I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien

[Nightflight99]

That song always start playing in my head anytime I see an Aplopeltura boa. Their common name is blunt-headed slug snake, and I took these pictures at the facility of an importer in April 2007. This is a pareatid snake, and occurs from Myanmar South to Malaysia. They're snail eaters, and have a really neat morphology.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd252/nightflight99/Snakes/IMG_7974b_zpsjfkeqtd8.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd252/nightflight99/Snakes/IMG_7965b_zpsxqbzkuj6.jpg

[Minkness]

Woah! Awesome!

[EL Ziggy]

That is awesome. I've never seen nor heard of this animal until today. Very interesting critter. Goes to show that everything really is beautiful in its own way. Englishman in New York is a great song too :). I hadn't heard it in forever and just watched the video. Thanks for sharing!

[daisymaisy]

Cool snake! I always liked that song too....now it's running through my head!

[bigsnakegirl785]

They're so goofy-looking, they always crack me up, too. haha

I didn't think anyone would have been attempting to keep them in captivity, though.

[Nightflight99]

I didn't think anyone would have been attempting to keep them in captivity, though.
They're specialized snakes, but they're not impossible to keep. One of my former co-workers did a lot of work with dipsadine snakes, and as long as you had access to snails, they were actually quite manageable. Very interesting animals!

[bigsnakegirl785]

They're specialized snakes, but they're not impossible to keep. One of my former co-workers did a lot of work with dipsadine snakes, and as long as you had access to snails, they were actually quite manageable. Very interesting animals!

Huh, that's really interesting, some of the most specialized snakes tend to be the more difficult ones to keep, even if their natural diet is replicated.

[Handyhens]

Wow! I've seen pictures of these but never thought they were real!

[Handyhens]

Cool! I've seen pictures of these but never thought they were real!

[dave himself]

Never heard of these before, every days a school day :). Thanks for sharing and teaching ;)

[Jim Smith]

You have worked with some of the most beautiful and interesting snakes! I love the fact that you're introducing us to "new" and unique animals that most of us have never heard of before. Thanks for sharing.

[Tsubaki]

Incredible! They do look like aliens, and they eat aliens! This species really fascinates me, sadly only had the pleasure of seeing a single specimen once in captivity (in a local reptile zoo i volunteer at) it sadly died within a matter of weeks.

They're specialized snakes, but they're not impossible to keep. One of my former co-workers did a lot of work with dipsadine snakes, and as long as you had access to snails, they were actually quite manageable. Very interesting animals!

May i ask what type of snail you are feeding? Could this species be fully fed (juvenile) Achatina fulica snails? I have read that even well eating specimens die after a couple of months when fed on 'wrong' species of snails. Is this even true? If so are the feeder snails missing some nutrient perhaps, fixable by giving the snails a different diet? If ever given an opportunity to keep one of these (Or any Dipsas) i will take it, but not if i can not find an appropriate food source for it.

[Nightflight99]

May i ask what type of snail you are feeding? Could this species be fully fed (juvenile) Achatina fulica snails? I have read that even well eating specimens die after a couple of months when fed on 'wrong' species of snails. Is this even true? If so are the feeder snails missing some nutrient perhaps, fixable by giving the snails a different diet?
I don't know what species my colleague was feeding the dipsadine snakes that he was working with, but I do know that they were a local species (i.e., from Texas). His specimens were all long-term captives that seemed to thrive on that diet.

[Tsubaki]

Apologies i meant what they* were feeding, that's what you get for typing first and thinking later. Thanks for the reply!

[Pareeeee]

Wow, never seen one before. Thanks for sharing! Great photos and awesome looking little aliens ;)

[Pareeeee]

You've got me looking up pictures of these guys now.

Found some more online, hope you don't mind me adding them to the post.

They have really unusual eyes
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7268/13935143723_624e7e6b44_b.jpg

Their defensive posture is adorable
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7057/6850584627_2a83fb47de_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/brn394)
Aplopeltura boa (https://flic.kr/p/brn394) by M.A. Muin Md. Akil (https://www.flickr.com/photos/mamuin/), on Flickr

Eating a snail
http://www.wildborneo.com.my/images/cld1203267.jpg

[Mad Max]

It's amazing how many weird snakes are out there that I never knew existed.

[dannybgoode]

Now that is a cool snake! Is there any evolutionary reason the eyes are so big?

[marvelfreak]

Very cool looking snake. I had never heard or seen one before. Thanks for sharing.

[Nightflight99]

Is there any evolutionary reason the eyes are so big?
There is some evidence that large and complex eye structure is correlated with species are active foragers that rely more heavily on visual cues.

[reptiledude987]

From the picture posted by Pareeee it almost looks like they suck the snail out of the shell. Is that the case or do they swallow the entire thing whole?

[Nightflight99]

From the picture posted by Pareeee it almost looks like they suck the snail out of the shell. Is that the case or do they swallow the entire thing whole?
They pull the snail out of the shell, and then swallow it whole.

[reptiledude987]

So Im curious how they would get them out of the shell. Do they use their tongue? If so how would it differ from tongues in other snakes. I would really love if you made a video of these guys feeding. Im really finding these guys quite intriging.

[Humble308]

So Im curious how they would get them out of the shell. Do they use their tongue? If so how would it differ from tongues in other snakes. I would really love if you made a video of these guys feeding. Im really finding these guys quite intriging.

I'd also be interested in seeing a feeding video. I can't say why, but this critter is fascinating to me. Weird enough to be interesting haha.

[Nightflight99]

So Im curious how they would get them out of the shell. Do they use their tongue? If so how would it differ from tongues in other snakes. I would really love if you made a video of these guys feeding. Im really finding these guys quite intriging.
If the snail has fully retracted into its shell, the snake may not be able to prey on it. Otherwise, the mechanics do not appear to be too different from other snakes.

The species in the video shown is a pareatine snake, but the feeding mechanics should be similar.

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[Humble308]

Very cool Night, thanks for the video. Interesting that they still essentially do a strike

[reptiledude987]

That was very cool! I think I may be even more intrigued by this species now than I was before. Are there spesific types of snails you need to feed it? where are you able to source the proper food for it? Also Im wondering if the scent receptors on the snakes tongue are actually able to track the trail of the snails to find them. As they appear to be diurnal from their eyes and that one was feeding at night, it makes me curious what sence they actually use to track their prey.

You may have just added something new to my want list lol. assuming I would be able to source the appropriate food items how difficult is it to find them in the pet trade? How difficult is their care and what are their requirments. I found very little info online about them.

[Nightflight99]

Are there spesific types of snails you need to feed it? where are you able to source the proper food for it?
My colleague fed the Dipsas local snails, and they did fine on them. I've never kept Aplopeltura boa, but there is a chance that they would do quite well on that same diet.

assuming I would be able to source the appropriate food items how difficult is it to find them in the pet trade? How difficult is their care and what are their requirments.
They're very specialized snakes, and the demand is quite low, so they're not very common in the trade. However, if you can find an importer who occasionally brings in Indonesian shipments, you might be able to scoop one up at some point.

[reptiledude987]

Thats what I was thinking. Unfortunatly I just submitted my Indo order a couple weeks ago. Ill have to double check the list and see if these guys are on there. If they are they will most certainly be on next years order.
Knowing that if they can be found they are good to feed on native snails Thats a big green light on these guys :D