetlands will also include frogs. Baby rattlers may include lizards, which the smaller species of rattler being more prone to lizard eating. Western rattlesnake species do not eat tortoises. Will a rattler bite a tortoise that walks right on top of it? Can't say for sure that it will never happen, but based on my experience with rattlesnakes, it is not very likely. All depends on the "mood" of the snake, the individual personality, etc. I once went to a house to remove 3 rattlesnakes, and they had 2 rattlesnakes and 1 harmless gopher snake in a plastic bin. The gopher snake was crawling over the rattlers, who did nothing. I released all. I have a few other stories like that, where a rattlesnake was in the vicinity of another reptile with no interaction. I have even seen a rattlesnake coiled under a board in the field next to a king snake that was coiled under the same board.

 

[Action]

That king snake was not doing its job....lol
Jack

 

[KarenSoCal]

Rattlesnakes, with some exceptions, are rodent feeders, hence the heat pits. Some species that live in wetlands will also include frogs. Baby rattlers may include lizards, which the smaller species of rattler being more prone to lizard eating. Western rattlesnake species do not eat tortoises. Will a rattler bite a tortoise that walks right on top of it? Can't say for sure that it will never happen, but based on my experience with rattlesnakes, it is not very likely. All depends on the "mood" of the snake, the individual personality, etc. I once went to a house to remove 3 rattlesnakes, and they had 2 rattlesnakes and 1 harmless gopher snake in a plastic bin. The gopher snake was crawling over the rattlers, who did nothing. I released all. I have a few other stories like that, where a rattlesnake was in the vicinity of another reptile with no interaction. I have even seen a rattlesnake coiled under a board in the field next to a king snake that was coiled under the same board.

It's my understanding from reading different sources, that snakes live in tortoise burrows. They co-exist peacefully.