My Banded Snouted Cobra

[kfc223]

Thanks for the advise Arno, this little guy does have quite the feeding response.

Thanks Serpent.

[kfc223]

Hello everyone.

It was cleaning night so I decided to take some shots of him and his enclosure.

Here is a top view of how his tub is set up, I have a water bowl, green plastic hide(cool side) and a large hollow piece of cork bark that has a been cut along the bottom to prevent him from getting stuck in there with some fake leaves around the "log". I had him in a newspaper setup with two hides and a water bowl for the period that I quarantined him from the rest of the collection, but he kept striking at anything that moved past. Since I've had him in this more naturalistic setup he has calmed down quite a bit, this could be because there is more hiding space.



This photo gives you a better idea about the 'log' I was talking about.



Here you can see how his bands are getting darker, he didn't feel like hooding and allowed me to get a decent shot.



And here he is checking out the clean setup.



I am thinking of putting him in a 600(L)x300(D)x300(H) cage with sliding glass, to give him a bit more room and I will be able to put a lock on it just for security. What do you guys think?

Hope you enjoy the shots.

[Bushviper]

If you can rather get him a big cage and have the lid opening from the top. That way he cannot rush you which he will do as he gets older.

I would prefer that you build him a proper Elapid cage which is basically two cages next to each other with a partition in between which can be closed. This also means you need two hide boxes and two water bowls. A board is used to isolate him to one side and you feed and clean the other side without ever having to touch the snake. It works like a dream for mambas and big fast moving elapids.

[kfc223]

I like that idea Arno!

Could you send me a couple of pictures or diagrams that can help me come up with my own design?

[kfc223]

Time for a bit of an update.

Its been a month or so and he's grown quite a bit. He's on hopper mice and he shed recently, his bands are getting darker and darker. I've upgraded him into a 26L tub and he seems to enjoy the extra space.


I just bought a female to complete the pair, she's half his size and her bands are very light. She's just like him, won't hood but is more than willing to strike at anything. She has a great feeding response so I'm sure she will catch up to the male.

She decided to spread a little hood.


Full body shot.

[Serpent]

You are starting to make me want to a pair now too. Congrats big guy!

[Mehelya]

How did I miss this post?! O.o

Kfc223, those are two beauts! I hope you get lots of little bitey worms one day form these two! As the others have said though, be careful with these chaps! They are lovely to work with, but can be schneaky, and I remember mine had an insane feeding response, and chomped at any thing that came near them with a heat signature, when they smelt rodents. Enjoy them, and all the best! Fingers out the way!

[Kakibos]

Kfc I just saw your feeding video on youtube, I must again compliment you, that snoutie is nice man.

[kfc223]

Thanks!

I didn't think many people would notice that.

I just got a rather large adult male, I will post a few shots of him once he's shed.

[Wallas]

Nice pictures.

[kfc223]

My little guy shed last night, he's grown a lot since I made the first post. He's the same length as his 26L tub, that would make him around 60cm. He's eating one(sometimes two) hopper mice weekly. Hopefully he will get to 1m by the end of the year.

[LizardLover]

Great shots and an even greater cobra. The next update has to include some feeding shots.

[Serpent]

Not looking so little anymore.

[kfc223]

I realised how much he's grown last night while feeding him, he ate two hopper mice and they had looked like fuzzies while he was eating them. He's doubled to tripled in size, he's also got a much higher contrast(bands) than my adult male. I'll post those shots of him feeding tonight.

[kfc223]

Here's a feeding shot, him eating a hopper mouse.