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CB 2+ year old Male Pseudaspis cana. Hopefully my CB female will be ready next year.

Ophidiophile Farms

How much that look like a Pituophis. It looks like the scales are smooth, but other than that it looks just like a black pine.

Parallel evolution.

Since they are called "mole snakes" I assume they are mostly fossorial and adapted for killing rodents while underground, just like pine snakes in the US?

Amazing how a specialzed predator can end up looking so similar thousands of miles and an ocean apart.

>>How much that look like a Pituophis. It looks like the scales are smooth, but other than that it looks just like a black pine.

Yes I agree. I actually posted his picture both here and on the Pituophis forum. This male is particularly black pine-like because he's black. But Pseudaspis is very polymorphic and my female is a light reddish tan color.

>>Since they are called "mole snakes" I assume they are mostly fossorial and adapted for killing rodents while underground, just like pine snakes in the US?

Well like black pines they're mostly terrestrial but you're right, they hunt fossorially. Also like Pituophis, they have an enlarged rostral scale for rooting around. And finally, they are also powerful constrictors, again making them more like Pituophis than Drymarchon.

>>Amazing how a specialzed predator can end up looking so similar thousands of miles and an ocean apart.

I agree, convergence is pretty amazing!

Unlike both Pituophis and Drymarchon, Pseudaspis goes through a dramatic ontogenetic change from neonate to adult. Here's a crummy picture of my black male 2 years ago as a baby:

Where did you get your cb babies? Or when will you have some for sale?

I have been trying to find mole snake for years. I have never been succesful. I had a wc adult male about 10 years ago and fell in love with the species!

Here was my black male. They even act like Pituophis as well. Mine was a big hisser, although he never tried to bite.

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Chris Harrison

>>Where did you get your cb babies? Or when will you have some for sale?

A couple of years ago, an importer in Florida was offering babies that were captive bred by a guy in South Africa and which he imported. I was told there were only a couple of females and they were both in rotten shape. I bought 1.1 and sure enough the emaciated female I received was dead within a week. Fortunately about a year later the importer acquired another cb snake from the guy in S. Africa. It was advertised on kingsnake as a male. I called and said I wasn't interested in a male but to call me if he got in a female. About a week later I got a call back and was told the one advertised on kingsnake was missexed and that it was a female! So I snapped it up.

I'm hoping that the pair will be ready to breed next year (2005). The male is almost certainly ready now, but the female has been a somewhat finicky feeder and is still only in the 3 foot range. Her appetite has recently picked up though. She is a tawny reddish tan color - similar to the one in the photo that Doug Taylor posted but just a bit lighter.

Just FYI, here's a photo of my black male as a neonate right after I got him. The ontogenetic change they go through (not to mention the size change from newborn-garter-snake-size to 6 footer) is pretty amazing:

Ophidiophile Farms

Here's the female that I had that I sent to Ophidiophile to hopefully make part of successful breeding group. No such luck as he couldn't fix her from whatever gave her troubles here.

As you can see, she was light brown. Gorgeous snake.

I agree on the pituophis comparison. Just don't get bit by an adult.

Doug T

>>Here's the female that I had that I sent to Ophidiophile to hopefully make part of successful breeding group. No such luck as he couldn't fix her from whatever gave her troubles here.
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>>As you can see, she was light brown. Gorgeous snake.

Yes she was a nice Mozambiquan mole. I actually knew this snake and her previous owner for quite some time before Doug acquired her. She was wild caught as a large adult and was in the U.S. for at least 10-12 years. Her previous owner also had an imported adult Mozambiquan male but he died. The female went off feed for Doug and I too never could get her feeding, nor would she hold down forced meals. A fecal revealed no parasite problems. I strongly suspect that she was a very old snake and may have simply reached the end of her lifespan. This is a pretty rare occurence in herpetoculture and though we'll never know for sure, I think that's what was going on with this snake.

Anyway, let's hope you have a source for cb moles in about a year! And Doug, you're first on the list for a healthy, feeding female if you want one!

-DT

Beautiful snakes....I have been chasing them for over 20 years with only finding one (at the 95 Daytona Expo...It was dying at the dealer's table...too late to save).

Personally I would appreciate if you notify me of any (either sex)available left over from the rush, I would like a Pair or single specimen from your breeding effort which ever is available.

How are the Boiga d. (Brown babies) doing? Mine is doing great.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."