African house snakes

Skye Asked me if I could start a new thread and post some info about Those little brown things called African house snakes.

First, Here some link about them :

http://www.kingsnake.com/housesnake/index.html
http://www.snakebreeder.co.uk/html/how_snake.html
http://www.reptilekeeper.co.uk/africanhousecare.php
http://coloherp.org/cb-news/Vol-28/cbn-0104/Lamprophis.html

They're really cool snakes. At least mine is. They say that they are breeding machines. Unfortunately people around here told me that they a unpopular. So that's why I've never bought a male for my little girl. I didn't want to be stuck with all those hatchling.

You will also learn in those links that they have a really big appetite. that was true with mine untill here first winter. She stopped eating for 4 months and she did it again this year. I Don't know if it's normal or not? Any of you as the same problem with a African house.
Any other african house keepers on the forum?

Here's my girl

People may say they're unpopular but I think that's a beautiful snake.

She's beautiful.

They are one of the many snakes on my wish-list.

A local breeder is working with olive house snakes, a subspecies of what you have. As soon as he has babies, I'm going to get a few.

Here's a photo of one:

Nice snake. They look so alike except for the color. How much do african house snakes cost usually?

Actually, the olive house snake is a different species altogether.

AHS are popular snakes, as they are hardy and breed readily. Up until last year, I was working with about 30 AHS of all morphs and phases, along with Namibian house snakes. Currently, I'm only working with one pair of AHS.

There's a few other follks on this site that work with AHS morphs, Aurora house snakes, and Namibian house snakes.

Spitfire said:

Nice snake. They look so alike except for the color. How much do african house snakes cost usually?

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Prices can range anywhere from $15 for a hatchling brown house snake to ~$350 for albinos.

Great, thanks for starting this thread - very nice female you have there Gorn.

I'll look forward to reading those links later.

Meanwhile more questions for those in the know. I suspect some of these are covered in the links, so I apologise that I haven't read them yet.

What is the size range for adults?
For those of you that keep them, what are your views on housing pairs together, vs. all separate housing?
How large are the hatchlings? What do you start feeding hatchlings on?
Which of the AHS, Aurora house snakes, and Namibian house snakes are most prolific, and how many offspring would be likely in a year? What are the main differences between these species?
I know they can breed year round, so presumably no cooling is required?
What are the down-sides of these species?
Where is a reputable place to get them in the US?

Many thanks for all and any replies,

Skye

oh, and how long do they take to reach maturity/recommended breeding age/size?

Thanks again,

Skye

Well I guess I'll expose my ignorance here, this is the first time I've ever heard of an African House Snake, but geeze I can't imagine them being unpopular in any respects at all! They're beautiful!

How are the temperments of those compare to corn snakes? That green one is really unique looking. =)

I like them~~
their eyes have something that attracts me (heck all snkaes does)

They are cute little snakes~

I've heard that their temperments are just as good as a corn. I've also heard that they never try to bite, unless you restrain them behind the head, then they turn vicious.

The one I've held was a bit more flighty than a corn, but then again this was an animal that rarely, if ever, got handled (she was just used for breeding) so I'm sure that's why she was so jumpy.

wow, this is the first time I have ever heard of them. I don't think I've ever seen them for sale (of course, I've also never been to a herp show to my regret) - but they're very beautiful, I would consider getting one after I've had my corn a while or something.

Amanda E said:

...The one I've held was a bit more flighty than a corn, but then again this was an animal that rarely, if ever, got handled (she was just used for breeding) so I'm sure that's why she was so jumpy.

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Amanda, you must be righ cause mine is the calmest snake I ever handle. By the way, that olive AHS you post is stunting. I would like to found a adult male around here to breed with my female. A black one. Black AHS are my prefered ones.

Well, I am going to answer most of my own questions here having read the links and talked to a few people. I am putting this up for anyone else interested.

What is the size range for adults?

They are sexually very dimorphic in size. It appears to be about 24 - 30 inches for males, and 3 - 5 feet for females.

How large are the hatchlings? What do you start feeding hatchlings on?

about 6 - 10 inches, they should be fine with pinkies

I know they can breed year round, so presumably no cooling is required?

cooling does not appear to be needed, up to six clutches can be laid per year

These questions below I still do not know the answer to, so now I have gone away and done some reading, I would really appreciate some help please.

For those of you that keep them, what are your views on housing pairs together, vs. all separate housing? (I have heard both views.)
Which of the AHS, Aurora house snakes, and Namibian house snakes are most prolific?
What are the main differences between these species?
What are the down-sides of these species?
Where is a reputable place to get them in the US?


Finally, and probably most importantly to me - what is the hottest temperature I can safely incubate the eggs?

Thanks in advance, Skye

Skye said:

Which of the AHS, Aurora house snakes, and Namibian house snakes are most prolific?

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Well, I can't answer your question, but I can say that the Olive house snakes that my friend has (that I posted the photo of) have been very hard for him to breed. So far they have just not wanted to cooperate and of all people I would think he would know what to do to make them breed, since he is one of the few fore-fathers regarding captive breeding, though he's more known in milksnake circles than cornsnake circles. He does have his name mentioned in the Corn Snake Manual though.

Skye said:

For those of you that keep them, what are your views on housing pairs together, vs. all separate housing? (I have heard both views.)
Which of the AHS, Aurora house snakes, and Namibian house snakes are most prolific?
What are the main differences between these species?
What are the down-sides of these species?
Where is a reputable place to get them in the US?


Finally, and probably most importantly to me - what is the hottest temperature I can safely incubate the eggs?

Click to expand...

- I'd strongly recommend solitary housing. One concern being that the incessant breeding and egg-laying will ultimately kill the female. The other concern being the strong feeding response of the AHS. To a house snake with feeding on its mind, anything that moves is fair game.

- The AHS is by far the most prolific of the Lamprophis.

- None of the three house snakes that you listed can be easily mistaken for one another. The Aurora is arguably the most attractive, with it's orange dorsal stripe. The Namibians, although colored like a brown AHS, have large yellow eyes. The AHS is extremely variable, but one would be hard pressed to cofuse it with any other Lamprophis.

-Downside: If you keep AHS, be prepared to clean cages a bit more often due to their fast metabolism. Also, hatchlings often don't start right away on pinkies. When I was selling AHS, I'd' have two prices- one for fresh out of the egg hatchlings, and the other higher price for those that I went through the time and trouble of getting established.

- There's several folks working with them. Keep your eyes on the ads at faunaclassifieds, and they'll be available every now and again.

Planning to work with these...

The hard to start hatchlings--do they scent over to pinks with lizards? Or do they prefer something else?

great - thank you very much for the help

how about the egg maximum incubation temperature???

Thanks, Skye

(I don't give up do I?)