The Bockadam (Cerberus rynchops)

[Guest]

na...fark em....feed em live,

 

[soulweaver]

be too hard to feed dead fish you'd have to go live.

 

[ashley_morris22]

thanks for that Baritji.

now another question, i know its a Colubrid and i know in qld your are aloud 2 but do i need anything special aswell. and Baritji how are they as in was he able to hold the or were they just for looking.

thanks
ashley

 

[ashley_morris22]

also how big do get.

 

[Daisy]

I don't know much but here goes:

They are a non-venomous colubrid (oops...I mean non-dangerous; they're all venomous now aren't they?) I think they mostly eat crabs but I'll have to get back to you on that one. .

lol, they were already class as venomous.
ps-they eat fish, u must be thinkin of mangrove snakes.

Yep, I was thinking of the White Bellied mangrove snake.
Seafood diet, eh? Maybe I should come back as a Bockadam.

 

[Daisy]

I checked that last night. My (ancient) edition of Cogger said they average 0.6m but max at 1.2m.

I reckon they look pretty good too. Wouldn't mind keeping one in my living room.

 

[Guest]

They look much better in the flesh, about 2ft is pretty average yeah. I went out every night for a week at the begining of the year looking for these guys (helping a mate do some research on them), very cool and pretty common when you know where to look. Before we went collecting the first night he said to me "Dont touch them at all, just flick them onto the bank with your hook" so me, being me just picked them all up and none bit me!! I only handled about 60 over the course of the week though, he got bitten on the leg tho (hahahahahahahahaha) couldnt get its fangs into him though, so it was just a bit of blood. I wouldnt handle them too much, they seem to stress pretty easily, would be a great display animal though

 

[hey_im_sam]

They sound like keeping garter snakes! They were my first lol Great fun watching a snake feeding on fishI have to say. For their tank I used aquarium stones sloped.. like a cross-section of a riverbank. Fill until half the tank is water, and there's a nice slope leading out of it to the land with basking area, hides, etc!
I always find myself attracted to anything different, and a semi-aquatic snake that eats goldfish is different enough to be great fun! Saying that, garters always held a bit of a soft spot for me, even though many herpers there kinda look down on them - You can pick them up for $10 at the pet shop or in your backyard lol. Still, fascinating creatures.

 

[Guest]

hmmmmm I never knew garter snakes where semi-aquatic!! cool! I remember seeing a price list for the US 4 dollars for a copperhead...they are VERY cool looking snakes too

Bockadams would be pretty kool to keep I rekon, but I have never heard of a captive bred specimen (up here anyway) so I dont really want to run the risk of bringing parasites into my collection

 

[hey_im_sam]

I actually found them often in my backyard, a few hundred meters from a creek, quite often, and further than that. I assume they can survive away from water, they seem to be very adaptable snakes. In captivity though, they certainly thrived in the water, and in nearly 6 years keeping dozens of them I never got one to eat anything but a live fish (and I did try!) Whether this was a preference they had once fish was on the menu, or inherited from the wild, I don't know, I never looked too closely into their habits in the wild :shock: oops

 

[ashley_morris22]

theis might sound stupid but is a garter snake a The Bockadam (Cerberus rynchops).

thanks ashley

 

[Bryony]

here is somthing on the natural history and care in captivity of the gater snake
verry interesting
http://www.anapsid.org/gartcare.html

 

[Bryony]

Garter snakes (genus Thamnophis)

 

[AGAMIDAE]

Australian Bockadam Cerberus australis, grows to a lenght of 600mm TL, it is weakly vernomous, its in the Colubridae family, Mainly nocturnal living on tidal lines in mangroves along creeks, rivers and estuaries, eats fish, livebearing, not considered dangerous....REF. Acomplete guide to Reptiles of Australia....S. Wilson And G. Swan

As for keeping them, I dont know anyone that does, maybe some of the Zoo may do or have maybe check with them, I wouldnt think it would be too difficult.

 

[hey_im_sam]

Thanks for that Bry, great reading

 

[ashley_morris22]

thanks for that Bryony and AGAMIDAE

 

[Bryony]

no worries matey

 

[ashley_morris22]

are garter snakes in australia or are they simlar to The Bockadam (Cerberus rynchops).

 

[ashley_morris22]

im confused

 

[Daisy]

No garters here ashley, not in the wild anyway (I hope). They are from america. Hey hey im sam, where did you grow up?