Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I went to the Northern Berks Reptile Show in Hamburg PA last weekend. I spotted some interesting looking snakes semi submerged in water. I was intrigued and found myself continually drawn back to look at them and ask more and more questions. After a few hours it became inevitable that they were to come home with me. They are Chinese Dog Faced Water Snakes (Cerberus rhynchops). I know very little about them and have not been able to find much care info online. They are a little over a foot long and the vendor told me they'd grow to about 2 feet. I have since found out they might get bigger than that, maybe 3 or 4 feet. They are very aquatic, but do need to have something in the enclosure to climb on if they wish to get out of the water. I set them up in a 55 gallon tank, filled 3/4 with water, filtered with an under gravel filter with two powerheads. No heat yet as the room they are in is about 80 degrees. I'll need to heat the tank in the winter though. I have pieces of driftwood and grapevine floating for them to climb out onto. They use their tails alot. I'd go so far as to call them prehensile. I've read they use the tails to attract fish, and they often wrap their tails around things in the tank and hold on while they explore the nearby area with the rest of their body. They eat exclusively fish, I've gotten them to eat frozen/thawed silversides so far. My pet store only had guppies and they are ignoring them so I now have a dozen pet guppies. I'm going back today to get some Rosies that they should get in todays shipment. I read that they do have venom but are harmless to people as it's mild and has little effect on us. I do not know if they actually have fangs for delivery into the fish or not. I was told they were both female and both gravid. I hope they are. This is a fascinating species and I'm totally mesmerized by them. They are very active and seem to like their new home. If anyone knows care info on them, anything I'm doing wrong or anything I could do to improve their habitat, please let me know. It is very hard to get photos of them. Here are a few. I'll try to get more.

I also picked up an Albino Bullfrog, and a group of Black Rat Snakes. A Normal Black Rat male, a pair of Rusty Black Rats, all 3 are poss het Leucistic and Licorice Stick, and an Orange Albino Black Rat female poss het Licorice Stick. Was worth the 15 hour round trip. Although it was very hot and very crowded. The temp in the building was 89 degrees per our temp guns and we were packed in like sardines. They seriously need a bigger building for the shows.
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Lyns Lair
WNY Herpetological Society

0.1 Cat (Mia)
4.2 Ferrets (Wolf, Shadow, Verdell, Sullivan, Boo, Peach)
8.5 Pet Rats (Inky, Oy, Ben, Pinky, Templeton, Cotton, Bilbo, Carlo, Isis, Wiggles, Honey Bump, Morning Star, Princess Buttercup)
1.0 Coastal/Jungle Carpet Python (Bear)
1.0 Irian Jaya Carpet Python (Ijjy)
1.0 Malagasy Blonde Hognose (Wilbur)
1.0 Yellow/Everglades Rat Snake (Pumpkin)
1.0 Black Rat Snake (not named yet)
1.1 Rusty Black Rat Snakes (not named yet)
0.1 Orange Albino Black Rat Snake (not named yet)
1.0 Russian Sand Boa (Fang)
0.1 California King Snake (Boo)
0.1 Normal Corn Snake (Mysty)
1.0 Anery Corn Snake (Suezo)
1.1 Normal Corn Snakes het Pewter and Snow (Romeo & Juliet)
1.0 Amel Corn Snake (Rubeus)
1.1.3 Eastern Milk Snakes (Snoopy, Spot, Uno, Dos, Tres)
1.0 Ball Python (Slytherin)
1.0 Smooth Green Snake (Fred)
1.0 Banded Water Snake (Bubbles)
0.2 Chinese Dog Faced Water Snakes (not named yet)
0.0.1 Eastern Garter Snake (Slithers)
0.1 Golden Greek Tortoise (Sunshine)
0.2 Mississippi Mud Turtles (Squirt & Shyanne)
1.0.1 Bearded Dragons (Moose & Tipsy)
0.0.1 Mountain Horned Dragon (Tiramisu)
0.0.1 American Toad (Bump)
0.0.1 Fowlers Toad (Rudy)
0.0.3 Cane Toads (Trevor, Mud Pie, & Rocky Road)
0.0.3 Bullfrogs (Hop Scotch, Jumping Jack, Leap Frog)
0.0.1 Albino Bullfrog (no name yet)
0.0.2 Green Frog Tadpoles (no names yet)
1.0 AFT Gecko (Cocoa)
5.4 Leopard Geckos (Trouble, Scooter, Simba, Firenze, Teddy, Mystique, Freckles, Zipper, Twister)
0.0.4 Leopard Gecko Babies (no names yet)

I can't help you much with their husbandry, but they are really cool. I am sitting here waiting on a pair of chinese watersnakes - Enhydris chinensis to arrive. I'll put some picks up later. Wanna Trade? LOL

I saw them as well. I almost bought one. The seller claimed they were all gravid as well.

But then I walked around one more time, and I saw another seller who had one. It was bigger, heavier then the ones you bought. It looked exactly the same. It was $10.00 cheaper though, so I bought it .

This seller didnt know much about it, but he claimed it was a Rainbow Water Snake (Enhydris enhydris). It looks exactly like the other ones though. I really thought the others were Enhydris also, but who knows.

I am keeping this girl similar to how I kept my tentacleds a couple years back. They did very well in a blackwater aquarium, so thats what I am doing with her. So far shes doing good. Shes actually pretty docile also, but now I am reading about some people having blod clotting effects from enhydris venom, so I will probably keep handling to a minimum now just to be safe.
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Billy
Reptile World
http://www.reptile-world.net

Oh, I didn't even see the other one. I could have had the 3rd one pretty cheap from the vendor I got my two from, he actually approached me as I was leaving to make a deal, but I was hot and tired and looking at a 7 hour drive home and was haggled out. I'm regretting it now because she was fatter than the two I got and more likely gravid. I don't think mine are gravid. They are fresh imports, he only thought they were gravid since as a rule they seem to be gravid when he gets them. They hadn't actually been bred in captivity or anything. I'm thrilled with them, they are wolfing down the minnows. I looked up pics of Enhydris enhydris and that's definitley not what mine are. I found pics of Cerberus rhynchops and they look exactly like my snakes. Mine have shown no sign of agression when handling, but I only handle them when transferring to a holding container to clean their main tank. I don't want to handle them any more than possible because of fear of stressing them. I didn't know they were considered venomous. I know it was a hot show, but I thought all venomous would be labeled accordingly, and when I asked about handling the vendor said they were friendly and with the ease at which he picked them up it just never occured to me they could be dangerous. I'm guessing though that they are no more dangerous than my Malagassy Hognose or my Garter. Both have been know to cause reactions with their bites but neither would require any special treatment.

I am sorry for my ignorance, but what is a Blackwater tank? Is there something I should be doing with the water? I added another filter, am now running an under gravel filter with two powerheads and a really nice submersible filter with the charcoal for added chemical filtration. I swapped out the two flourescent bulbs for two 100 watt heat lamps after reading that they like higher temps. I'll have to add a water heater once the weather gets colder.

Does your snake come out of the water to bask? Does it look like the online photos of Enhydris enhydris or does it look more like mine? I am just fascinated with my girls. Definitely happy that I got them. Hope you are enjoying your new snake as well.
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Lyns Lair
WNY Herpetological Society

SNAKES (26)
2.0 Carpet Pythons
1.0 Ball Python
1.0 Russian Sand Boa
3.2 Corn Snakes
2.2 Black Rat Snakes
1.0 Everglades/Yellow Ratsnake
0.1 California Kingsnake
1.1.3 Eastern Milk Snakes
0.2 Chinese Dog Faced Water Snakes
1.0 Banded Water Snake
0.0.1 Eastern Garter Snake
1.0 Smooth Green Snake
1.0 Malagasy Blond Hognose

LIZARDS/GECKOS (17)
2.0 Bearded Dragons
0.0.1 Mountain Horned Dragon
5.4.4 Leopard Geckos
1.0 AFT Gecko

CHELONIANS (3)
0.1 Golden Greek Tortoise
0.2 Mississippi Mud Turtles

AMPHIBIANS (9)
0.0.1 American Bullfrog
0.0.1 Albino Bullfrog
0.0.3 Cane Toads
0.0.1 American Toad
0.0.1 Fowlers Toad
0.0.2 Green Frog Tadpoles

MAMMALS (20)
0.1 Cat
4.2 Ferrets
8.5 Rats

Current Headcount: 75

All I have really seen mine do is rest her head on the corkbark that floats in her tank, havent seen her fully out of the water.

Blackwater is a term used to describe slightly acidic water with good biological content, like tanic acid from live plants and driftwood. It is the type of water that south american cichlids, angelfish, and freshwater stingrays do very well in.

There are commercial blackwater extracts that can be used to help acheive these conditions. I use the Tetra Blackwater Extract if I need to, but simply keeping live plants in the tank and a few pieces of driftwood, you should be able to acheive a blackwater environment.

I am going to try and set my Enhydris up in a new tank soon, what she is in now I am not really happy with. I want to make it as naturalistic as possible, which should please both me and the snake, lol. Once I do that, I will take some pictures and post them here.

Thanks, and good luck with your snakes as well.
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Billy
Reptile World
http://www.reptile-world.net

I will look at my local store and see if I can find the extract. I did have cork bark in there the first day and the water turned all reddish. I have since taken out the cork, but if that will be beneficial I can put it back in. They never used the cork, they liked the floating wood better which is why I switched. I had some greapevine that they loved but it kept getting slimy so I took it out. Definitely been a trial/error thing so far and I'm very glad the snakes are tolerating my multitudes of changes trying to get the tank just right. I found a plastic "cichlid" plant that is very strong and weighted with a heavy base. They love that. I have silk plants in there too that they like. I haven't tried live plants yet but am willing to give that a go. Thanks for the advise and I look forward to seeing the setup pictures when you get your tank done.
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Lyns Lair
WNY Herpetological Society

SNAKES (26)
2.0 Carpet Pythons
1.0 Ball Python
1.0 Russian Sand Boa
3.2 Corn Snakes
2.2 Black Rat Snakes
1.0 Everglades/Yellow Ratsnake
0.1 California Kingsnake
1.1.3 Eastern Milk Snakes
0.2 Chinese Dog Faced Water Snakes
1.0 Banded Water Snake
0.0.1 Eastern Garter Snake
1.0 Smooth Green Snake
1.0 Malagasy Blond Hognose

LIZARDS/GECKOS (17)
2.0 Bearded Dragons
0.0.1 Mountain Horned Dragon
5.4.4 Leopard Geckos
1.0 AFT Gecko

CHELONIANS (3)
0.1 Golden Greek Tortoise
0.2 Mississippi Mud Turtles

AMPHIBIANS (9)
0.0.1 American Bullfrog
0.0.1 Albino Bullfrog
0.0.3 Cane Toads
0.0.1 American Toad
0.0.1 Fowlers Toad
0.0.2 Green Frog Tadpoles

MAMMALS (20)
0.1 Cat
4.2 Ferrets
8.5 Rats

Current Headcount: 75

hey guys, good to know i am not the only one keeping these. i foud that with my enhydris i have a half and half tank and she/it, it's a baby, only goes into the water for fishing. i ahve also given her tadpoles. i do not have a heat source in there only a UV light and a bubbler in the water. i never see her on the surface except for the feeding time. there was an article in recent Reptiles magazine about them, i think in the summer issue. if i were you i would definitely set up a dry area where she can hide out and get dry out of the water. since they are not completely aquatic, i don't think it matters what kind of water system you have, as long as it is clean. i have a lot of cuttings of pothos that rooted in the water to take up the waste. mine is still pretty small, about the size of a pencil, well, a larger pencil, but it might be cheaper to try some market fish, the small kind that you can also freeze.