Lamprophis Sp?(House Snakes)

[Caylan]

I've been doing some extensive reading on the Lamprophis snakes lately(or Boaedon now I guess) and was wondering if anybody here kept them and could give me some experience as to temperatures they were using, and any other general care tips specific to these guys. I'm still trying to learn the different identifying characteristics of each of the sub species, but I know I really like the Olivaceus and the Lineatus, but haven't been able to find any anywhere... I just want to make sure they aren't like rosy boa's with their feed response before I get one really, I can't stand that!

[totheend]

House snakes are pretty cool snakes....and have tons of babies!! They are great eaters...but won't eat you. They aren't biters however, they do not like having their heads restrained (holding them behind the head).

[5starserpents]

I have 4, 2 are great to handle and feed the other 2 are complete space cases they will bite and try to kill absolutely anything and the male of the 2 "bad" ones is a super picky eater. That being said I love the species though.

[Louis Jacobsz]

Hi Caylan, house snakes are awesome snakes to keep. The "african corn" in my opinion.

We keep yours at temperatures (in degrees celsius) of around 28 (day) and 23-24 (night). They do not have a bad attitude and even those that do calm down fast.

If you can't get hold of any feel free to give me a shout.

Regards.

[CDN_Blood]

I had a roommate that kept one and it never tagged either of us, but man-o-man it had some strong feeding response - it was an extremely effective predator. They eat a lot, they mess their tanks a lot and they're very active when they surface, but they do tend to like to stay hidden during daylight hours.

If you were to keep it in the room with your other snakes, the ambient temperature in there would be fine and they don't require high humidity, but a water basin large enough that it could go for a soak if it wanted to is a good idea.

The biggest challenge (besides keeping them clean) is keeping them safely contained. They start-off pretty small and that makes them prime candidates for finding and exploiting any weakness in containment. They'd likely be safest in something like an Exo-Terra tank.

House Snakes are great fun and they're beautiful snakes, but like most colubrids, they're not something you can let free-roam a safe-room or anything. When they get the urge to bolt they're fast and small enough and smart enough to evade recapture, lol.

[Caylan]

I really don't think I would want to breed them, just get one of each hehe! I've been drooling over the Olivaceus for sometime now, and just recently found out about the Fiskii, even though they are quite different. Though it seems with house snakes, interspecies breeding isn't even really possible :D My room is heated to 28 during the day, and only falls to about 26-27 at night. Do they need the cool period of lower 70's, or would 24 hour ambient be ok do you think? I'll definitely be contacting you Louis when I'm ready to get one(or a few ;)) just curious about the availablity of Olive's over there? I keep reading they are quite rare in captivity.... The Maculatus are pretty sweet too, same with the Capensis. Anyone know the size differences between the species? How about age longevity? Not enough info out there on these guys....
The main downfall of colubrids is the amount they defecate... Was kinda hoping these guys would be more python like in that regard, bummer! I wouldn't let it free roam anywhere, the reason I'm looking into these guys is because they're handheld size lol. Everything else I have requires 2 hands eventually, and I need a colubrid to make sure I'm not just some sorta python hoarder :wacky:

[KORBIN5895]

I am looking at a breeding pair a local guy has. I have been looking to get them for 9momths now...

[Caylan]

If it were up to me I'd have one of each and never breed, I just think they'e awesome! A breeder in Canada just had a couple clutchs of house snakes, Maybe I'll see what he has available later on. Good luck getting that pair, more people need these snakes :D