Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've recently acquired a small sharp-tailed snake. He's about the length of a pencil and half the diameter. So far, the slugs I've been throwing in with him have been disapearing. Does anyone have any experience keeping these guys long term?

What kind of set-up do you use?

Is there anything besides slugs that they will eat (I've tried earthworms and mealworms without success)?

If he's eating exclusively slugs is there any type of supplementation necessary?

Thanks,
Alice

The main prey for Contia tenius are slugs. They have longer teeth designed for gripping slugs. Since that is the only thing they eat in the wild, and they survive in the wild, I wouldn't think you need any vitamin supplements. But you can sprinkle some stuff on some of the slugs maybe once a week. They only get to about 12 to 14 inches in length.

Their habitat is usually around woodland areas. For a natural looking habitat inside a tank, I would use a mix of sand, potting soil and some bark. Mix it all up and spray it with water, put it in the tank. Add some flat rocks and maybe some big pieces of bark. They are more active in the wet season, because that is when slugs are more active. Since they only eat slugs, you should probably feed it every 3 days or so.

They may also eat snails and small salamanders.

Michael
Michael's Place

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They are primarily a dawn/dusk creature, sometimes out in the day. Out in the middle of the night during the breeding season.

They are temperate, so you will have to provide a cool season (usually coincides with the wet season). Not cold. House temperatures should be fine, except in summer when you need to make sure they don't get too hot or dry.

Primary diet is slugs, thin-shelled snails. I don't know if they can handle hard-shelled snails. They may eat crickets (pull the back legs off so they can't jump). The need to supplement is going to be dependent on what the slugs are eating. Couldn't hurt though. You can also consider vitamin-supplemented water. You could also try small feeder-guppies. You'll need to make sure the slugs haven't been exposed to pesticides or herbicides (you could start a colony, especially for wintertime.)

Besides woodland areas, they like areas with heavy ground cover. A bed of ivy near a lot of grass is where I find them. They like cover and are shy.

They won't get much bigger then a pencil, maybe a bit longer. A very small snake. I named mine Nightcrawler, because when I found him I thought he was a nightcrawler worm. (I picked him up to move him off the steps before someone stepped on him, and he turned around and bit me. His teeth did not puncture through my skin.)

Absolutely make sure that it either can't reach the lid, or that the lid is incredibly small mesh screen. They are escape artists and their tiny size makes them impossible to find if they get out. (Unfortunately, Nightcrawler's cage was on the top of a cage next to my bearded dragon's cage. He got out and went into my dragon's cage. My dragon ate him. The snake had a nasty wild strain of coccidia....it killed my dragon in a horrible way.)

Also, unless you get a clean bill of health from a reptile vet, consider the snake a major disease carrier. (Humans can get coccidia too, got that after a trip to South Amer, very nasty.)

Hope that helps,
Siriana

Right now I'm keeping him in a 2.5 gallon tank with a sliding screen lid. He's tiny, so I have the lid clamped to make sure it stays tightly shut. I've got 2 inches of damp bed-beast as substrate and a flat piece of bark for him to hide under. I've been collecting slugs from my garden (we don't use pesticides) and I've been putting leaves of romain lettuce in his cage for the slugs to eat. He's already got a network of burrows in the substrate and he also likes to hide under the bark and lettuce leaves. I mist the lettuce leaves to keep them perky and the slugs moist and he drinks the droplets off the leaves.

I'll try to find some small garden snails and see if he'll take them. It would be great if he does since the shells would be a good source of calcium. Did yours eat snails, guppies, etc?

Where was your snake from (mine was from Santa Cruz, CA)? How long did you maintain him before his escape?

I'm sorry to hear about your dragon. I'm pretty sure this guy can't escape, but if he does he'll have a heck of a time getting into anyone elses cage, and, I always wash my my hands after handling him or messing around in his cage.

Thanks!
Alice

You can also try some fake aquarium plants as added cover. Oh, and you can try vitamin spraying the slugs, and giving the slugs good leafy veggies to eat (the standard bearded dragon leafy greens mix, most websites have it listed).

I was going to get guppies the day he disappeared, so I never tried it. I also actually didn't get to try snails either (I was going to use fish tank "junk" snails because they have thin shells and breed like crazy), which I was going to get that day too. (You can't buy snails in Cal., but most pet stores will give you the junk snails for free).

According to the species descriptions I looked up, they do eat snails, and basically most anything small enough to swallow that they can catch, which is usually slugs and snails. He did eat a few small crickets.

My little guy was from Novato, Ca (north of San Francisco bay). Honestly, I had him for about a week before he escaped. But I did a gigantic amount of research so I could provide a good habitat for him. His cage was an awesome zoo-quality display, but it was a kritter-keeper (the huge one) and he fit through the slits in the lid.

Try tossing in a few rocks. Just make sure he can't climb or reach the lid. A little water bowl would be good too (soaking and drinking).

Your setup sounds good. A 10 gallon tank would allow you to build a *sweet* micro-habitat that'd be escape proof. The size you're using is fine too. I love designing mini-habitats. (I used to have succulents in my dragon cages, but the dragons thought they were the best sleeping perches ever and killed them within a week by laying on them.)

Hope this is helpful,
Siriana

It's interesting that yours ate crickets, I'll have to get him a few. I caught a baby garden snail for him tonight, so I'll see what he thinks of that. I'll get him a water bowl and throw in some feeder guppies (I get these anyway for my garters) and I'll see if he'll eat those.

I've had small snakes escape through the air holes in critter keepers. When I went to get his tank, they sold medium mesh screens which would fit existing tanks that I had. The size of the mesh though was still too large so I opted for a new tank with the sliding lid and fine mesh screen. I have to keep the pin in place so that he doesn't get through that hole, but the pin permits enough movement of the lid to leave gaps so I use a clamp on the other end to keep the lid totally shut. I've had escapes (luckily they were recaptured) effected by snkaes who I didn't think could reach their lids so I'm not taking any chances.

-Alice