Re: Madagascarophis-some questions

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Posted by chris_harper2 on March 22, 2003 at 21:49:35:

In Reply to: Madagascarophis-some questions posted by meretseger on March 22, 2003 at 14:08:38:

I've kept two or three species. I say two or three because the M. ocellatus/meridionalis complex is supposedly only distinguisable via hemipenal differences.

I had an adult pair of imported M. colubrina. This pair reproduced several times for their previous owner (a friend) and the hatchlings were fairly easily raised on pinky mice.

I also purchased a few imported adults that all looked similar and keyed out to be either M. meridionalis or M. ocellatus. However, some of the individuals were drab in coloration and the dichotomous key in the Madagascar Field Guide suggests there are phenotypic differences between the two. So perhaps those drab colored ones were M. meridionalis and the more heavily patterned specimens were M. ocellatus.

One of the females was gravid (field-inseminated) and produced a male only clutch. Most of those babies were also fairly easy to feed with pinky mice. Some scenting and force-feeding was necessary.

I've since sold all of them but have been able to keep track of some of the specimens. Evidently one of the male babies is turning out to be quite drab while at least two others have a brilliant yellow coloration.

One of the new owners has posted pictures here before. Hopefully he'll post an updated one.

The first edition of the Madagascar Field Guide (Glaw & Vences)
has a bite account that does not sound like something I'd like to go through. I've only read it once and do not have that edition of the book.

I treated them more carefully than my Hydrodynastes, but I'm not sure that was necessary. They certainly did not act like a snake that would bite. I just did not want to find out.

They were all quite easy to acclimate and keep. I prefered the M. colubrina to the M. "ocellatus" but if any of those babies maintain their yellow coloration I might start to feel bad about letting them go :-)

Lastly, these are often misidentified. I've seen numerous M. colubrina that were clearly M. ocellatus/meridionalis. Many zoos and even one researcher have theirs labeled as M. colubrina. I've contacted a few of these places and sent them a key and none of them have turned out to be M. colubrina.

I typed this very quickly. I appologize for any typos or confusing bits.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

:We were at the show today and this guy had a pair of Madagascar cat eyed snakes (Madagascarophis sp.) that I really wanted but I didn't really want to buy some rearfanged snake out of the blue. Unfortunately, both this species and info on them seems to be a little scarce. Any general care requirements, caveats, and notes on toxicity would be greatly appreciated. He said they were eating fuzzies. Also... if anyone could maybe tip me off to a breeder/importer with access to these guys, that would help me out a lot too.

Follow Ups:

hmmm.... meretseger 03/23/03 (1)
- Sounds like M. ocellatus chris_harper2 03/23/03 (0)