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A friend brought me this snake (Leptodeira septentrionalis) after he found it in a shipment of plants from Costa Rica. I have read that this colubrid is possible venomous. Is there someone who can give me some more details about the venom of this species?
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Cheers,
Harold
This quote is from The Venomous Reptiles of Latin America, by Campbell & Lamar:
"Snakes in the following genera have been known to produce bites that may involve local pain, swelling, and discoloration:
Conophis, Heterodon, Leptodeira, Leptophis, Oxybelis, Philodryas, Tachymenis, and Trimorphodon. It should be noted that symptoms can vary from nonexistent to pronounced according to the degree (primary or secondary) of envenomation."
Sounds to me like this is not the sort of thing you want gnawing on your finger.
~~Greg~~
The animal is in bad condition (dehydrated and skindamage) so I think it will be difficult to keep it alive. As far as I know it feeds primarily on frog-eggs, but I have read that some of this sp. have lived over 5 years in captivity on mice. So maybe .......
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Cheers,
Harold
Hi mate
We didn't work with this genus (tried to but couldn't get the specimens). As you may have noticed from the 'animated' threads below, we did just however analyse the venoms of a large number of 'colubrids' and other lineages.
You can download it from the link below.
Cheers
Bryan
Venom evolution paper
You did not mention the size of your specimen. I have kept the species with some success feeding anoles or live frogs. There are records of snake eating for this species too. Probably small geccos would do as well. The biggest thing is to keep misting on a regular (daily) schedule. I prefer keeping snakes of that type on spagnum. I can't give you particulars on the venom. My specimens (if they bit at all) gave fast defensive bites and did not chew. If you do handle...do so loosely and do not try to restrain the head unless you are forced to assist feed. I know some do not aprove of this practice (the claim being it stresses the snake)but often it means life or death for the snake(which I personally think outweighs the negatives). As long as you keep your fingers away from the back teeth it is perfectly safe. Good luck, Frank
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