WARNING TO ALL FILESNAKE KEEPERS

[olivehydra]

We swear by the purigen pillows. They remove all ammonia, ammonium and polish the water. They are also re-chargeable so after the initial purchase cost of around $30 you have something that should last year 10 years or more unlike the disposable activated carbon etc. All our turtle aquariums run with purigen in the filters as well!

where do you get this product?

also i am guessing you keep the tank water at a certain temp, however what happens if they want to cool down or warm up? how deep of a tank do they require?

also it would be interesting to see if they would enjoy a land area with a heat lamp and a lil vapor making thingy.

andrew

As others have said they are not a fan of land at all. A herpetologist friend of mine was describing how he watched a bunch of aboriginal women collecting them for food, which is something I found interesting. Instead of breaking their neck (as described in most publications), these women just waded along the waters edge feeling for the snakes under submerged roots. When they caught them they just threw them onto the river bank and kept on going upstream. The snakes were that useless on land that they would still be there some time later, unable to make it back to the water, or so I am told.
I love these snakes but info on them is quite limited (or hard to find). I assume they give birth to live young?? Anyone??
Expansa, have you ever kept any with northern species of turts?

 

[playwell]

They cute little guys, but dont they grow to be a very large snake?

 

[expansa1]

[/quote]

I love these snakes but info on them is quite limited (or hard to find). I assume they give birth to live young?? Anyone??
Expansa, have you ever kept any with northern species of turts?[/quote]

Yes, they give birth to live young. My wife was working at the zoo when one dropped 23 babies.

I haven't kept ours with any turtles but will in the near future with some Painted turtles or even with some Pig-nosed turtles in a 10,000 litre tank! Expansa1

 

[olivehydra]

I love these snakes but info on them is quite limited (or hard to find). I assume they give birth to live young?? Anyone??
Expansa, have you ever kept any with northern species of turts?[/quote]

Yes, they give birth to live young. My wife was working at the zoo when one dropped 23 babies.

I haven't kept ours with any turtles but will in the near future with some Painted turtles or even with some Pig-nosed turtles in a 10,000 litre tank! Expansa1[/quote]

Thanks Craig,
It would be great to see some pics of that setup? Which zoo does your wife work at? Cheers, Dorian.

 

[olivehydra]

They cute little guys, but dont they grow to be a very large snake?

I believe the females do get quite large, 6ft plus and kind of chunky too.

 

[stencorp69]

Wow these are good looking snakes. Just curious is their reproduction ovoviviparous?

 

[olivehydra]

Wow these are good looking snakes. Just curious is their reproduction ovoviviparous?

Apparently so

 

[yommy]

The filey can grow to 5 possible 6ft. But they will take many years to get to full size. Two snakes of the same age but differring sex, The size difference is quite remarkable. If your interested one of these little fellas and size down the track is an issue get a male, they don't get nearly as big as the girls and not as chunky either. It all comes down to ones preference. Get a couple of each I say

 

[SLACkra]

sounds like they would be best kept in an aquaculture tub. you can get em from 500L-2000L-5000L. the 2000Litre one is if i remember $915 for the tub and base, try getting a fish tank of that size for that much! you would definantly want to have a big tub like that in a more northern area, the costs of keeping 2000L of water at 30'C wouldn't be very much fun.

andrew

 

[Mcdowelli]

Just curious...does anyone have any idea if file snakes delibrately will swallow rocks and pebbles to aid in digestion or to act as a weight similar to how crocodilians do??

 

[Wrasse]

sounds like they would be best kept in an aquaculture tub. you can get em from 500L-2000L-5000L. the 2000Litre one is if i remember $915 for the tub and base, try getting a fish tank of that size for that much! you would definantly want to have a big tub like that in a more northern area, the costs of keeping 2000L of water at 30'C wouldn't be very much fun.

andrew

Unless the tub is clear, you would never see them.

 

[Wrasse]

Just curious...does anyone have any idea if file snakes delibrately will swallow rocks and pebbles to aid in digestion or to act as a weight similar to how crocodilians do??

No idea, although I had wondered this myself.

Filesnake excreta is pretty much entirely liquid, so I wonder, if they did, whether they would be able to pass the rocks when no longer needed, or if they would regurge them. Or if, in being unable to pass them, they end up as the one at the start of this thread.

I see where you are going though and I wonder myself, if in fact the rocks were quite normal in the filesnakes stomach and when found on autopsy, were blamed for the death.

As they don't tend to eat on the bottom of the tank, ingesting accidently would be rather unusual.

 

[SLACkra]

Unless the tub is clear, you would never see them.

well the water temp would be 30'C i wouldn't mind a swim

 

[Mcdowelli]

Yeah. Personally I feel that this diagnosis is quite presumptive, until further information and details can be provided to show that this is/isn't normal filesnake behaviour.