Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm really interested in the way these guys look (also sunbeam snakes)--love the irridescence. Can anyone recommend some good care sheets I can look at, or have experience in keeping them that they can relate? I'm a somewhat experienced reptile person, having kept and cared for all sorts of stuff, so I'm trying to get an idea of what they are like and where to find them--you are welcome to e-mail me at polosue25@yahoo.com
thanks for any info
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Sue

0.1 Western hognose (Sola)
1.0 Crested gecko (Gator)
0.1 Egyptian spiny mouse (Mia)
2.2 mini rex rabbits (Reggie, Hayden, Jackie and Peek-a-boo)
0.1 Plott hound (Molly)
0.1 'found in someone's garage' kitty (Terra)

1.0 Betta (Flash) and 1.0 FL kingsnake (Vega) currently living with boyfriend

I'd go w/ a sunbeam snake, they are so much more harder to care for, and there are few caresheets on them. lol, a challenge will get you thinking.
Michael
Michael's Place

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Michael's Place has updated better caresheets
Helmz777@aol.com
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake

Hi Sue,

There's a great caresheet for African House snakes here on Kingsnake (under Care Sheets/FAQs/Features link). They are pretty easy to keep (don't require the humidity that sunbeams do from what I understand). Sunbeams take the prize when it comes to irridescence, but they tend to be shy, retiring snakes. Maybe not the best "pet" for observing. I find with House snakes the darker House snakes show the best sheen- but all of them have some rainbow effect. Also, African House snakes are readily available captive bred- which is always a plus starting out with a species, as captive bred tend to be a bit more forgiving than animals that have already adapted to a wild environment.
As far as my experience keeping AHS- temps between 80-85F for a hot spot ambient around 72-75F, humidity around 35-50%, feed once a week on appropriately sized frozen/thawed mice. I find if you feed in the evening you get a better feeding response with hatchlings, though with adults they eat very readily any time of day. Separate caging for sexes or you'll end up with clutches year round (which can be pretty hard on the females). Hatchlings can be defensive, but adults generally calm down and are easy to handle.
John Cherry (and a couple of other people) currently have ads up in the classifieds (under Other Snakes) for some house snakes if you are looking for them.

They are neat little snakes, and they exhibit more of the behaviour of a python than a Colubrid.

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Lora

thanks for the good info....will let y'all know if I end up with one (not that I need another animal but snakes are just so darn easy to take care of that you don't notice a few extra right?) (also might take a big red-tail off a friend so increasing the collection slowly)
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Sue

0.1 Western hognose (Sola)
1.0 Crested gecko (Gator)
0.1 Egyptian spiny mouse (Mia)
2.2 mini rex rabbits (Reggie, Hayden, Jackie and Peek-a-boo)
0.1 Plott hound (Molly)
0.1 'found in someone's garage' kitty (Terra)

1.0 Betta (Flash) and 1.0 FL kingsnake (Vega) currently living with boyfriend

House snakes are great. Real easy care needs. I have a standard 20L tank. Regulated heat pad (using a credenza switch) with a temp of around 85-90. Cool side is room temp. I give mine lots of hides. One for hot side, one for cool. I also give her one as a moist hide.
Great eaters.

Mine hides quite a bit, but doesn't mind being taken out and held. She's very curious and has never bit me even after handling f/t mice.

Best of all, the price can't be beat. I bought my girl for $15. They're easily bred so browns are real cheap. For the more rare species, price goes up, but still very reasonable.

There´s no snake I know of that is as easy to keep as the african house snake. Breeding is easy ´but they tend to be somewhat over prolific. You have to keep males seperated if you don´t want to have your female lay a clutch every two month from Februaty to November.
What makes them so interesting is that they come in many different colour variants from brick red to a perfect black. I have red, black, orange, dark green and light green variants in my collection as well as amelanistic and normal Lowveld (striped and maculated) from Souther Africa. Easiest to take care of are the south african Lowveld house snakes. They get bigger than the other forms and tend to produce bigger hatchlings which are easier to feed.
The black morph shows an iridescence comparable to that of Drymarchon corais couperi.
The red morph is told to originate from higher elevations within Southern Africa (Highveld Morph). They are smaller than Lowveld snakes and hatchlings are tiny, many of them have to be force fed several times. Once eating they are as easy to keep as every other house snake.
Another positive aspect in keeping hosue snakes is, that adults tend to be the amongst the most docile snakes in captivity. I´ve only been bitten twice within 18 years of keeping these little gems.
Best wishes,
Mathias

do you breed and sell? or just keep them for fun? I haven't found a lot of nice-looking ones, I do like the colored snakes a bit better than the brown but they are all pretty. e-mail me at polosue25@yahoo.com
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Sue

0.1 Western hognose (Sola)
1.0 Crested gecko (Gator)
0.1 Egyptian spiny mouse (Mia)
2.2 mini rex rabbits (Reggie, Hayden, Jackie and Peek-a-boo)
0.1 Plott hound (Molly)
0.1 'found in someone's garage' kitty (Terra)

1.0 Betta (Flash) and 1.0 FL kingsnake (Vega) currently living with boyfriend

Yes and no. I do breed and I do sell, but I´m living in Germany and if I am to dare a guess you are a citizen of the US, right.
For all those who like house snakes, here are some pics.
Cheers,
Mathias

Hope this works

Another one

This one is interesting. Two years old, eating sufficient but only 40 cm long. Also different colouration, bigger eyes and head shape. Currently doing research on this one to find out what this could be.

great pics, I really like the blacks...also some reds I have seen. I'm going to a show in Pennsylvania at the end of the month and have been told I'll probably see some there, so who knows, maybe I'll pick one up. thanks for sharing your pictures
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Sue

0.1 Western hognose (Sola)
1.0 Crested gecko (Gator)
0.1 Egyptian spiny mouse (Mia)
2.2 mini rex rabbits (Reggie, Hayden, Jackie and Peek-a-boo)
0.1 Plott hound (Molly)
0.1 'found in someone's garage' kitty (Terra)

1.0 Betta (Flash) and 1.0 FL kingsnake (Vega) currently living with boyfriend

Go for it. You will never regret it