Perhaps my lapse in response time can be forgiven. I was asked some time ago what husbandry techniques I used to successfully maintain my Javan Filesnakes (Acrochordus javanicus), so here are what I consider my most important notes:
Javan Filesnakes are totally aquatic. Some sources suggest that young filesnakes may prefer semi-aquatic environments, but mine were a month or two at best when I acquired them, and they never used the land space I provided. However, with young specimens you might try offering it, choice is always a good thing in husbandry. Despite being totally aquatic, I recommend keeping the water depth no more than 1/2 or 3/4 of their body length, they seem to like to keep their bodies against the floor while breathing.
Water maintainance is the most important issue. Obviously, they require detoxified, heated, filtered water. I keep mine at temperatures between 82-86 degrees F, and I have never had a feeding response in temperatures below 80 degrees. Prolonged low temperatures, while I have not personally tried it, no doubt leads to a host of problems. You will most likely have to severely overkill filtration for their aquariums. For example, the 20 longs I kept the infants in individually had sufficient filtration for a typical 55 gallon tank with average fish load. Despite the naysaying I've heard from some about canister filters, they work just fine for introducing Phos-sorb and other filtration media. I personally use undergravel filters in combination with canisters, to keep large debris in the substrate where it can be siphoned, and to introduce filtration media. The most problematic toxins are phosphates and ammonia, no doubt from the considerable urine output of any snake. I'm sure most herpers have seen what happens when a snake urinates in its water dish. I also strongly recommend using a glass aquarium hood, not so much for security as to reduce evaporation. 80+ degree water evaporates surprisingly quickly. I perform water toxin tests weekly, and usually wind up doing a 30-50% water change depending on toxicity once every week to week and a half. It should be noted that filesnakes seem to do better in fully cycled water. Salinity is often debated; I keep mine in fresh water, except in cases of health problems, which I will discuss presently.
The most common problem as I can ascertain is skin infection. I myself have had it happen, and I've spoken with accomplished zookeepers who lost filesnakes to it. Its not terribly hard to combat if you catch it early. Its caused, as far as I can tell, by water toxicity, which frankly is easy enough to allow to spiral out of control. Large vertebrates are waste factories. At any rate, it produces skin blistering and fungus, which looks like a white fuzz, and peeling of the skin. It occurs in spots here and there, and can be seen in early stages. It is best treated, from my own experience, by first and foremost bringing the water to as clean conditions as possible. Check all filtration media, determine what toxins are high, and correct this problem. Secondly, you can perform weekly saline soaks. Remove the filesnake from the tank, and place it in a small container filled with strongly saline water. A hygrometer probably isn't necessary, a ratio of 1/8 teaspoon to a quarter gallon will work fine. Soak the snake in this solution for about 30 minutes, then return it to its regular tank. This can be further enhanced by very lightly salinifying the regular tank water, no more than a teaspoon per 20 gallons; 180 then could stand to hold 9 teaspoons. This will make it somewhat less than brackish water; Javan Filesnakes cannot properly hydrate in highly saline water, so you must keep the level of salt low. A dash of aquarium salt is effective treatment for disease in a both filesnakes as well as many fish. Continue this treatment until the sores no longer appear to be growing fungus, and still then continue to mildly salinify the water. It will take several sheds before the peeled skin heals completely, though one shed will recover most of the important damage. Keep water quality optimal!
Feeding is pretty simple. Goldfish, minnows, or shiners, all work fine. Yes, I've heard lots of argument why petstore goldfish are just horrible, and why goldfish have a lot of fat anyway. Frankly, I'm not worried about it, bait shop fish are typically as dirty or dirtier, and I haven't encountered any piscian parasites that are transmitted to filesnakes. As for fat content, I assure you it is lower than the fat content of rodents, snakes can easily tolerate a bit of fat in their diet. Keep in mind that we're talking snakes, not fish here. Obviously I recommend buying from a petshop you trust; Petsmart probably isn't going to be the best choice. If it still concerns you, keep the goldfish in a separate holding tank with mild salinity for two weeks prior to placing them with your filesnakes, to allow for disease to be wiped out by the salt content. Keep in mind that filesnakes will prefer easy to swallow prey, something twice to three times the size of their head is optimal. I haven't observed nearly as significant of jaw distention as is common in many terrestrial snakes, and they seem to ignore larger fish. Pick your fish size accordingly. I try and keep the tank fairly dense with fish, it makes hunting easier. Keeping too few fish in the tank will reduce their food intake, and they may be unable to catch them if you keep the levels too low. You should have something like 100-200 feeders present at all times for optimum feeding response. Keep in mind again that you should keep temperatures high to keep feeding response up; you should also expect some mortality among the feeders and scoop them out to prevent putrification, the high temperature of the water will reduce the lives of most feeder fish.
So there you have it, a bedrock of personal experience with these snakes. This is what I've learned from keeping these snakes successfully for a sustained period, and I've had zero mortality thus far. Most of what I've read elsewhere either contained useless information, misleading information, insufficient information, myths, or even destructive practices. I see no reason why a keeper with sufficient background in both aquatics and snakekeeping, and enough money to burn on tanks and filtration equipment, can't maintain these snakes in a satisfactory manner.
- Jason R
