That Reptile Blog – Reptile, Amphibian and Exotic Pet Care and Information

I frequently promote the use of canned insects as a means of providing a balanced, varied diet to amphibian and reptile pets…in my experience, very little is as important as this one factor. Free living reptiles and amphibians consume dozens, and in some cases hundreds, of prey species, and rarely fare well on a captive diet consisting of 2-3 types of insects.
Canned invertebrates are convenient…some people even rely on them in place of readily available insects such as crickets and mealworms.  However, their true value lies in providing us an opportunity to add difficult-to-obtain food animals to our pets’ diets.  Other canned species that are valuable in this regard include grasshoppers, snails and fresh water shrimp.

Insect traps, such as the Zoo Med Bug Napper will also assist you in adding a variety of species to your insectivorous pets’ diets.

Feeding Tongs – Plastic vs. Metal

When looking at the video, please note how hard the frog strikes the insect…this is common, and a very good reason to use Zoo Med Plastic Feeding Tongs with these ravenous little fellows.  Metal tongs, which can injure delicate mouth tissues, are best reserved for pets which feed gingerly or take large food items.

Green and Bronze Frogs as Pets

Green frogs are wonderful but over-looked terrarium pets.  The normal seasonal changes throughout most of the USA are sufficient to spark breeding, even among animals housed indoors, and their colors are quite attractive and variable.

Populations living south of the Carolinas have been classified as a distinct subspecies, and are popularly known as bronze frogs (Rana c. clamitans).  The individual pictured here is part of a group I established for a new amphibian exhibit at the Maritime Aquarium  in Connecticut.

Green frogs also do well in outdoor ponds (please see photo), but be sure to introduce tadpoles if your pond is unfenced – adults that are relocated often attempt to return to their home territories.

Video #2 – Small Frog vs. Large Finger

The second video shows a yearling green frog attempting to swallow my finger.  This animal was received as a tadpole (as was the adult, now 3 years old), mixed in with a shipment of feeder minnows.  Although amphibians are thought to operate largely upon instinct, learning, as you can see, plays a role as well… my hand should send this frog diving for cover.  Interestingly, those captive-raised frogs that I have placed into outdoor ponds quickly regain their “common sense” and become difficult to approach.

Further Reading

Please see my article Providing a Balanced Diet to Reptile and Amphibian Pets  for further information.

 

 

My first contact with the strikingly marked red-tailed ratsnake came many years ago, when they were rarely seen in the pet trade.  It was a wild caught adult and showed up, unexpected, in an order sent to an animal importer for whom I worked at the time.  She would eat only birds, which, fortunately for her, were in good supply (bird imports in those years were not well managed, and shipping-related deaths were all too common).

After a few months, she was so set on an avian diet that even bird-scented rodents would not pique her interest.  Eventually, the snake was purchased by one of the few people who could supply her preferred diet – a hobbyist with access to inexpensive chicks from the chicken farm near his home on Long Island!

NATURAL HISTORY

Classification

Red-tailed ratsnakes are placed within the family Colubridae.  They were formerly classified, along with corn, black rat and similar North American species, in the genus Elaphe.

In the pet trade, red-tailed, mandarin and bamboo rat snakes, along with Taiwan beauty snakes and similar species, are often collectively referred to as Asian or Old World ratsnakes.

Physical Description

These slenderly built snakes vary widely in color throughout their huge range, but are generally pale to emerald green, with a red or reddish tail.  A yellow band of varying width separates the green and red-colored areas.

Gray and silver individuals are common in Java, and yellow specimens are known from Thailand and the Philippines.  Orange and yellow/black speckled strains are being selectively-bred in the pet trade.

Red-tailed ratsnakes average 5 feet in length, with rare individuals reaching 7.5 feet.  Females are generally longer and stouter than males.

Range

Red-tailed ratsnakes range widely throughout south and Southeast Asia, and occur in Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands off India.

Habitat

Mangrove swamps, primary rainforest, bamboo forests, overgrown fields, agricultural areas, brushy areas on village outskirts and large parks.

This snake is highly arboreal, often dwelling 40 feet or more above the ground, but occasionally descends to earth in search of prey.  In some areas, it is said to frequent timber and thatched-roofed dwellings.

Status in the Wild

This species’ status in the wild is largely unstudied, but they are likely threatened due to habitat loss in many areas.  However, if unmolested, red-tailed ratsnakes will take up residence on farms and near houses, where they prey upon the rodents and birds that frequent these areas.

Diet

Bats, mice, rats, squirrels and other mammals, birds and their eggs, treefrogs and lizards.

Prey is killed by constriction; the tail is highly prehensile, allowing for long strikes at fast-moving, arboreal prey.

There is some evidence that, especially in young animals, the red-tipped tail is waved as a lure to attract frogs, lizards and birds to within striking range.

Reproduction

Mating occurs during the rainy season, which over much of this snake’s range falls between November and March.  The eggs, 5-8 in number, are laid approximately 60 days after mating.  The clutch is deposited in a sheltered, moist location, sometimes within moss and epiphytic plants among tree branches.  The young hatch in 100-140 days, and are 12-18 inches in length.

Well-fed females can lay up to 4 clutches each year, an unusually large number for a snake.

Miscellaneous

The ratsnake’s color offers exceptionally good camouflage among vines and tree branches, and this is its first line of defense.  However, even when there is an opportunity to flee, disturbed individuals often stand their ground.

When threatened, red-tailed ratsnakes compress and inflate the first third of the body while rearing up in an “S” shaped coil.  If this display fails to intimidate the foe, they strike repeatedly.

Check back soon for an article on the captive care of the Red-tailed Ratsnake.

Image referenced from Wikipedia.

Iridescent coloration is exhibited many snakes, but in none is it as spectacular as that featured by the rainbow boa (Epicrates cenchria cenchria).  The “glow”, of its brilliant coloration, caused by microscopic scale ridges that refract sunlight, have long made this species a pet trade favorite.

A rather plain colored (and less expensive!) subspecies often disappoints novices who expect it to bloom into a sparkling beauty.  This snake has now been reclassified as a distinct species, the brown or Columbian rainbow boa, Epicrates maurus.

Classification

There are 8 rainbow boa subspecies, and 11 species within the genus Epicrates.  One subspecies, E. c. barbouri, is limited in distribution to Brazil’s Marajo Island.

Interestingly, molecular research carried out in 2006 indicates that the rainbow boa is more closely related to the anaconda than to other members of its genus.

 

Physical Description

Rainbows average 5 feet in length, with exceptional individuals nearing 7 feet.  They vary in color from red to orange/mahogany-brown, and are patterned with dark lateral rings and spots.  In sunlight, the colors are brilliantly iridescent.

Range  

The most commonly available subspecies, E. c. cenchria, is found from southern Venezuela, Guyana and Surinam south through Brazil’s Amazon Basin.

The various subspecies occupy much of Central and South America, from Costa Rica to Argentina.

Habitat

Rainbow boas may be found in wet and dry forest, scrubland, savannahs, farms and village outskirts.  They are largely nocturnal, but may be about by day during the cooler seasons.

Status in the Wild

If unmolested, rainbow boas will colonize farms and other developed areas that support large rodent populations.  In some regions, however, they are threatened by deforestation and other forms of habitat loss. Listed on CITES Appendix II.

Diet

Opossums, rats, mice, squirrels, bats, rabbits and other mammals are favored, but chickens, jacanas, iguanas, tegus and a wide variety of other animals are taken.

Like all boas, the rainbow has facial pits along the upper and lower jaws that detect heat, allowing it to locate warm-blooded prey at night.

Reproduction

Females give birth to live young after a gestation period of 8-12 weeks.  The number produced ranges from 2-35, and, at 15-20 inches long, they are relatively large for a snake of this size.

CAPTIVE HUSBANDRY

Light and Heat

Captive care for rainbow boas presents few difficulties, and captive longevity approaches 25 years.  Ambient temperature should be maintained at 80-85 F, with a basking site of 90 F.  Temperatures can be reduced to 75-80 F at night.

Boas do not require UVB light, but may benefit from the provision of UVA.  The Zoo Med Halogen Bulb  provides UVA and heat…a Ceramic Heat Emitter is useful for night-time heating.  A Night Viewing Bulb  will emit heat at night without disturbing your pet’s natural cycle, and will enable you to view its nocturnal activities.

Diet

Wild-caught individuals that I worked with in zoos years back were notoriously picky eaters, often holding out for chicks, spiny mice, gerbils or other such fare.  Captive bred rainbows readily take rats and mice, although they sometimes switch preferences from one to the other.

Please write in with specific husbandry questions, and see my other snake articles, such as The Captive Care of the Ball Python, for general care guidelines.

Further Reading

You can read about rainbow boa subspecies and related snakes such as the Cuban boa at http://www.jcvi.org/reptiles/search.php?submit=Search&genus=Epicrates.

 

Image referenced from Wikipedia and originally posted by KaroH.

 

Chameleon fanciers are indeed fortunate that the chameleon best suited for captivity, the veiled or concave-casqued chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus) is also among the most beautiful and interesting of the group (it is also pathologically anti-social, but so are most of its relatives!).  Turquoise, emerald green, yellow and tan, each in many shades, all find a place in this lizard’s repertoire of color changes.  Male veiled chameleons approach 2 feet in length while females top out at about 14 inches.

The Casque

The bony, 3-4 inch high casque (helmet-like structure) that crowns the male’s head gives the species its alternative name of “concave-casqued chameleon”.  The casque of the female is much smaller.

In addition to conferring the impression of greater size upon its owner – an important consideration in territorial disputes – the casque functions as a water condensation surface.  Water gathering on the casque is funneled to the chameleon’s mouth by movable skin flaps, aiding survival in the dry habitats in which this species dwells.

Chameleon Cages

Ample space and ventilation are key in successfully keeping veiled chameleons.  Weather permitting, heavily-planted outdoor cages are the ultimate in chameleon homes.  Our outdoor aviaries are perfect …housing chameleons in this manner also offers the best chance of breeding success.  Our large screen cages and terrarium top add-ons are ideal for indoor maintenance.

Feeding Veiled Chameleons

Dietary variety is an absolute must when it comes to keeping even the hardiest of chameleons, and the veiled is no exception.  A diet restricted to crickets and mealworms will lead to your pet’s early demise.  The main portion of their diet should be comprised of roaches, crickets, mealworm beetles, super mealworms, butterworms, waxworms, silkworms and tomato hornworms (these last two now available via internet dealers).

Canned Insects

Veiled chameleons also readily accept canned insects from plastic feeding tongs.  Grasshoppers, silkworms and others should be used frequently to increase dietary variety.

Wild-Caught Insects

All chameleons become “nutritionally bored” over time, and most eventually refuse once-favored foods that are offered continually.  With that in mind, I consider wild-caught insects, collected from pesticide-free areas, to be an essential element of chameleon husbandry.  Zoo Med’s Bug Napper  is an excellent insect trap.

Sweeping a net through tall grass and searching around outdoor lights will also yield a wide variety of tasty treats…katydids, grasshoppers, cicadas, moths, butterflies, beetles, caterpillars and other insects will all be eagerly accepted.

Nutrient Loading Feeder Insects

Food insects should themselves be given a nutritious diet before being offered to your pets.  Please see my article Prepared Diets and Food Supplements for House Crickets  for further information.

Leaves and Flowers….for a chameleon?

Oddly for a species belonging to a family of such highly-evolved predators, the veiled chameleon consumes a good deal of vegetation.  Favored plant foods include dandelion (flowers and leaves), Ficus, romaine and the flowers of Nasturtium and Hibiscus.

Vitamins and Minerals

Adults fed a varied diet require a vitamin/mineral supplement  once or twice weekly; the food of growing chameleons should be supplemented 3-4 times each week.

Further Reading

An interesting article on feral veiled chameleons in Florida is posted at http://www.naherpetology.org/pdf_files/208.pdf.

 

 

Note:  Please see Scorpions in Captivity – An Overview of Popular Species, Part I for general natural history and captive husbandry information.

Asian Forest Scorpions, Heterometrus spp.

Several species that superficially resemble emperor scorpions are sometimes available in the trade.  Known collectively as Asian forest scorpions and hailing from Southeast Asia, the most commonly seen is Heterometrus spinifer.  Like the emperor, it is jet black in color, but the claws have fewer spikes and its maximum size is 6 inches.

Basic Care

I keep Heterometrus in much the same way as I have described for emperor scorpions (Please see Scorpions in Captivity – An Overview of Popular Species: The Emperor Scorpion, Pandinus imperator).  Like their African cousins, Asian forest scorpions are also quite social…a group of 10 that I housed together in an exhibit at the Bronx Zoo co-existed for years without incident.  They seem to be quite temperature sensitive, and are best maintained at 78-85 F.  The gestation period is 5-8 months and sexual maturity is reached in 1-3 years.

Asian forest scorpions are somewhat more high-strung than emperors, and sting readily.  Heterometrus spinifer is not considered dangerous to healthy adults, but the closely related H. swammerdami of India (which, at 10-12 inches in length, is among the world’s longest scorpions) has reportedly caused fatalities.

Asian forest scorpions and emperor scorpions are both classified within the Family Scorpionidae.  Further information and a complete listing of all related species is available at http://www.ub.ntnu.no/scorpion-files/scorpionidae.php.