Sunbeam Snakes

[Minkness]

As I sit around thinking of future additions to my snake....er...collection... (kinda hate calling it that because I feel like that objectifies them...) I think long and hard about what I would truely like to own, and why.

Now, Sunbeams caught mybattention VERY early in my snake choosing history, and was almost my first sbake, except that after some research, I came to find out that pretty much all of them are wild caught and notoriously delicate. But, other than that I'm not very informed.

Now, some day, in the distant future, when I am a much more experienced keeper, I would actually like to try my hand at captive breeding these beauties. I figure that I would purchase about 10-20 of them and hopefully most survive to be part of a breeding program.

My plan is that all of them would be in tubs, not racks or display tanks. (So maybe a more realistic number is 5-10 lol). I would customize the tubs (which would be the longer tubs) so that 1/3 would be thwir water 'dish' (would use aquatic silicone and make a lip to hold the water in and make sure that it's about 4-6 inches deep) then the middle 1/3 would have moist moss, and the last 1/3rd would be sectioned off with more silicone and built all the way up to the top (probablyusing cut plastic or acrylic) woth a hole that the snake could go through. This would also have moistened moss, but, unlike the other 2/3 of the tub, the lid would be fully ventalated, allowing it to be more dry than the rest. I also plan on putting the UTh in this last 1/3 as their heat source.

Does this sound like a viable plan?

Also, I couldn't seem to determin what their natural diet is or what family they are part of. Boas, pythons, ect.

Again, this is a long time off, but it's something I love thinking about. So, if you have any expereince or inside on these beautiful animals, please let me know!

[Sylphie]

They are in Xenopeltidae family (which from what I know has only 2 or 3 species in it), but accoridng to the net: Studies of DNA suggest that the xenopeltids are most closely related to the Mexican burrowing python (Loxocemus) and pythons.

And I gather that they eat mostly other reptiles, so that's hard too. They are also very easily stressed... like when you handle them even for a few minutes they can just die because of the stress. I don't say it form my experience, just the things I read or heard.

Beautiful snakes, but I guess they are really hard to keep.

[Minkness]

Thanks for that. I don't mind feeding other reptiles, though I wonder if I leave the breeders alone, but handle the babies (if I can even get babies) if they will be easier to maintain.

Does anyone else have expereince breeding wc to have cbb babies?

[FWK]

I looked at Sunbeams a while back and decided, while they are interesting snakes, they were not for me. They do not seem terribly difficult to keep, they just stress and die extremely easily. They do best in a very simple set up, and when left completely alone other than for feeding and necessary maintenance. A tub and rack system is probably ideal. Thick, moist substrate and a water bowl, that's it. I wouldn't bother with the complex setup you describe. It sounds like a nightmare to clean and you'll want to minimize your interaction with these snakes. Captive breed animals have been produced but are very rare. The majority are imports, and the mortality rate is very high. Here is an article (http://www.kingsnake.com/rockymountain/RMHPages/RMHsunbeam.htm) written by someone who has some experience with them.

[Minkness]

Dang....that was a very intereting read.....definitely makes me think if my futire plans would even be valid. Might be a good project, but then again, if trying that fails...all I have accomplished is depleating the wild population and killing otherwise viable animals x.x

Definitely more to think about...thanks FWK!

[PsychoSnake]

The folks at LLLReptile have gotten their sunbeams to eat live fuzzies from a dish left in the tub over night with good success. They also eat frogs.

[bigsnakegirl785]

With how delicate they are, I'm not sure you'd be able to sell many babies unless they became less sensitive to stress as they came to be CBB. As they are now, you probably will only be able to sell the babies to a niche market that's really small even for a niche market. They're delicate and there's not much of an interest for them. So if you did get them to breed and survive, just be prepared to care for all or the majority of the babies.