Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anyone tried keeping these suckers alive in captivity?

I live in South Florida, so I can probably get ant larvae year-round (or raise them myself), but will they eat?
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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.

>>>.."but will they eat?"

That's a good question Larry,....I've also found a few of those around the yard in the past, but never actually tried keeping them as captives before either.

I would imagine they might do okay if kept in a very small natural environment of the soil type they were captured from. It would also seem fitting to poke some holes in the soil here and there and drop some ant or termite larvae down into it to simulate a natural nest as they would also encounter in nature.

But the problem I would see, is how in the heck would you know for sure they are indeed eating the offerings?,.......and another problem would be that you would never see the snake either, as it would probably always be buried deep in the soil as well.

Now if you could keep them above ground like other snakes, and actually witness them eating now and then, that would be a whole different thing. But I'm fairly sure they wouldn't go for that type of "exposed" housing environment, but who knows?

Do some experimenting with some shallow soil, and some leaves, etc...for natural shelter, and see if you can tell if they're feeding at all for you. If they don't seem to be very content with the environment, and don't seem to be eating the preferred ant/termite larvae, you can always let them go again where you found them.

Sorry I can't be of more help here, but that's what I would do if I was interested in giving those guys a try.

Anyway,...good luck with them if you do decide to give it a go.

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"