Spotted leaf-nosed snake

On a herping trip earlier this year we found a spotted leaf-nosed snake, Phyllorhynchus decurtatus. We released it after a brief photo session. From what I've read, they feed almost exclusively on banded geckos and their eggs. Has anyone ever maintained one in captivity and gotten it to accept other items?

-Alice

Alice
I find those from time to time on my rosy boa and kingsnake hunts. I have tried everything to get them to eat with no luck. I could never get them to eat geckos, gecko eggs or the eggs of shovel nose snakes. Now when I find one I just release it to the side of the road....they are not good captives.

Out of curiosity, what kind of methods did you employ for your feeding attempts, and what was your set up like? It's a pity these guys are hard to get established as they're really neat looking little snakes.

-Alice

They are neat looking little snakes. When you see them on the road at night they look just like little glossy snakes. But you quickly find out they are not glossies when you pick them up. They are VERY nervous and will violently twist and flop around in your hands like a fish...defecating at the same time.
Its been several years since I've kept one at home. I just placed it in a small desert terrarium similar to what you would use for banded geckos. About two inches of clean sand, a few rocks, a couple of hide areas and a small water dish in one corner. I had read in the field guide that they fed on geckos and their eggs. I live in the desert so getting geckos is no problem. I gave it about a week to settle in and noticed it would come out of hiding to explore at night. I would place small banded geckos in with it over night but it paid no attention to them. I also had some gecko eggs and shovel nose snake eggs that it would not touch. After keeping it for three weeks it starting looking a little thin so I released it where it was found.
I think they are just a bit to nervous to ever make good captives.