New Snail Eater...yay oh yay!

[MegF.]

Well, after 6 months of pissing around trying to get a replacement for a DOA animal that I had received, I finally got another snail eater. Good news is that he's a male....supposedly....if he is, then I finally have the start of the first captive breeding pair in the US. At least as far as I know. He's relatively small, so I think it will be at least another year before I attempt to place them together...and I suspect I'll probe him to confirm that he's a male. He's got to go thru the 6 month quarantine anyway. Well, here he is...Sluggo the snail eater as my sister christened him. I'm cautiously optimistic that he'll survive. He's taking f/t slugs like the female is, so at least he's eating. Not the greatest picture...he was heading off to hide at the time and he's too new to want to risk stressing him out with outdoor photos.

 

[RobbiesCornField]

Congratulations!!! Keep us updated on him!

 

[Calift]

Big congrats of getting the little guy...hope he makes a good breeder in the future- they are really cool little snakes!!

 

[danielle]

He is so cute looking!! Excuse my ignorance, but what is a snail eater?

 

[Carinata]

Yay rare snakes congrats dude! I am one of the only people with a CB Black Templed cat snake in the US the only breeder is Gherp

 

[MegF.]

Snail eaters (Sibon Nebulatus in this case, also the Dipsus species) are a species of snake that eat snails and slugs exclusively. They differ in that they have fixed jaws like we do in order to extract snails from their shells. Mine will eat live snails and slugs as well as f/t slugs. I still have to try feeding the canned snails available from T-Rex to see if they will eat those.

 

[Carinata]

Cool! Snake man I love the rare ones!

 

[LostNFound]

well that is one of the CUTEST thangs I have seen!!

I am gonna have to research them!!

 

[danielle]

Thats so cool i have never seen these, but its really cute and thanks for the info!!

 

[MegF.]

You won't find much on them. I read the first article on the Costa Rican snail eater 3 years ago in Reptiles Magazine. It was an article written by Louis Porras. I immediately went to try to find info on them. Probably spent 4 or 5 months trying to find someone who knew anything about them. I contacted universities, zoos and reptariums in Costa Rica and other parts of the world. I contacted Louis and still keep in touch with him. It took me 3 years to find the female. These are rather plain animals compared to some of the less common species found in Costa Rica. This one is also found there, although these are from Suriname. You can't get anything out of CR though unless it has been captive hatched or born. No one there breeds them. I found one guy that has them in CR but he's feeding them mice. The other guy I know has these and some dipsus species lives in Fl. but he only has females. I'm hoping perhaps someday I can produce some and maybe give him a male to start with. Here's a photo of the female and one of her eating a snail.

close up

Her outside

And a close up of her head

 

[LostNFound]

well if you do breed 'em I am in line for one

if you don't mind me asking how much did he cost? you can pm me if you don't wanna post it...

 

[MegF.]

$175 for the female. I had the first male shipped to me die after 4 days. The second female is the one I got now, the third female was DOA and then I got this one. I'm still trying to locate a more reliable supplier that knows how to feed them so they aren't half starved by the time they get to me. They don't come in that often. I'll let you know if they ever produce. The female I have now came to me gravid but laid slugs only the day after she got to me. The other female that arrived DOA had laid a couple eggs in transit and had 3 more stuck in her. Sad....

 

[doortech9]

Very cool little snake! How often/much do you feed, and what size do they grow to be?

 

[Pasodama]

It was a long wait but ... Congrats!
Truly hope all continues to go well, with these cool snakes, and wish you the best on the intended, future, breeding plans.

 

[Snakexperience]

Cool!!
There are a few overhere too and i believe there is a guy in France who breeds/has bred them!
Good luck with them, i see he's eating, that's a good thing!

Arjan

 

[MegF.]

I feed every 5 days or so, they have fast metabolisms. I feed about 4-5 medium sized slugs to the female, and fewer to the male as he's smaller. They grow to about 24" and the female weighs 24 grams. Very slender. Arjan: If you can find out who the person is, I would love to try to contact them for information.

 

[The Snake Guru]

Such a unique breed! Good on ya for breaking out....very nice looking specimens as well. Please keep us posted on the breeding and best of luck in that venture.

~B~

 

[Tula_Montage]

Aren't they simply fascinating wee creatures! HUGE congrats Meg, I wish you only the best of luck with this species.

 

[MegF.]

Thanks all. They are pretty cool and I just heard from Louis today and he said the males in general are smaller and more slender then the females so perhaps he is a mature male. Still will be next year before they breed...or at the end of the year anyway. Between quarantine and their normal breeding time which is around September or so if I recall right, it will be the end of the year. I can't imagine how small the babies would be. The question is, can you get them to eat?