Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys, hot days...

...I thought bungarus were quite laid back snakes!!

i've my bungarus flaviceps since last week. i put it in a nice 2m X 1m X .8 m box, with an heavy himidity rate. & little enlightment as it requires.

it was quite laid back when i put it in the box(maybe because he wasnt at the right temperature during the trip to home)...But now it's so agressive i cant approach him, even a taipan wouldnt be sicker!

i succeded in introducing two white mouse in the box,he killed them only after one day but havent eaten them yet. Of course, i wont try to get the mouse out of the box...I HAVE NO AV FOR THIS SICK SPECIES!!

I consider myself as quite experimented as i had a n.nivea, c.vegrandis, c.durissus (the coolest snake i've ever met, no terrificus at all!), c.scutatus, bitis arientas & bothrops lateralis. All of them were quite OK, although the scutatus was a little nervous.

SO PLEASE, WHAT SHOULD I DO IN ORDER TO HANDLE THIS SATANIC BASTARD ???

THANKS DEEPLY FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS!

The first thing I'd do (as your posts greatly suggests that you are not comfortable with this snake) is to get rid of the thing. You are obviously nervous about it, and if you are nervous when you work with it, it is just going to open up the door for mistakes to happen, which could easily result in a fatal bite.

You say: Of course, i wont try to get the mouse out of the box. Sounds to me like you got a species that you are not willing to work with. You've demonstrated that you can't properly care for this animal, so find someone who can.

If you were getting into this species for the right reason, you would've had enough experience for it and would have been prepared to force feed it if needed. But it sounds like you went and bought a "trophy snake" and didn't check things through first. I'd again suggest getting rid of the animal before your situation gets worse... Afterall, it isn't worth your life is it?

thanks for your answer.

i forgot to mention i've shut down the heating since last night...

...ive just succeed in removing the mouse & got little reaction from the snake.

i programmed the same temperature as for my durissus(30 Celsius), i'll try with 25 since now.

today i bought some cheap fishes at the petstore and put them alive in his water bowl. i could make him notice them. As a relative of the sea-kraits, he should appreciate some "sushis"!

will know tomorrow morning if h eats fish

How long has this specimen been in captiivty? Has it been properly deparasitised? You have undertaken a real handful as it is a little kept, poorly unknown but highly toxic species for which which no effective antivenom is made. How experience are you with highly venomous snakes, and kraits in particular. They are weird snakes that require specialised care and handling techniques.

They need to be kept cool rather than warm and will readily take fish and eels. Give them a moss filled enclosure that is lightly damp and several inches deep. A samll basking spot in one corner but with the rest of the cage having an ambient temperature of around 25 or so. They are stress prone and will likely spend most of its time buried under the moss.

Best of luck.

Cheers
Bryan
-----
Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry
Deputy Director
Australian Venom Research Unit
University of Melbourne

www.venomdoc.com

thanks for your precious answer!

I tried another time with some longer fishes & he has just eaten them right now!!

he is wc from indonesia & supposed to have been correctly deparasited by the vendor.

My experience with elapids is with a very active ~1m long n.nivea.But i'm not sure if trying to hook my flaviceps(>>1m long) the same way will be a good idea, he seems much more flighty & faster. I dont want him jump from the hook against my face.

so what do you think is the best way to handle this kind of snake?

Thanks a lot.

The best way to handle him will depend on its size. If its big enough, the gentle giants from Midwest are brilliant. Two problems exist for them: 1) they are designed for US heavy bodied pitvipers so the tong size is typically too large for small/medium sized elapids. 2) the inside surface has almost no friction to it so snakes can wriggle out easily. We have put a no-skid felt on the inside and it solves that problem quickly, cheaply and easily. Not a drama.

For your snake, using a pair of long hooks might be the best option. Give yourself plenty of working space and never work with fast moving snakes like kraits in cramp spaces.

Enjoy and post some pictures!

Cheers
Bryan
-----
Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry
Deputy Director
Australian Venom Research Unit
University of Melbourne

www.venomdoc.com

gotta love it! lol

That should make it much less agressive. Nice Troll.

First off you should have done some research, bungarus flaviceps is not a rodent eater, it eats frogs,lizards and other snakes for the most part. Second, this is one of if not the most aggressive of the kraits, I will say you should have better luck working with it during the day as kraits tend to be nocturnal, but dont take that a gospel. Now that being said, not much has been written or researched about captive husbandry of red headed kraits as they are not common. Your best bet would be to get rid of it to someone who knows how to handle it. For feeding try some frogs, maybe leopard frogs, or some brown or rough green snakes, maybe even anoles or skinks. But let common sense prevail put it up for sale and try to recover at least part of your money and consider it a learning experience, that is one of my "wish list" snakes but for now, it remains just that.

I'm not a venomous keeper but have done some work experience at a herp zoo. I will pass on that at this zoo's mamba exhibit the hide box is in a corner and has a sliding door that is open/closed from outside the cage. This eliminates handling, and even exposure to the snake during cleaning ect.
Something like this may come in handy for your krait