Snakes from the past

[StudentoftheReptile]

Just figured I'd share some of the snakes I've kept in the past. I do not own any of these currently.

Sunbeam Snake

Chinese Beauty Snake

Black Rat Snake

Never was really sure on this one. I think it was a Texas x Grey Ratsnake intergrade

Kenyan Sand Boa

Solomon Islands Dwarf Tree Boa

Never figured this one out either. Obviously some tri-color kingsnake or milksnake!

California Kingsnake (nice rescue story to this one)

"Rootbeer" Cornsnake (Great Plains x Corn intergrade)

"Creamsicle" Cornsnake (albino Rootbeer)

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Madagascar Giant Hognose snake

Western Hognose snakes

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Mosiac-phase Eastern Chain kingsnake

Rowan Cty locality Eastern Chain kingsnakes

Mexican Black kingsnake

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Cape House snakes (variations of normals and albinos)

Common Brown house snakes (dark/black locality)

Dotted House Snakes (quite variable!)

 

[acrantophis]

Great colubrids! I have never seen a livea sunbeam snake. I should

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Woops! I was saying! I have never seen a malagasy hognose or a sunbeam snake, other than in books! You sure love your house snakes! I will have to post a pic of a new world python, loxocemus bicolor, I caught in costa rica. You are probably the only one who would appreciate it!

 

[Tom]

Cool stuff. I love the king variations. And that milksnake is a beauty whatever it is.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

You have had many, they all look great!

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

Great colubrids! I have never seen a live sunbeam snake.

Yeah, regrettably those were an impulse purchase in Daytona 2010. I knew a buddy who kept them successfully and figured I could glean enough info from him to do well with them. Part of my failure I think, though, is that the dealer I got them from claimed they were eating well on live mice. I couldn't get them to eat ANYTHING, and personally think I was taken for a ride. But oh well...

They are definitely NOT for the novice keeper. They like to be hot, humid, hidden, and NOT handled. Unfortunate for so beautiful a snake, they prefer to be burrowed several inches in mud all the time. They do not make a good display animal, so unless you just really have an interest them, they're not for anyone who wants a cool snake to look at or play with. Plus, their natural diet is amphibians, so there's the obvious difficulty of getting wildcaught specimens to convert to a rodent diet.

Some people have good luck with them, but unfortunately, I did not. 3 months in, the male died, and shortly after, the female followed.

I have never seen a malagasy hognose....other than in books!

Really? They'll never be super-popular because of their country of origin and the fact they're mildly venomous (rear-fanged), but they often pop up on Kingsnake.com and Fauna. I see them every so often at an expo. I used to have a pair and they accidentally bred for me one summer. I can't wait for the day to have them again. Basically a hognose the size of a bullsnake!

You sure love your house snakes!

Yeah, those were my passion from 2008-2011. Invested in some breeding projects, but after my first baby came, and got into tortoises a bit, I lost interest in the business side of things and didn't have a lot of time to devote to a room full of snakes anyway. So I sold them all off. Very cool snakes, though. There's still a few house snakes species I never got that are still on my wish list.

I will have to post a pic of a new world python, loxocemus bicolor, I caught in costa rica. You are probably the only one who would appreciate it!

By all means, do!

 

[Floof]

Great snakes, thanks for sharing! I LOVE that Beauty snake especially. Then again, I have a soft spot for Asian Rats.

 

[froghaven5]

Awesome looking snakes!

 

[dmmj]

I bet the chinese beauty snake is conceited.

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

I bet the chinese beauty snake is conceited.

Yeah, she was a cool snake. Unfortunately, she died 4 months in due to an unknown virus or bug. Hard lesson learned regarding proper quarantine with new animals purchased from an expo. She did great, ate great...then one week, she regurgitated the day after feeding, then died the next.