Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What in the world? How large do these get and what do they eat? They are so odd looking in a cool way.

Mike

Acrochordus javanicus get to around 6 feet, although most individuals are smaller. They are bizarre looking, for sure. There is a very similar species, Acrochordus arafurae, that lives in northern Australia as well. Both these species live in fresh or occasionally brackish water.

There is a black and white banded salt water species, Acrochordus granulatus, that lives in the brackish and coastal salt waters around southeast Asia.

They are really cool snakes and primarily eat fish. They actually do well in a totally aquatic environment (i.e. an aquarium) but all of the Acrochordids I have kept have succumbed to a mysterious disease where they get white pustules or lesions on the skin and slowly deteriorate. The same thing has happened when I have tried to keep Tentacled Snakes (also totally aquatic).

I have heard several explanations as to why they get these lesions and what they are. The problem is that people either keep the snakes with no problem and get no lesions or they lose everyone they try and keep. I haven't ever heard of anyone finding an solution to the problem. You either have the problem and they die, or you never have it. I have tried emulating the conditions of the people who have been succesful but haven't had any different luck.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Well, that was probably the most informational messages I've ever received! Thanks for the help, it clarifies alot of things. I am sorta looking into getting one, but I am unsure of what I would like my next good size snake to be, and now knowing they require lots of water, I am having second thoughts. I bet they need expensive water filters and such but who knows. Maybe I'll look into one after college. Right now I have a ball python, a Borneo short tail and a jungle carpet and a western hog nose. I am sorry to hear about the disease your animals seem to have, but part of the reason may be that elephant trunks are not real popular in the herp trade and thus not much research has been done? Just a thought, hope you have better luck with your next elephant trunks. You wouldn't happen to know anything about sizes of coastal carpets, would you?

Coastal carpets are the largest of the carpet pythons reaching an average length of 6 to 8 feet. The record length is just over 14 feet.

The jungle carpet python is the smallest carpet python.

By the way, I've also been considering an elephant trunk, but I can't afford one at the moment. They feel very interesting to hold briefly.
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www.serpentarium.tk

My Snakes:
0.0.1 Asian sunbeam snake, Xenopeltis unicolor
1.1 Colombian boa, Boa constrictor
0.0.1 Calabar ground boa, Charina reinhardtii
0.0.1 normal Kenyan sand boa, Eryx colubrinus
0.0.1 nuclear Kenyan sand boa, Eryx colubrinus
12.16.2 normal corn snakes, Elaphe guttata
4.1 amelanistic corn snakes, Elaphe guttata
0.0.1 albino striped California kingsnake, Lampropeltis getula
1.0.0 southern pine snake, Pituophis melanoleucus
0.0.1 northern brown snake, Storeria dekayi
0.0.1 long-nosed whipsnake, Ahaetulla nasuta
0.0.1 Saharan sand snake, Psammophis aegyptius

My mentor/employer has 3, he says they are very hard to keep alive and they easily obtain illnesses. He also said they require brackish water and certain PHD levels in the water too. They look cool but they seem to be a lot of work. good luck if you get one.