Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey guys im undecided on what species i would like to add to my collection next but i have a question about one of the possibilities. one species ive been interested in for a while is the mangrove snake (Boiga dendrophilia). ive been reading up on them and im well aware of the potency of their venom. i have found a couple places that have them available but my primary concern is whether or not i will be able to treat them properly for parasites and such, considering they are WC specimens. ive never had to treat a snake for parasites of any kind before and im unsure of the difficulty of the task. can anyone give me some tips on what products i would need and where i could get them? i do not want to get one of these beautiful snakes and have it die on me. thanks in advance for any replies!
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Dylan Lutz

1.1 BCI, 1.0 Bearded Dragon

Play it safe and take it to a vet for a fecal exam.
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Tim Cole
www.Designeratrox.com/
www.AustinReptileService.net
www.AustinReptileExpo.com/
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Conservation through Education

A big adult Mangrove was my first “venomous” snake. It was a long term captive that had to have been an import back then. I treated it like a cobra at all times- very safe with the maintenance. It was huge and absolutely gorgeous. It started out very defensive looking, but never actually stuck at all. It was in a very spacious arboreal cage and it thrived. Eventually I had to handle it enough that I came to totally trust it, and it turned out to be absolutely calm and gentile as any indigo. I eventually let the thing crawl on me while cleaning the cage like a totally harmless snake, and it was a total calm pet. A friend who was a zoo curator visited me and took it out one day and totally let it crawl all over him totally fearless, and that is how I came to do it myself. I never thought to dare it. After that, I got to really enjoy keeping it a lot more. They are pretty stunning in the sunlight. It is somewhat bad information to talk about how gentile some venomous snakes can really be, but it is the truth. These snakes can be very cool.

thanks for the story, that was very interesting. im still undecided but if i do decide on a mangrove i think ill take the "treat it like a cobra" approach that you originally had because in a sense it would be my first "venomous" snake and id like to get used to treating it with the utmost respect.
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Dylan Lutz

1.1 BCI, 1.0 Bearded Dragon

Personality aside, just how potent is the venom from a mangrove? I hear people discuss them as if they're sort of at the low end of the spectrum, and others comment on just how dangerous their venom can be. Just for curiosity, I don't and won't keep hots. I'm just fine with pythons

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0.1.0 Ball Python - Shaman
1.0.0 Green Iguana - Ike
1.0.0 Tokay Gecko - Fang
2.2.0 Cats - Pumpkin, Furball, Pixie, Stitch
1.0.0 Cockatiel - Ozzy
0.1.0 Budgie - Tweetie
1.0.0 Dwarf Rabbit - Floyd, R.I.P. Rascal
0.0.1 Rat who was too friendly to be eaten - Scabbers

The venom is an extremely potent three finger neurotoxin. I've even heard of it referred to as "death adder lite!" It is their venom delivery system that is lacking, they simply can't inject enough venom to harm a human without chewing.
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Roy Blodgett

1.1 Drymarchon corais
0.1 Coluber mormon
1.1 Lampropeltis getula californiae (desert phase)
1.0 Boiga dendrophila dendrophila
0.1 Candoia aspera (red phase)
0.1 Uroplatus henkeli
0.1 Corytophanes cristatus
2.1 Pogona vitticeps (snow and red/gold)
1.0 Iguana iguana

“All men lie enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks; but it is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realize the silent, subtle, ever-present perils of life.”- Herman Melville