Brown Tree Snake

[ether]

As you know ime fairly new to reptile keeping, but i was wondering thinking about getting a Brown Tree Snake. I realise that they are venamous but nor considered dangerous. If they do bite you will you fall ill?
Couldnt anyone who has them or has had them answer a few questions-
1) Are they bad feeders?
2) What are there cage requirements?
3) Would you reccomend them for relativly inexperienced keepers?

You can answer just one question if you like..

Regards Alex

[africancichlidau]

You can answer just one question if you like..

Thanks





Sorry ether, I just couldn't resist it

[Slateman]

Ether. Boiga iregularis (brown tree snake) is colubrid. That means that snake have rear fangs. If you are biten by this snake, you do not get injected venom. To be intoxicated, snake would have to chew on you pashionately for certain leng of time, and that is ulikely to happen. They are concidered not dengerous to humen.

They are good feeders as far as I know. I had one for some time and he eat with not problem.

They are not best handlers. They are quick and usually bad temperament snakes.

If I am wrong in some of my ansfers, please feel free to correct me here. Many members on this site have much more experience then me.

[bigguy]

Alex, Brown Trees are easy to keep and easy to feed. They normally eat mice with no hesitation. However they are known for
their bad tempers. Most bite at a drop of the hat. As Slatey said, they are rear fanged and venomous. Envenomations are not common, but do occur if they get a a good hold. Symptons can be localised swelling, intense pain and nausea. Many years ago a large BTS bite a roo at the old ARP. Within an hour the roo was dead. Makes you wonder just how toxic they can be, doesn't it.

[Slateman]

I think Bigguy that they are great as first venomous snake but I would not chose them as first snake pet.

[ether]

Thanx for the info guys! Would i be stupid to get one as my 4th snake?

[bigguy]

Alex, its totally up to you. You now know a little more about them and its your own decission to make.

[ether]

Cool, do you breed them at all bigguy?

[bigguy]

Alex, not if I can help it.

[jimmy_the_kid]

intresting stuff they do sound like a good first venomous snake im not looking at the moment but ill keep it in mind does anybody know of any human deaths caused by a bite off one of these snakes

[Fuscus]

This is one of those cases where Bigguy says something and someone promptly documents an exception. The ONE BTS I have had experence with, at last years pet expo, was very calm and I handled it for over an hour. But while I was willing to cope an unlikely bite I didn't let children near it.

sounds sensible.

[Sdaji]

1) Are they bad feeders?
2) What are there cage requirements?
3) Would you reccomend them for relativly inexperienced keepers?

1) They vary, I've seen shockers and also really good ones. It's not uncommon for them to be really difficult to get onto mice, but the usually assist feed relatively well.

2) Pretty standard for a medium sized arboreal snake. They like to climb but some people keep them without any climbing branches and they are still happy, healthy and breed. In my experience they have seemed to need high humidity for sloughing.

3) Not really, but it's up to you.

They usually don't manage to envenomate you, but it can happen. I've been envenomated by a newly hatched one, before its first feed (which I found quite suprising), syptoms were mild local itching and burning. I assume larger individuals could give you a slightly nastier reaction, but I don't really know much about it. I vaguely remember reading about their venom properties giving them very different effects to different animals, I believe they are not very nasty at all to placental mammals (which humans are part of) but much more deadly to marsupials (I'm not 100% sure on this, don't quote me on it). This may explain the kangaroo death bigguy mentioned. I've never heard of a human being significantly affected, but this certainly doesn't mean it hasn't happened.

Their temperaments vary hugely. I've seen many wild animals which have been completely tame and also some captive bred animals which have been quite nasty. It's not at all uncommon for them to be very good handlers, but it's also not uncommon for them to be unhandlable.

[ether]

How much would i be looking at paying?

[missing_linc]

I was at a herp show at one of the animal parks north of Cairns a few years ago, and the handler brought out a BTS that had been caught in somebody's kitchen the day before. The snake bit him during the show, he cursed but it didn't seem to worry him, but some of the spectators screamed ran away, as if it was 9/11 all over again! I've caught a few at night in central Queensland. Beautiful snakes, and I'm looking at getting one when I return to Australia - a great animal when you want to practice not getting bitten, as a build-up to elapids. That's my plan anyway. I've caught elapids too, but that's different from keeping them.