The Western Fox Snake Page.

This article was first published in the "Herptile" (The publication of The International Herpetological Society) in September 1996. I have changed it slightly but the main content remains the same as that previously published.

The Fox snake can attain an adult length of up to 51 inches. They are a heavy bodied snakes with a light brown body colour and dark brown blotches or saddles. Along with the nominate form (known as the Western Fox snake), there is one subspecies Elaphe vulpina gloydi, known as the Eastern Fox snake, The latter has a lighter background colour and fewer saddles, around 34 in E. v. gloydi as opposed to 41 in E. v. vulpina. The Fox snake originates from South Dakota, Nebraska and Missouri.

This account is based upon a pair E. v. vulpina which were obtained from Mr. Kevin Hingley on the 15th of Sept. 1991 - The pair originally were part of a group of six imported into England from the U.S.A. by Mr. Kevin Delaney. The male measured approximately 110 cm, the female around 100 cm. They adapted well to their new cages and began feeding as soon as food was offered.

I had been advised that to breed this species better results would be obtained if the cooling period consisted of temperatures of around 5C. I did not intend to breed the pair in 1992 as I though the female to be a little small. However both went off their food at the beginning of October 1991 so I decided to cool them, This behaviour is normal in adults. To cool the snakes I first placed a plastic box in their cage measuring 30 cm x 30 cm x I5 cm. This contained a layer of moss and a water bowl. They both immediately took residence in the box and did not leave over the next few days. The lid was placed on the box on the 2nd of November and moved to a cooler room. The normal cage temperature was around 26C, the room temperature was around 20C, both exhibiting a slight drop at night. The box was then moved to my loft on the 27th of November until the 5th of March 1992. The temperature maintained during this period between 10 - 12c, though it dropped to 8C for short periods. As breeding was not intended no attempt was made to lower the temperature below 10C. They were checked every seven to ten days and the water changed. Both animals remained active, though sluggish during the hibernation period.

On the 5th of March the box was retrieved from the loft and returned to the room temperature of 20C. As the snakes became more active the box was placed back in their cage and the lid removed. They were offered food from the 8th of March and both fed well thereafter, the male only eating mice, the female showing a preference to large rat pups. It was noted both animals became "milky" on the 19th of March, followed by them both sloughing on the 24th of that month. On the night of the 5th of April it was noted that they were mating. They were very active and had moved several items within their cage including the ceramic water bowl. The male had grasped the female behind the bead and was using the coils of his body to hold her down. Further matings were observed on the 6th and 10th of April. The male refused to feed between 1st of April to the 12th of April, but the female continued to feed and grow. She became milky again on the 18th of April, and became clear again on the 23rd. On this day we placed four rat pups in the cage and two mice. As usual the male ate the two mice and the female the rat pups. She sloughed the following night, and ate another rat pup - all other meals were then refused until the 3rd of May when she then laid 12 large eggs. They were laid in a box containing moist moss which was then substituted for a box containing vermiculite and water half and half by weight), which was in turn placed in an incubator set at 27C. All twelve eggs hatched between the 8th and 10th of June, which was an incubation period of only 36 days, unusual in my experience of the ratsnake group in that most average around 60 days incubation.

The hatchlings were placed in individual boxes (19 cm x 12.5 cm x 8 cm) and placed on my hatchling rack system. They were all around 30 cm long and quite fat, and had obviously absorbed a large amount of yolk from the egg. All fed with no problems after their first slough which took place on the 15th of June, There were seven males to five females.

A similar pattern followed from October 1992 as to the previous year, hibernation was executed in a similar manner (for a shorter period), and thus mating activity the following year. One point worth mentioning is that on the mating that occurred on the 13th of March 1993 it was seen that, upon the males withdrawal from the female she seemed to contract her body about 2cm above the vent. This seemed to roll up her body for about 5cm and lasted for only one second. It would be interesting to hear if anyone else has witnessed this type of behaviour, perhaps it is to help the sperm move to the ova? I will refer the reader to the following table for full breeding data for 1992 and onwards.

                        1992	 	1993		1994	 	1995
cooled			2/11/91	        3/12/92	        19111193	20/11/94
in hibernation		4/11/91	        15/12192	14/I 2/93	14/I 2/94
out hibernation		5/3/92		16/2/93	        12/3/94	        7/3/95
days hibernated		120 days	63 days	        88 days	        83 days
first observed mating	5/4/92		12/3/93	        27/3/94	        1/4/95
pre-lay slough		23/4/92 	23/9/93	        14/4/94	        25/4/95
eggs laid		3/5/92		6/4/93	 	25/4/94	        4/5/95
first mate to eggs laid	29 days	        25 days	        29 days	        33 days
number of eggs	  	12	  	10	  	10	  	14
first egg hatched	8/6/92		11/5/93	        not known	17/6/95
days incubated		36 days	        36 days	        not known	44 days
total hatched	  	12	  	8*	  	10	  	14

* one of the two eggs that did not hatch was squashed but unbroken upon laying, Both eggs contained partially formed but dead youngsters.

These snakes bred each year since 1995 but I have failed to record the appropriate details.

A second female was purchased in September 1993, this female was larger than my original female, but was E. v. gloydi. This was housed separately from the original pair. When I introduced the male to this female she refused his advances, and has since passed to another keeper who has a male F n gloydi.

Fox snakes were until recently very difficult to obtain in the U.K., obviously this will change as more captive bred stock reaches maturity. A keeper who purchased a hatchling from me in 1992 has since informed me that her pair are now breeding. (That was in 1996). Due to the good nature and large size of the hatchlings I can recommend these snakes to beginners and experienced keepers alike.

Below are two photo's of my Fox Snakes. The male in the bottom photo has lost an eye. This happened at the time of capture.

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