Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everybody

Can anyone tell me what kind of snake is this? it is some kind of sea snake from southeast Asia.

Thanks.

Another photo

Acrochordus sp. Elephant trunk snake. I believe it is freshwater, not marine.

Actually this is the marine species, Acrochordus granulatus. They live in salt grass beds and in mangroves.

They are very difficult to keep, if that is what you are trying to do. They are very susceptible to the dreaded "white spot" disease that affects fully aquatic snakes (do some online research).
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Thanks for your reply and yes, I'm trying to keep them but my problem is different, they are not feeding. I keep them in individual containers which contain a live fish (Guppy) all the time. one time I saw one of them trying to catch the fish with no success.
About the white spots disease, actually they did started to develop white spots but I immediately added more salt to the water and it's gone over night.

Do you have any idea why they are not feeding?

This group is notoriously tough to keep so good luck. I would consider "crippling" some of your feeder fish to give the snake a chance to capture one. Sounds like he is at least interested in eating. Or dangle a dead minnow, goldfish, guppy, whatever in front of the snake using forceps. Heck, I would even try road killed small frogs. You almost certainly have wild caught snakes; not even sure they have been captive raised. Frankly, these snakes should probably not even be sold as pets. But now that you got them, best of luck.

I knew it would be difficult to keep them but I decided to give it a shot. I think that if they will start feeding they would have a good chance to live.

Thanks for both of you!

Best of luck. They are really interesting looking animals. The only one I ever saw was a preserved museum specimen!

Make sure you read the website I suggested. It has a lot of good information about keeping them.

The only experience I have with them is a couple of young ones I found while snorkeling quite a few years ago (1983?) when I was living in Indonesia. I tried to keep them alive but they got the white spot disease and died within a few weeks. And I was keeping them in the same water I found them in. This was pre-internet and it was probably 10 years before I learned about the white spot disease and what I did wrong.

They are neat snakes.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Many, many years ago (before they were protected) I kept a pair of diamondback terrapins I caught in NC. They also developed a white fungus, but it was quickly resolved with higher salt concentrations.

I read the website and made some changes according to it's info. I hope they will do better now. thanks.

There is an excellent website with lots of good information on this genus of snakes and keeping them in captivity - acrochordus.com

They have caresheets and a lot of other good info.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas