Hi All,
I wanted to report a minor success in scarlet snake husbandry. I've got a mid-sized female who was not drinking egg from a bowl after several weeks, so I resorted to the dunking technique. This was described in a paper from the Savannah River Ecology Lab, and it sounds pretty crazy: You keep the scarlet snake with no water and periodically dunk it in a jar with about an inch of 1/2 egg, 1/2 water. You keep it in that jar for an hour or two during which time it will drink, take it out, rinse it off, and return it to its container. I've done this five times - about once every week/week and a half. Each of the first four times the snake struggled and did its best to stay out of the liquid. I didn't witness it drink, but it's been looking plump and healthy, so I've assumed it was drinking. Last night, though, I put it in the jar and it didn't struggle at all. I was able to see through the side of the glass that it was drinking - call it a minor victory, that I've manage to overcome the snake's drowning reflexes and it's been conditioned to drink/eat during its immersions. I think I'll try a dish with egg next week and work on the eventual conversion to solid food.
Here's the reference for the article:
Brisbin, I. L., Jr. and C. Bagshaw. 1993. Survival, weight changes, and shedding frequencies of captive scarlet snakes, Cemophora coccinea, maintained on an artificial liquid diet. Herp. Review 24(1):27-29.
Cheers,
Billy
-
Phillyherping
