Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Given the upgrade to my retics cages I will this winter be finding myself with several 6x3 cages available, and have, after much thought and asking onforums, decided I want to work with cribos. I'm looking at getting a pair or two of black tails (I have two breeders located) come december (these big cages take a while to pay off and get shipped--severa 8x4x2 cages are PRICEY).

Anyhow, they'll be babies of course. I'm figuring I need to keep them fairly warm, keep humidity up but allow ventilation, and feed feed feed? I'm thinking warm end in the low 90s, cypress as a substrate. Most colubrids I have I put in moist hides (think nest boxes) but I've heard with cribos and indigos that they are prone to skin problems if allowed to soak or stay in moist moss like that too much. So I was figuring mist the cages on the warm end 1-2x per day? I live in the desert so humidity is an issue.

Also, everything I've read states they eat tons compared to other similarly sized colubrids. I'd figure pinks or fuzzy mice to start, offered 3-4x/week? Or is that probably too agressive? I'm figuring if they're eating that much they'd take relatively smaller prey animals but I could be wrong.

And how much do they climb? I can mount hide boxes to the top of the cage if they need a secure, arboreal retreat without too much problem. I know they're not considered arboreal as such but I've seen plenty of terrestrial snakes that'll climb if given a chance.
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.

My experience(I first produced these in '82) is that they need dry bedding and clean water--substrates like cypress mulch-way too moist. They definately are hiders, I can't imagine overfeeding one as long as it's not oversized prey. Interestingly, my adults will eat just about anything-I put a fresh chicken egg in with a big male 2 nights ago and he ate it immediately. You should be able to get them on thawed rats/mice easily. I am working this year on acclimating some to 100% NC Florida climate, so far they seem to tolerate temps between a native herp and tropicals. I have had babies that ate live mice the day they hatched as well, only snake I've ever had do that. I've also had them where they wouldn't eat, period, indefinately...strange animals!--Kerry Swan, Citra, Fl

Great snakes with even greater appetites. By far my most aggressive feeders. I've lost track how many times I've had to catch my large male from hitting the floor because he lunges at his food so aggressively.

I keep mine on aspen bedding and offer them a moist hide box. They tend to be more secretive than my other drys, so an adequate hide is key. My ambient day temps are around 76 and I let that fall to 70-72 at night. The general rule is to keep ambient temps 80 degrees or lower. I currently have several babies if you are interested.

Jason Ayers
540-847-8712