Mehelya require moisture, so humidity boxes with moist cypress bark are essential. A tight, poorly lit, densely planted (plastic plants) setup seems to work very well. All the treatments I use with the Red Beaks (see my last post) are suggested for the Files as well. Temps appear to be 75-85, and possibly a little more heat for part of the season would be fine (I'm still figuring them out). They are nocturnal, and very much snake/lizard eaters. They are not rear fanged, and are not venomous. They can be twitchy to handle, and sometimes very difficult to hold onto, not because they are fast, but just because of the way they move.



Feeding: 5 out of the 7 Files I have do well on 2 normal hopper mice per feeding that have been dipped in snake slurry. I've been using a dead baby boa, or python whipped up in a blender with some water to make snake ice cubes. I that an ice cube, and dip the mice into the juice. My 2 trouble makers have taken anoles, snakes, the occasional lizard scented mice, fence lizards, and skinks. The male of this pair has been off feed for some time, and I'm going to resort to tube feeding with egg. I don't suggest attempting force feeding, as they just freak out, and its very hard to get anything into them. It has been suggested that some Files will take live baby mice, but I have only tried it once, and had no success.



I just got my first eggs yesterday, so hopefully will have a few babies in a couple of months. Gestation appears to be just shy of 2 months, and I assume incubation is about the same.



Freight

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• red spotted beaked snakes - earth_intruder, Tue Dec 9 02:20:27 2008
• RE: red spotted beaked snakes - viandy, Thu Dec 11 12:37:56 2008
• RE: red spotted beaked snakes - tokaysrnice, Thu Dec 11 20:53:33 2008
• File snake info - oxyjansen, Sun Dec 14 09:30:39 2008
• RE: File snake info - viandy, Mon Dec 15 10:16:07 2008