Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all --

I have the opportunity to possibly purchase a young mud snake. This snake has been in captivity for at least 8 months, and has been eating tadpoles and frogs. I haven't decided whether to buy it, but I'm interested.

I'm well aware of their dietary preferences and semi-aquatic nature. I've also read some threads here on kingsnake.com in which keepers were successful in converting young snakes to pinkies. However, I can't find any mention of TEMPERATURE requirements.

Is anyone here currently keeping mud snakes? Any advice? I do think these guys are awfully handsome, so info would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
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0.1 Peruvian rainbow boa (Amaru)
2.0 Brazilian rainbow boas (Arco, Olho)
1.3.1 Honduran milksnakes (Chicchan, Chanir, Hari, TBA)
1.0 Thayeri kingsnake (Coatl)
0.0.1 Mexican black kingsnake (Mora)
2.7 corns (Cetto, Tolosa, Uce, TBA)
1,000,000.1,000,000 other critters

Mud snakes supposedly do ok when they are young. I kept an young adult male on Bull frogs for about a year and a half and then went in one day and found it dead for no aparent reason :/ the Bullfrogs I was collecting were from Cranberry Bogs that were periodically sprayed with pesticides. It IS possible for frogs to retain toxins and those toxins may have been passed on to the snake. i have no idea, but the snake did eat them for the whole time I had them (he ate them ft by the way, they were not alive).
Anyway, I kept mine with a relatively deep substrate of "damp" bark mulch. Because it was damp, this allowed the snake to burrow without the substrate collapsing. The top of the substrate was dry (very important). I had a large water bowl on top of the substrate that the snake was often found under.
I just recieved a nice female about two feet long, so i'm gonna take another stab at it These snake's are awesome and definately deserve a chance. P.s., I wouldn't feed it mice without knowing someone respectable that has been successful with it first. this couldn't be any further away from their natural diet. Good luck!
Skin & Scales

Thanks for the very informative post! I decided to not get this snake, but maybe next time!
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0.1 Peruvian rainbow boa (Amaru)
2.0 Brazilian rainbow boas (Arco, Olho)
1.3.1 Honduran milksnakes (Chicchan, Chanir, Chakar, Hari, Saksak)
1.0 Thayeri kingsnake (Coatl)
0.0.1 Mexican black kingsnake (Mora)
2.7 corns (Cetto, Tolosa, Uce, TBA)
1,000,000.1,000,000 other critters