Update Spilotes sulphureus

Roman · 06-26-16, 03:29 PM

Here is a little update about my Yellow-bellied Puffing Snakes (Spilotes sulphureus). I have them now for three weeks and they did settle down quite nicely. Both ate a medium sized rat last week and I had to remove the result later this week. Since this was the first time I had to remove the droppings of them it was a learning experience for all of us. I learned a lot about them, especially about the tolerance of the first male who is still more active and inquisitive than the second male.

He was a little nervous and showed me his displeasure when I had to remove their droppings from where he was watching me. He showed a graded defensive behavior very similar to his cousin the tiger rat snake (Spilotes pullatus). It started with the typical tail rattling and when this didn’t get the desired result he inflated his neck vertically and to a lesser degree also horizontally. When I had to remove some waste right in front of him he was also bending his neck in an “S”-shape, something I haven’t experienced with my tiger rat snakes yet.

The second male was also more active. His coloration is paler than the coloration of the first male, he has some reduced markings at the last third of his body, the first male has no markings at all at the last third, he shows only his gray-brown base color.

Male #2

You can see the reduced blotches on the right side, some small reddish spots at the upper scales of the back.

Here are both males in comparison. Male #1 disappears to the left, you can see his lower third with no markings at all, in contrast the second male with paler coloration and some reduced markings at the lower third of his body.

Another picture of male #2 showing the reduced markings.

Male #2 in his hide

...

Roman · 06-26-16, 03:36 PM

...

Male #1

Defensive behavior

"S"-shaped thread display

Roman

IW17 · 07-01-16, 07:45 PM

Wow. Those are amazing animals. I'm looking forward to seeing updates on these. I thought your tiger rats were striking but these have me at attention. Almost like a cross between a tiger rat and a king rat.

sirtalis · 07-01-16, 11:08 PM

Stunning, I love their color patterns

macandchz · 07-02-16, 09:36 AM

wouldn't want those guys mad at me! that strike pose and those eyes say it all!

toddnbecka · 07-02-16, 10:48 PM

Does the puffing up of the neck warn that they're about to strike, or just another indication of alarm/excitement like tail rattling?

Roman · 07-03-16, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toddnbecka

Does the puffing up of the neck warn that they're about to strike, or just another indication of alarm/excitement like tail rattling?

It is an escalation of the warning behavior. They start with tail rattling, start to inflate their neck until it is much bigger as normal and the last escalation is this “S”-shaped bending of the neck – at least so far. The first male did actually strike once at my hand, but it was with a closed mouth, just a headbutt. He also started to move towards me with his inflated neck, I tried to defuse the situation and tock a step back.

All of this is meant to show what a BIG BAD SNAKE he is, to get the potential predator and molester (ME) to go away. Remember, both of them are wild caught, they have been with their former owner for 12 months, but they started their life in the wild. So for all of us this is a learning experience. Seeing this defensive behavior is quite interesting and provides some stunning pictures, but I certainly don’t want to provoke it. I try to let them accustom themselves to their new surroundings. Whenever I have to do something in the enclosure I try to move slowly and as unthreateningly as possible. The daily spraying of water sparked some tail rattling during the first days, after nearly four weeks now it is routine and they even start to drink from it.

I suppose the defensive behavior will continue in their current enclosure, because with just 60 cm (2 ft) it is not deep enough. When their final enclosure is finished and they have moved in I expect them to calm down and get more relaxed, because they can keep their distance to me and can decide to stay away or get closer for themselves. This was (and currently is with my two new snakes) the same with my tiger rat snakes. As long as they were in the quarantine enclosure they were more nervous and defensive, as soon as they moved to their large enclosure they were much more relaxed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by macandchz

wouldn't want those guys mad at me! that strike pose and those eyes say it all!

As I said, he pretends to be the big bad boy, but most of it is just show. However, they want to grow a little more. Right now they are ca. 180 cm (8 ft) long, they are reported to reach 300 cm (10 ft). So an agitated big Spilotes sulphureus might be an interesting experience…

Roman

Roman · 07-10-16, 04:09 PM

My Yellow-bellied Puffing Snakes (Spilotes sulphureus) are with me since five weeks now. After their second meal they start to relax a little more, cleaning was more or less uneventful. The second male is much more outside his hide and rests in the branches.

The first male is considering a new career as watersnake, first in the old “pool”, now in a second, larger water bowl (the last few days have been hot and my rooms are directly under the roof, so it is pretty warm here).

Roman

toddnbecka · 07-11-16, 01:20 AM

Looking good!

dave himself · 07-11-16, 05:43 AM

Thanks for the updates, they really are stunning snakes

Roman · 07-24-16, 02:43 PM

Another Update…

Male #1 shed two days ago, now he is all shiny again. He didn’t want to eat his rat today (at least until now).

Spilotes sulphureus Male #1

Male #2 ate his rat and is becoming more and more active.

Spilotes sulphureus Male #2

and both of them

Roman

SWDK · 07-24-16, 04:11 PM

Looking good Roman. Thanks for sharing the pics.

REM955 · 07-24-16, 04:19 PM

I am a bit more partial to #1 for color, but the cream color is interesting on #2. I doubt there is much literature out there that defines either as a locality, no?

Roman · 08-02-16, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by REM955

I am a bit more partial to #1 for color, but the cream color is interesting on #2. I doubt there is much literature out there that defines either as a locality, no?

You are right, there is next to nothing about them. The “Reptile Database” lists two subspecies (Spilotes sulphureus dieperinkii and Spilotes sulphureus sulphureus), but there is no identification key I am aware of.

They are WC, I don’t know where my snakes originally came from. They are the same size, so they are very likely the same age and they probably “might” be related / from the same clutch, but this is only speculation. If you look at the wide variety of different colorations in the tiger rat snakes (Spilotes pullatus) it isn’t really surprising to see it in this species too.

Roman

dannybgoode · 08-07-16, 12:14 PM

They're cool snakes. Never heard of them before. Keep the pics coming...