Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i am inerested in keeping tentacled snake and was wondering how to keep them succesfully
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tree boas all the fun none of the venom

Right off, I have to tell you that this is a snake for ADVANCED herpers. They are DELICATE and the mortality rate is HIGH.

That being said....I have kept this species sucessfully and know others who have as well (including a very nice colony in the Memphis Zoo).

The common denominator is "dirty water". the water should be to the acid side (ph) and should have either driftwood or plants rotting in it (the tanins that leach out from the driftwood seem benificial). The tank (5-10 gal) should be airiated but NOT filtered.

In water with too high a PH, or too clean, the tentacle will develope a blister disease which is fatal unless you reverse the tank conditions (there is also a medication that they use-contact Memphis Zoo).

Diet consists exclusively of small fish. Again, driftwood or plants are necessary for the snake to anchor it'self.

Never try to handle a tentacle except for tank maintenance. They do not bite, but the stress is bad for them.

My personal record is 4 years with this species (that one was an adult when I obtained it). Most live a lot less.

I hope this helps.

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

i am not trying to say your wronge by anymeans, but everything i have read on them says they should be kept in a ph6 level water and that it should be filtered. and if the water is not filtered how often does it have to be changed. thankyou for all of your advice up above.
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tree boas all the fun none of the venom

A Ph of six (neutral) could be acceptable, but everyone (myself included) that tried filtering the water ended up with blister disease. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of that. I NEVER cleaned the tank mine were in, and my animals were fine.

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

so i i keep them in the same water as long as the water doesnt get above a ph6 they should be fine? i thought a ph7 was neutral ?
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tree boas all the fun none of the venom

close enough for government work. Exact PH is not the critcal factor.

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

I was not very successful with mine, and I kept the PH at 6.0
If your really interested in this species, get your tank setup now, and make sure that its well established. One thing I noticed its that they were healthy until they lost the algae that was growing on them and then they got blister disease. Now thats a antedotical observation, but its logical to assume that the algae out competes other pathogens, so my advice is not to place them in tank that doesn't have algae growing in it. Do you have a source for them? they haven't been available for a while. If you can find captive bred they fair much better. I've noticed that alot of asian species get blister disease, or something similar to it, when first imported.

Good observation on the algae. Memphis Zoo has live plants with theirs. Mine were algae free but still thrived. the major link here seems to be the presence of plant material, living or (more likely) something being released by the decomposing plant materialthat benifits them.

An interesting example: a friend of mine (in S. Florida) was too meticulous in filtering his tank and his Tentacles developed blister disease. When he poured (dirty) water straight from a local canal into the tank the symptoms disappeared in a few days.

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

In that case maybe its not just have a low PH, but the presence of Tanic acid. Tanic acid is released from drift wood and rotting plants and makes the water tea colored along with lowering the PH, many tropical fish benefit from its presence, so you can buy it from local aquarium shops, I would definitely give that a shot.

Now you have it!

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

so i should buy the tank now and get some algea growing in it ?, and what should i use for the bottom of the tank? i also heard they get three to four foot long so would a ten gallon tank still be bigg enough
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tree boas all the fun none of the venom

Getting set is a very good idea. Don't forget the driftwood. Regular aquarium gravel is fine for the bottom. The size on these averages 13-14" on adults the largest get to about 27" or so but I have never seen one that big.

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

i actually have a friend with a pond on his property and there all kinds of stick and stuff covered in algea, if yall were talkin about using canal water this should be fine right?
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tree boas all the fun none of the venom

That should be fine, but if your not familiar with the biological processes involved in setting up a tropical tank then you should do some reading. Getting algae alone isn't enough you have to make sure that the tank gets biologically established so that it can support algae growth. When you get your tank supplies, get black water extract(tanic acid) for maintaining a low PH. And a ten gallon is way to small. You must consider the waste that they produce, the tank must not only be large enough for them to comfortably move around in, but it must also be large enough to maintain biological balance with the waste they produce. You should think of them more as fish then as snakes with regard to their care. For most tropical fish, a gallon of water per inch of fish is recommended, and for fish that eat other fishes, two gallons per inch of fish is usually recommended, and that certainly should apply these snakes as well. I won't bother with less then 30 gallon for one snake. Keep in mind the larger the body water the more stable the water conditions will be and the better your chances will be.

"other fish" sorry.

Frank is right--the Memphis Zoo has an awesome display of them. It is doubtful that I would ever try to keep this species, so I am mesmerized by them whenever I visit. I never ceased to be amazed by all that is in this aquatic enclosure in terms of what sustains this species. The herp staff are also very helpful resource people; committed to education and research.
regards,
althea

the bronx zoo had babies when i was there last month but i didnt see the parents
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tree boas all the fun none of the venom