false water cobra

[joshua1990]

hi every1 im getting a false water cobra next week and was just wanting sum hints n tips. she i3 2 years old but only 3 ft long as last owner fed her. she is a bit agressive.

[infernalis]

http://www.thamfriends.com/mat.jpg

[Will0W783]

Hello and welcome. Congratulations on your upcoming new addition. FWCs are great snakes. I have a 2-year-old male that is one of my favorites in my collection. He's cage defensive but not really aggressive at all. They do tend to calm down readily with consistent handling, but with an aggressive one I would not recommend freehandling. They are venomous, usually not harmful to people, but some have had bad reactions. Rogue has never even taken a stab at me in the year and a half I've had him, so I'm more complacent with him than I probably should be- a major part of why I will never let myself own anything more venomous.
As for care, they are not too bad to keep. They like it slightly cooler- I keep mine with an ambient daytime temp of 78-80 and a basking spot of around 85. He spends most of his time under his shelf or in his water dish. FWCs need a large shallow water dish they can relax in, but they are not aquatic snakes, so they should be kept like any other terrestrial snake but with access to lots of water and humidity. I keep mine on coconut husk or cypress mulch and mist him daily. He is fed a good-sized meal once every other week and has been thriving for me.

[Feebo]

What sort of Vivarium size will be needed eventually Willow? Those guys are on my "Eventually" list. One day, (I`m in no rush what so ever) I`ll probably own one or two of those :) I`ll watch this thread with interest....

[Will0W783]

Well they can get 6-8 feet long, so you would need at least a 5-6 foot x 2 foot enclosure. They can be quite active, so they need room to roam. I have my 3 foot fellow in a 2.5 foot x 2 foot enclosure and it's plenty of room for now. He will eventually be moved up to a 5'x2' and if needed a 6'x2'.

[Will0W783]

Feebo, they are really cool snakes. They are very intelligent and alert and they have a very violent, startling feeding response. I finally got Rogue eating f/t, which I am glad for because he was so violent with his live food. They will seize prey and fling it around while chewing venom into it. They are not constrictors, so they subdue their prey by disorienting it or knocking it out while they get their venom in.

[Feebo]

Blimey... Yep, I don`t know how because I haven`t got room at the moment but some how or other I expect I`ll have one one day :)

[shaunyboy]

hello and welcome

cheers shaun

[Freebody]

welcome to the forum :)