By Far the Coolest Thing I've Ever Kept!

[Helenthereef]

I see big filters in your future……

 

[Pythonbreeder99]

I have 2 penguin 400 filters rated for 100g's each so I think I'm set on the filters, but I don't think they'll be put to use anytime soon because she seems to hate her tank! It isn't planted yet but there's a hide box with some plants in it which she seems to avoid. When she gets put in the tank she swims around for a minute then makes a dash to the downtube of the filter, she also refuses to eat when shes in the tank so I've been putting her back in the 6qt sterilite for the night where she eats like a cow and swims around. I noticed something interesting about them too, they dont seem to see very well. I've noticed about 90% of her reactions are to touch. She can (and has) ran head on into fish and not grabbed them, but when that same fish touches the side of her neck she launches for it. She also has a neat habit of grabbing fish with her tail and wrapping them up without biting it, then she just opens her mouth and engulfs it ALIVE! So cool seeing her stomach bump because of flailing fish tails She really is an amazing snake. She also grows insanely fast I think shes put on about 5 inches length wise and an inch width wise since I got her 23 days ago! Now I can see how these snakes get 8 foot plus!

 

[Helenthereef]

OK, Now I have a question for you - I've been watching sea snakes when diving to see if they still utilise their tongue flick underwater.

Can you see whether she does that?

 

[Helenthereef]

I've been putting her back in the 6qt sterilite for the night where she eats like a cow and swims around.

Maybe a noctural feeder?

 

[Pythonbreeder99]

Yeah, they're almost fully nocturnal, I think they must go into the shallows to sleep because they would most likely want the least possible effort to go up and take a breath, swimming all the way to the top and then back down every 20 minutes seems like wasted energy. And yes she uses her tongue quite a bit while submerged, not sure what she's picking up with it but it does get put to good use.

 

[Helenthereef]

Yeah, they're almost fully nocturnal, I think they must go into the shallows to sleep because they would most likely want the least possible effort to go up and take a breath, swimming all the way to the top and then back down every 20 minutes seems like wasted energy.

Sea snakes will sleep for a long time without going up for a breath - I presume they do not need to breathe so often when they have a low sleeping metabolism. Turtles can absorb enough oxygen though their skin while sleeping - I wonder if this snake can do that? If you have anything like a Go-Pro camera it would be fascinating to do time-lapse photography on her at night and see how often she surfaces.... I know, I'm a geek

And yes she uses her tongue quite a bit while submerged, not sure what she's picking up with it but it does get put to good use.

I'd LOVE to know more about that - maybe they are tasting prey in the water column.

 

[Monkey Tails Canada]

Very Cool!!!
I never seen or heard of these snakes before. Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[Pythonbreeder99]

Helen I'd sure like to know more about that, maybe come tax return I'll purchase myself a go pro camera, I'm also debating an Asian vine snake but the gecko diet is a bit deterring.

 

[Pythonbreeder99]

And thanks Daniel! I'm sure glad I found her.

 

[fritzmama]

Goldfish

I know absolutely nothing about snakes that eat fish. However, you may want to set up a smaller tank to house your feeder fish yourself. The "feeder" goldfish tanks at pet store are usually extremely overcrowded at best and at worst in some stores the "feeder" fish aren't fed regularly, quarantined from new arrivals or treated for bacteria-ich-or fungus because they are feeder fish and it is considered a waste of money.
Next question is what will she eat when she is 6 feet long? Wow! Cool snake!

 

[Pythonbreeder99]

I work at the pet store where I get the feeders so I make sure she gets the finest of the feeders we have available, she doesn't get any fish off the sales tank, only out of the backroom sump where we keep the water at a much higher quality. And the 75 is currently the fish holding tank since she seems to hate it and greatly prefers her 6qt shoebox (especially at night) but I do have a feeling once the tank is more planted and the water is a bit more to her liking she'll grow to love it. I am also noticing some white spot fungus around her nostril and lip, but she is going into shed and I've read it can be more noticeable around shedding time and if it doesnt go away she'll get a vet visit to see what can be done.

 

[Pythonbreeder99]

Just finished the tank setup, I realized she was getting stressed about about how deep the water was in the original setup so I drained the tank down to about 6" of water and put a heater on it to get it to about 80-82 degrees I also put a couple plants in there but I plan on adding quite a few more

 

[AGoodwin]

looks decent. Hopefully she should feel a bit more secure there. With the appetite she has, I cant imagine how much it will cost to feed her as she grows even bigger!!!

 

[Mooing Tricycle]

Why dont you add in some conditioned driftwood and slate outcroppings? Looks pretty bare still. You should then be able to raise the water levels to keep it more balanced.

 

[Pythonbreeder99]

I did plan on adding driftwood by hadn't thought of slate, it's a good idea though, I'll shop around and see if I can get some from somewhere local.

 

[Pythonbreeder99]

So the tax return has come and gone and I decided to go with the Asian Vine Snake instead of the camera, but it turns out that was a good decision. As I'm learning more about this girl I'm finding out that she is REALLY nocturnal, she crams herself into a corner of her cave all day and refuses to come out. However as soon as the last light goes off in the room (no matter the time) she comes out and roams around, but as soon as a light turns on she clings to a piece of driftwood and wont move. And I don't think a go-pro camera has night vision so the video would be a long boring video of her in a corner I've had to watch her at night with a flashlight and she even rears away from the small light of the flashlight, so their eyesight must be better then I had thought. Also I've made the final adjustments to her cave adding 2 pieces of African driftwood and a rock cave instead of that huge (ugly) hidebox. The water is still a bit cloudy and I don't want to add any chemicals to make it to make it clear (they may be fish safe but who knows if their aquatic snake safe) so I added a small carbon filter yesterday and I will post pictures when the water has cleared a bit.

 

[Helenthereef]

You're right I don't think a Go Pro would pick up much at night.

Re her shying away from the flashlight, if you can get hold of some red cellophane or translucent plastic, tie it over the end of your flashlight, or put a red light bulb in a table lamp.

She probably can't see red light, so you'll be able to look at her all night long!

 

[Pythonbreeder99]

So here is the final tank setup, she seems to like it a lot. She loves the cave especially.

 

[Helenthereef]

How is she getting on? Growth rate what you expected?

 

[Pythonbreeder99]

She's doing great! The growth rate is impressive to say the least, she has had 3 sheds since January, the first was 16.5 inches in January, the second was 19 inches in March, and the third was 25 Inches as of yesterday! I stepped up her food size to 4-6 inch comets after she ate an 8 inch comet I aptly named megalo-comet, it looked like she had a watermelon in her for 2 weeks LOL!