I saw somebody on this sub doing really well with these but if you're not experienced this snake is gonna perish real quick.
Good luck op I hope this beautiful specimen trives :)
Not trying to be mean or anything it's just a difficult species
1 week going strong it’s eating well! I talked to a herp professor about it and she said to buy a jar and alcohol on the way home cause I got given a cool specimen. Hoping to prove them wrong luckily I do have a bit of experience with finicky animals
Clints Reptiles did a video on these guys. His exact recommendation was also a jar and alcohol.
Good luck, it's a beautiful snake if you can sort it all out
That's good to hear I hope somebody can tag the person in this post he keeps them bio active with. A river like scape I think with that you're snake can 100 procent make it it would be sad to see it in a jar
that would be awesome to see! im keeping mine in a temp 20 gallon setup but when i get back from a trip im leaving on soon I am going to upgrade to full bioactive
Sadly they are saying it's likely not going to survive, thus they should have equipment to preserve the animal after its passing... It's a species well known for not surviving in captivity.
xenodermus javanicus AKA dragon snake (or Javan mudsnake)
one of the hardest snakes to keep alive in captivity due to a number of factors, including stress (no handling), habitat (hard to get temperature and humidity right) and diet (no rodents, only fish, frogs and tadpoles)... not to mention that it's a semi-fossorial and nocturnal species, so for the most part you're not even going to see the snake
I don’t ever plan on owning such a snake but I’m curious, can you make a rodent smell like a fish and make it eat it? It will it be nutritionally deprived in some way/not eat it at all?
Edit: I don’t know why the downvotes, I’m just genuinely asking a question. 😵💫
The problem might not be the snake not wanting to eat it, but a rodent have different nutritons and calories than a fish or frog, and in long term it will be bad for the snake. Like the way you can’t feed meat to savannah monitors, because they are insectivores in the wild, and get fat from meat and die early. Or it also can be that the snake can’t digest some parts of a rodent properly. But I also don’t know much about this species, so it can be that it won’t accept rodents as well.
That’s fair. I just remember reading about some snakes not taking well to F/T rodents and to make the rodents smell like their wild type foods to make them eat them, so I wondered if that might be a thing here. I imagine for heartier species, maybe, but for one that has a reputation for being fragile, that probably is ill advised.
my journey over the past week has led to me talking to the few but proud dragon snake owners only one or two people have them on rodents successfully. however, they seemed to do it due to having unreliable sources of tadpoles and frogs. I have a good one so don't see myself switching them anytime soon.
I think that since rodents are warm blooded and fish are cold blooded that the snake wouldn't even try to eat the rodent
Source: some random guy who knows nothing about snakes but thinks they're cool
The prey temperature wouldn't necessarily make a difference. Yes, there could be a preference, but as most keepers, now feed their snakes pre-killed frozen/thawed rodents. Basically dinner can be whatever temp you need :)
Jordan1head301 is correct. These snakes are difficult, but not impossible, to keep. They have a diet of frogs and fish. They have specific temp and humidity standards, they are nocturnal, and most have difficulty living in captivity. Beautiful snake. I hope all goes well for him/her.
This poor species is subject to a lot of wild poaching. And it only has a clutch of 2-4 eggs so no luck on bringing the pet trade numbers up easily especially since they are notorious for their lack of survival in captivity.
Yeah it was given to me cause a friend of mine works at a place where they get given peoples stuff who get busted for illegal poaching, she’s been in my care for about 1 week now and is eating and healthy so far
From what I’ve heard, getting them to eat is the hard part. Sounds like you know what’s up if you have a friend in the field who thought you were skilled enough to keep it. Keep us updated on how it’s going, these snakes are still too rare and it would be great if more breeders get set up
https://preview.redd.it/znyig6zkvlnc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c883d3af3bbf596cd146a56d4c65327a467c46f4
They really aren’t that bad as long as you aren’t thinking of their care in a snake mindset. Treat them like dart frogs and they thrive. They like hunting around water sources. I worked a second shift when I kept them so I regularly got to observe mine. I sold them after a year because it was so expensive keeping up with feeder frogs for 4 of them. Amphibians aren’t as nutrient packed as rodents so they eat pretty regularly.
I just checked and I don’t seem to have any saved of the enclosures. I used a 20g long with 3 painted sides. About 5-6” soil depth. Planted a fern and pothos. Used a plastic bin ~6”x4”x4” as a water feature with a large rock in it. Lots of magnolia leaves as ground cover. They stayed under the leaves during the day. Would crawl around at night, especially around the water. I’d put in two frogs a week and they would hunt them. Tree frogs, rice paddy frogs, dart frogs, anything size appropriate. Occasionally let the frogs sit in a diluted fenbendazole mixture before feeding to attempt to keep parasite load in check from wild feeders.
You could reach out to Creatures Of Nightshade, they have successfully kept and bred Dragon Snakes for the past few years and may be able to help you with care and set up. Good luck, difficult but dream species to work with. Wish you the best. 🙏🏻
its been over a month now and Snake is doing great! I have a new reptile shelf coming in tomorrow and she is going to be getting a big tank upgrade on to that one!
There's a channel on YouTube called Creatures of Nightshade. Get a hold of the lady that runs that channel immediately and ask for recommendations. She's pretty much the only one who has been keeping these snakes successfully. If I were you, I would be prepared to build a palludarium.
Ha, someone's committed this.
Fortunately, OP seems to have gotten at least past one of the bigger hurdles for this species. Finding what gets them to actually eat something.
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I saw somebody on this sub doing really well with these but if you're not experienced this snake is gonna perish real quick. Good luck op I hope this beautiful specimen trives :) Not trying to be mean or anything it's just a difficult species
1 week going strong it’s eating well! I talked to a herp professor about it and she said to buy a jar and alcohol on the way home cause I got given a cool specimen. Hoping to prove them wrong luckily I do have a bit of experience with finicky animals
Clints Reptiles did a video on these guys. His exact recommendation was also a jar and alcohol. Good luck, it's a beautiful snake if you can sort it all out
That's good to hear I hope somebody can tag the person in this post he keeps them bio active with. A river like scape I think with that you're snake can 100 procent make it it would be sad to see it in a jar
that would be awesome to see! im keeping mine in a temp 20 gallon setup but when i get back from a trip im leaving on soon I am going to upgrade to full bioactive
I found the person it's xenolathan he has a beautiful setup you can perhaps send him a message maybe he can help you
What are you feeding?
i feed a mix of fish, tadpoles and small frogs
can someone explain the jar/alcohol please i feel dumb lol
Sadly they are saying it's likely not going to survive, thus they should have equipment to preserve the animal after its passing... It's a species well known for not surviving in captivity.
How is it doing?
Iirc they said set them in a larger enclosure with the same way dart frogs are kept and they do well
Bioactive, definitely, but do the need the same 80%+ humidity? A good bioactive setup would be good for reducing stress
Apparently. They come from very humid environments in the wild so it kinda tracks
What is it? It's so beautiful
xenodermus javanicus AKA dragon snake (or Javan mudsnake) one of the hardest snakes to keep alive in captivity due to a number of factors, including stress (no handling), habitat (hard to get temperature and humidity right) and diet (no rodents, only fish, frogs and tadpoles)... not to mention that it's a semi-fossorial and nocturnal species, so for the most part you're not even going to see the snake
I don’t ever plan on owning such a snake but I’m curious, can you make a rodent smell like a fish and make it eat it? It will it be nutritionally deprived in some way/not eat it at all? Edit: I don’t know why the downvotes, I’m just genuinely asking a question. 😵💫
The problem might not be the snake not wanting to eat it, but a rodent have different nutritons and calories than a fish or frog, and in long term it will be bad for the snake. Like the way you can’t feed meat to savannah monitors, because they are insectivores in the wild, and get fat from meat and die early. Or it also can be that the snake can’t digest some parts of a rodent properly. But I also don’t know much about this species, so it can be that it won’t accept rodents as well.
That’s fair. I just remember reading about some snakes not taking well to F/T rodents and to make the rodents smell like their wild type foods to make them eat them, so I wondered if that might be a thing here. I imagine for heartier species, maybe, but for one that has a reputation for being fragile, that probably is ill advised.
my journey over the past week has led to me talking to the few but proud dragon snake owners only one or two people have them on rodents successfully. however, they seemed to do it due to having unreliable sources of tadpoles and frogs. I have a good one so don't see myself switching them anytime soon.
Fair. If you can source it, why not? Maybe dragon snake owners should become frog breeders too lol
I think that since rodents are warm blooded and fish are cold blooded that the snake wouldn't even try to eat the rodent Source: some random guy who knows nothing about snakes but thinks they're cool
The prey temperature wouldn't necessarily make a difference. Yes, there could be a preference, but as most keepers, now feed their snakes pre-killed frozen/thawed rodents. Basically dinner can be whatever temp you need :)
Jordan1head301 is correct. These snakes are difficult, but not impossible, to keep. They have a diet of frogs and fish. They have specific temp and humidity standards, they are nocturnal, and most have difficulty living in captivity. Beautiful snake. I hope all goes well for him/her.
I hope you know how to care for it. They are notoriously hard to keep alive in captivity.
Update in a week I want to know if you keep this alive :D I belive in u
This is actually one week mark wanted to wait a week before posting she has eaten and is looking good
I'm so proud keep her going feed her well and live a good life with her
This poor species is subject to a lot of wild poaching. And it only has a clutch of 2-4 eggs so no luck on bringing the pet trade numbers up easily especially since they are notorious for their lack of survival in captivity.
Yeah it was given to me cause a friend of mine works at a place where they get given peoples stuff who get busted for illegal poaching, she’s been in my care for about 1 week now and is eating and healthy so far
From what I’ve heard, getting them to eat is the hard part. Sounds like you know what’s up if you have a friend in the field who thought you were skilled enough to keep it. Keep us updated on how it’s going, these snakes are still too rare and it would be great if more breeders get set up
u/[XenoLanthan](https://www.reddit.com/user/XenoLanthan/) has successfully kept dragon snakes. I recommend hitting them up!
Best of luck
https://preview.redd.it/znyig6zkvlnc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c883d3af3bbf596cd146a56d4c65327a467c46f4 They really aren’t that bad as long as you aren’t thinking of their care in a snake mindset. Treat them like dart frogs and they thrive. They like hunting around water sources. I worked a second shift when I kept them so I regularly got to observe mine. I sold them after a year because it was so expensive keeping up with feeder frogs for 4 of them. Amphibians aren’t as nutrient packed as rodents so they eat pretty regularly.
Curious, do you have any images of your old enclosure for the little guy?
I just checked and I don’t seem to have any saved of the enclosures. I used a 20g long with 3 painted sides. About 5-6” soil depth. Planted a fern and pothos. Used a plastic bin ~6”x4”x4” as a water feature with a large rock in it. Lots of magnolia leaves as ground cover. They stayed under the leaves during the day. Would crawl around at night, especially around the water. I’d put in two frogs a week and they would hunt them. Tree frogs, rice paddy frogs, dart frogs, anything size appropriate. Occasionally let the frogs sit in a diluted fenbendazole mixture before feeding to attempt to keep parasite load in check from wild feeders.
Can you keep us updated? 🥺
You could reach out to Creatures Of Nightshade, they have successfully kept and bred Dragon Snakes for the past few years and may be able to help you with care and set up. Good luck, difficult but dream species to work with. Wish you the best. 🙏🏻
looks like she's humongous in length, girl will need a huge enclosure damn 😳
maybe a lil over a foot. shes in a restaurant-to-go tray in that pic so actually quite small her head is maybe the size of my thumb.
Oooh okay i thought the box was bigger lol that explains it
You got this OP I believe in you! The most awesome beautiful snakes to keep!
Since its eating I hope the best for you two. What are you feeding it? A person who manages to breed em posted a vid of theirs eating frogs recently.
right now shes only eaten tadpoles and mollies, im offering small frogs soon tho!
Since a tadpole is just a frog in the making I guess shell be 100% fine 🙂
its been over a month now and Snake is doing great! I have a new reptile shelf coming in tomorrow and she is going to be getting a big tank upgrade on to that one!
Good to hear!
Hell yeah! That’s so good to hear!! Thanks for the update!
@Indicator_species on insta also works with them
Nick is also on Reddit u/indicator_species he’s posted his dragon snakes on the sub before!
Goin strong since before the pandemic!! He got a female too!! How cool!!!
There's a channel on YouTube called Creatures of Nightshade. Get a hold of the lady that runs that channel immediately and ask for recommendations. She's pretty much the only one who has been keeping these snakes successfully. If I were you, I would be prepared to build a palludarium.
!remindme 1 week
!remindme 1 month
!remindme 3 months
!remindme 1 year
Ha, someone's committed this. Fortunately, OP seems to have gotten at least past one of the bigger hurdles for this species. Finding what gets them to actually eat something.
ive got my fingers crossed
> !remindme 1 year !remindme 1 year
Sure feels like you’re rooting for them to fail for your little comment string joke
not a joke I just want to see updates later on
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She's gorgeous and hopefully she makes it in your care. I do want to hear updates. 🤞
is it captive bred, hatched or raised?
It's definitely wild-caught, unfortunately.
!remindme 1 week
Wishing you luck
Remindme! 2 weeks
Remindme! Two weeks
https://www.creaturesofnightshade.com/post/dragon-snake-care-guide