New egg-eater

[Awesomethepossum]

I just brought this lovely creature home on Sunday. A friend said it could be a D. gansi.

Could anyone confirm this? Also, I was just looking for any tips or advice. And also, if there's a way to determine sex. I was told it was 4 years old, and it was referred to as a he, but I'm not sure if there's a degree of sexual dimorphism to help with distinguishing this. It had been getting fed one quail egg a week prior.

The basking temps are at 95. Cold side is 70-75. I plan on getting better hides and more ground cover when I make a run to the store.

1.0 Pumpkin Pied BP, 0.1 KSB, 0.1 Bearded dragon, 1.2 Leopard gecko, 0.1 Ornate Pacman Frog, 1.1 Barred tiger salamander

[Bogertophis]

Can't answer your questions, but congrats! what a cool addition! I know you'll be sharing here what you learn about "him"- we look forward to your updates.

[Awesomethepossum]

Can't answer your questions, but congrats! what a cool addition! I know you'll be sharing here what you learn about "him"- we look forward to your updates.

The owner couldn't keep him/her anymore, and it had a calmer disposition than I expected so it was a last minute decision. This is why I have my own soldering iron and keep backup supplies

I've become friends with the breeder that I got my KSB from, and she's also willing to be my quail egg provider I'm very grateful to her for that. Very excited to have a more diverse collection, and I'll be sure to share what I learn.

1.0 Pumpkin Pied BP, 0.1 KSB, 0.1 Bearded dragon, 1.2 Leopard gecko, 0.1 Ornate Pacman Frog, 1.1 Barred tiger salamander

[Bogertophis]

I know what you mean...I always have spare accommodations too. His (the snake's) lucky day that you were there & said yes.

[Gocntry]

Very Cool, will be watching this thread and learning from this.....

Was going to get a pair of these (these can be cohabbed), but ended up with my problem baby BP's instead.

So now I'll get thru winter and see if I can get a few next spring, Gives me time to find a quail egg supply in the mean time.

[Awesomethepossum]

Very Cool, will be watching this thread and learning from this.....

Was going to get a pair of these (these can be cohabbed), but ended up with my problem baby BP's instead.

So now I'll get thru winter and see if I can get a few next spring, Gives me time to find a quail egg supply in the mean time.

There is so much information out there, and not much of it is consistent.

Some say they need lots of space with plenty of height, and others say they're content in a tub. I initially had him in a 40 gallon for a few days, and he just sayed in the same spot in the corner without moving at all, so I worried he felt too exposed (but maybe I was wrong). The man I bought this one from said he had him in a 10 gallon at room temp, with an UTH set to 95. The rest of the tank was kept at room temp.

I actually spoke with another individual who has a few young ones in tubs, and she agreed with the temps (70-75ish). But they're hardy snakes, so apparently the cool end could go down to 65 as long as UTH is available.. it just shouldn't drop too much more than that. I currently have him on a reptichip/aspen mix. Apparently they don't need more than an inch or so of substrate.

I'll see how he does in the 37qt for the time being, and make sure he's eating. I know they like to climb, so if this isn't enough, I'll make the necessary adjustments and add more fake plants, branches, etc.

I was originally told to just give him one egg a week, but this other individual recommended I offer him 2-3 quail eggs at a time. She's also kind enough to offer different sized eggs for me to try with him, since some can be finicky.

I'll keep you guys posted

1.0 Pumpkin Pied BP, 0.1 KSB, 0.1 Bearded dragon, 1.2 Leopard gecko, 0.1 Ornate Pacman Frog, 1.1 Barred tiger salamander

[asplundii]

I need a better pic of the head but I believe this is D. medici and based on the size I am going to lean toward it being female. Sometimes you can tell based on post-cloacal scale count, you can also submit a shed to Ben Morrill/Reptile Genetic Services. DO NOT pop! DO NOT probe! These animals are entirely too fragile and you can break/kink their spine

I have been keeping medici for years and what I have learned is this:

These animals are best treated as semi/fully arboreal. I keep mine in a 37G tall style tank with multiple climbing branches and vegetation and use hanging finch nests as hides. 99.95% of the time the animals are in the aerial hides. I keep at ambient temp which ranges 23-27C in my snake room. Feeding should be done seasonally. I offer one egg every other week in March then two-three eggs every other week April-July, the rest of the year I withhold feeding. An animal the size of yours should be able to handle quail eggs without any difficulty. You should be able to find them at any international food mart, the typically available twenty-four pack should probably do you for the year.

[Gocntry]

I need a better pic of the head but I believe this is D. medici and based on the size I am going to lean toward it being female. Sometimes you can tell based on post-cloacal scale count, you can also submit a shed to Ben Morrill/Reptile Genetic Services. DO NOT pop! DO NOT probe! These animals are entirely too fragile and you can break/kink their spine

I have been keeping medici for years and what I have learned is this:

These animals are best treated as semi/fully arboreal. I keep mine in a 37G tall style tank with multiple climbing branches and vegetation and use hanging finch nests as hides. 99.95% of the time the animals are in the aerial hides. I keep at ambient temp which ranges 23-27C in my snake room. Feeding should be done seasonally. I offer one egg every other week in March then two-three eggs every other week April-July, the rest of the year I withhold feeding. An animal the size of yours should be able to handle quail eggs without any difficulty. You should be able to find them at any international food mart, the typically available twenty-four pack should probably do you for the year.

Lots of Good Info, Thanks!

Now a couple questions if you don't mind...

The local breeder near me has "Dasypeltis gansi " would the same basic rules apply to these as well??

These type of snakes can be Cohabited correct? (it's what I was told)

When getting eggs from a local market, using refrigerated eggs and bringing them up to room temps before feeding works ok?

Or do you need fresh eggs?

And from August to February feeding is withheld? Wow, long time no eating.. of course with the stories of peoples BP's not eating I'm just not used to not feeding animals for that long.

[Awesomethepossum]

I need a better pic of the head but I believe this is D. medici and based on the size I am going to lean toward it being female. Sometimes you can tell based on post-cloacal scale count, you can also submit a shed to Ben Morrill/Reptile Genetic Services. DO NOT pop! DO NOT probe! These animals are entirely too fragile and you can break/kink their spine

I have been keeping medici for years and what I have learned is this:

These animals are best treated as semi/fully arboreal. I keep mine in a 37G tall style tank with multiple climbing branches and vegetation and use hanging finch nests as hides. 99.95% of the time the animals are in the aerial hides. I keep at ambient temp which ranges 23-27C in my snake room. Feeding should be done seasonally. I offer one egg every other week in March then two-three eggs every other week April-July, the rest of the year I withhold feeding. An animal the size of yours should be able to handle quail eggs without any difficulty. You should be able to find them at any international food mart, the typically available twenty-four pack should probably do you for the year.

I'm really glad you saw this post then- and I'm also glad I posted here. I've been getting a lot of different info, but obviously I want to do what's best for my snake. So whatever info or advice you have, I'll happily accept/take.

Do these pictures work?

Poor thing was really flustered that I dug it out to take these pictures. Has been digging around and tunneling, which I thought was strange..

So you think it's female? She is pretty large, but I didn't have any information to refer to...I've been looking but knowing the actual species would probably help If they prefer arboreal setups, that's what I'll do.

I left two different types of quail eggs in the tub. All fresh. So far, she's shown no interest, but if what you say is true than that would make sense. This is why I'm confused, because the seller said the guy who owned this snake was giving one egg a week

1.0 Pumpkin Pied BP, 0.1 KSB, 0.1 Bearded dragon, 1.2 Leopard gecko, 0.1 Ornate Pacman Frog, 1.1 Barred tiger salamander

[asplundii]

Lots of Good Info, Thanks!

Now a couple questions if you don't mind...

Not a problem, always happy to help where I can.

The local breeder near me has "Dasypeltis gansi " would the same basic rules apply to these as well??

I would apply what I wrote above to any of the Dasypeltis species. For some, like D. scabra, I might add a couple extra ground hides because they occasionally lean a little more toward the "semi-" side of semi-arboreal but, in my experience, when given the option to go vertical they will make full use of it

These type of snakes can be Cohabited correct? (it's what I was told)

Yes, they can cohabit. My only advise would be to make sure you have enough space and hides to give both (all) animals a place to "escape" to and to make sure that one animal is not bullying the other(s) away from food. I would also caution, if you have a 1.1 pair, that these snakes breed easily so you will need to be ready for babies which means either having ready access to finch eggs or being willing AND able to syringe feed (remember what I said above about their delicate spines and then think about trying to get a ball-end syringe into the mouth of an animal the size of an earthworm.)

When getting eggs from a local market, using refrigerated eggs and bringing them up to room temps before feeding works ok?

Or do you need fresh eggs?

Just pull them from the fridge and let them come up to room temp. If you are worried about the eggs being good as you approach the egg of the carton then you can fill a glass with water and drop the egg in. If it floats then it is/is going bad

And from August to February feeding is withheld? Wow, long time no eating.. of course with the stories of peoples BP's not eating I'm just not used to not feeding animals for that long.

It does seem like a long time but this is how these animals evolved. Think about the seasonal cycle where they live; in spring all the birds are roosting/nesting, by late spring/early summer they are laying their eggs and by the end of summer the chicks will have hatched and by autumn/winter there are no eggs. So the snakes are conditioned to glut in the time of plenty and then live off their reserves during the time of famine.

I'm really glad you saw this post then- and I'm also glad I posted here. I've been getting a lot of different info, but obviously I want to do what's best for my snake. So whatever info or advice you have, I'll happily accept/take.

I will interject a small caveat here... I came up with how I keep these snakes based on my own research into them using articles and looking at their habitat and such. It was years later that I found the egg-eater FaceBook group and discovered that I was pretty much the only person who keeps them this way. It is possible to keep them as a more "traditional" colubrid but my goal was always to try and emulate their natural environment as best as possible. So you can take my advice or leave it as you see fit.

Do these pictures work?

Honestly... Not really LOL. The flash is washing out the markings on the head I was looking for for confirmation and your thumb is covering up a bunch of the scales on the tail so I cannot get a good count

That said, I still feel pretty good on my ID of medici and, unless you plan on trying to breed, the sex of the animal is pretty irrelevant. Your animal is a good looking animal and at the end of the day that is the most important part

Poor thing was really flustered that I dug it out to take these pictures. Has been digging around and tunneling, which I thought was strange..

Probably looking for a place to hide, they can be flighty if they feel insecure

So you think it's female? She is pretty large, but I didn't have any information to refer to...

The size makes me thing female. There is a definite dimorphism in this genus

I left two different types of quail eggs in the tub. All fresh. So far, she's shown no interest, but if what you say is true than that would make sense.

From these pics your animal is perfectly healthy bordering on being a little chubby so I would not stress if it is not eating right now. Get it a good hab, let it settle in, keep water available, and then in a month or two you can offer an egg. Or you can just wait until March to start cycle feeding

This is why I'm confused, because the seller said the guy who owned this snake was giving one egg a week

As I said above, people have been keeping these snakes like traditional colubrids for years and had success. If you are more comfortable keeping them that way then you are welcome to. I am definitely not saying that my way is the only way to keep them, it is simply the only way I will keep them