The juvenile Pseustes sulphureus are doing very well. This species seems to grow at a truly remarkable rate. At only a little over two months old, the largest of the clutch is well over two feet long, and several are already eating quail chicks! Though I generally feed them newborn or fuzzy mice, I decided to see if they would accept quail and the three I chose to offer the quail to ate without hesitation. The coloration is also starting to change rather noticeably, and the yellow is beginning to really set in. Even with how much they have grown, they have not shed since their post-hatching shed, and still the coloration changes rather radically. One female actually has spots of orange which are rather noticeable when she is in the characteristic threat display. They are very nice animals to work with, and though they often puff up, they almost never actually try to bite. Justin had asked about temperatures and feeding frequency, and I keep them at temperatures of about 80-87 degrees(Fahrenheit) during daytime hours, and temperatures naturally decrease to the mid 70s at night. I feed them one quail chick, or three pinks, once every five to seven days, and they seem to fare very well on this diet. I offer food in the usual Pseustes manner, which is generally tease feeding, as it is most effective. I have had no problems whatsoever with this technique in either the young snakes or the adults.
(The lump you see in the stomach is a quail chick, they don't usually look this fat)
As for the parents of the clutch, they have also been very well. Though I have noticed somewhat of a slow down in feeding as a result of naturally-occurring temperature fluctuations here, they are both fat and healthy, and spend most of their time huddled in an upper corner of the cage wrapped around one another. Today I took them out and put them in the shower for a few minutes to make sure they are drinking. They seemed to enjoy it and didn't care to try and get away from the water, but rather laid and drank heavily. The male is quite the handful, but I have made a concerted effort recently to handle him occasionally to condition him to being held, and he has calmed down to a small degree. The female is rather calm.
In other news, I recently acquired a sub-adult or young adult pair of Pseustes poecilonotus in trade for the two hatchlings of sulphureus I had originally promised to send away. The snakes are fresh imports, but are feeding very well on mice or chicks. I will post pictures when they have gained some more weight. They even ate an hour after being taken out of the shipping box, and they were three hours late! They are very interesting in terms of appearance with the female being a charcoal gray and yellow in color, and the male a pleasing chocolate brown with yellow and ivory colored mottling down his spine, head, and stomach. I believe the male still retains some of his juvenile coloration. A very interesting feature of this species is the sexual dimorphism in the form of males having heavily keeled scales, while females completely lack keels. The animals I have though are different from most other poecilonotus I have seen. They are from a Guatemalan locality, and unlike most poecilonotus I have seen they have heavily patterned heads. I wonder if they may be a
seperate subspecies, or even species. What does everyone here think? Gavin, I know you have poecilonotus.
I just order some brand new custom HDPE cages from Repti-Racks for my Pseustes, and each pair will be going in to 48" by 24" by 36" naturalistic enclosures soon. I have discovered that larger cages are not entirely necessary with these animals, as they prefer to lounge and bask in the trees, as opposed to actively cruising around like Drymarchon. I am excited to finally get some really nice cages for my animals, and these are top of the line equipped with radiant heat panels, sliding glass doors with locks, and a very interesting color called "natural white" which allows outside light to filter in to the cages to a small degree , while still providing the necessary security.
Sorry for the long post everyone. I guess I have a lot to say about these snakes. They have certainly become my favorite genus!
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Roy Blodgett
Green Man Herpetoculture
royreptile@yahoo.com
1.1 Drymarchon corais
4.4 Pseustes sulphureus
1.1 Pseustes poecilonotus
1.1 Lampropeltis getula californiae (desert phase)
1.1 Boiga dendrophila dendrophila
2.3 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
