Keeping Bungarus sp.

Is there anyone on here who has success with any species of Bungarus? If so what are you feeding them on? A friend of mine has got a single B.caeruleus (Indian Krait) which is feeding well on defrost, which i shall try and get pictures of soon. He also has a pair of B.candidus and managed to a get eggs off them (not sure if it was a captive breeding though). Both the eggs hatched, but sadly both the adults and babies eventually died.

Unfortunately I can't answer your question. However, I too would be interested if anyone would have any info on this topic.
Sorry to hear about the misfortune with the B. candidus. Any idea what might've killed them?

Actually, I have one Krait that came in from Indonesia. Technically it belongs to a friend of mine, but I'm keeping it for now. It had an infection in the mouth, which seems to have cleared with antibiotics.
It still has a bit of a nose-rub I'm trying to deal with.
I've assist-fed it with small mice.

I haven't found any help in the internet or any of the books I have; I'm not positive on the ID of this one.
It was supposed to be B. fasciatus, but I'm not sure... What is the best way to differentiate B. fasciatus from B. candidus? Any comments would be appreciated.

I hope you don't mind me writing this to your thread, Tom. I don't mean to hijack your thread Smile

Here's the one I'm currently keeping:
Keeping Bungarus sp. P1050821

IMHO the fasciatus are yellow and black whereas the candidus are white and black - or am I oversimplyfying this?

That snake is definitely B. fasciatus, which can be white in at least some parts of its range (e.g., Java, like this specimen) .

Keeping Bungarus sp. 1233

Distinguishing characters include tail (blunt in B. fasciatus, normal in B. candidus), vaguely arrow-shaped head pattern in B. fasciatus, extremely triangular body shape in fasciatus (much less pronouced in B. candidus), and, from memory, the fact that the bands go across the belly in B. fasciatus but not in B. candidus.

Oh, and being a fairly quiet snake that hides its head is a fasciatus specialty, B. candidus is a much more alert, fast and mobile snake, including during the day, and can be very dangerous to work with day or night.

Cheers,

WW

Holy cow! That b/w specimen is gorgeous!

Thank you very much WW for the ID and the notes on the differences between the two species. That was extremely helpful.
The difference you mention in their behaviour is quite interesting as well.

The one currently in my possession hasn't expressed any aggressive behaviour until I've had to actually pick it up for medication. However, hiding it's head and making quick jerky motions at the sight of any disturbance certainly keeps oneself at one's toes.

Hi friends,
I would like to get some of Bungarus sp. into my snakeroom during the next years.I know ,that there is a little bit problem with feeding,but Ive another question:
Do You have some skills with temperature day/night and humidity in cage?
And what about the best substrate,hiding-places and so on?
Is using newspapers the best way for these snakes?
Thank You for answers !

Guest

Keeping anything with pre-synaptic neurotoxins is madness in my opinion. I am crazy enough to deal with post-synaptic neurotoxins but not the pre-synaptic neurotoxins that fs up your neurons permanently. I don`t think kraits are worth it.

From all I know even pre-synaptic toxins cause no permanent damage. OK, no antivenin for that but the synapses will recover after some time (on the respirator), right?
Or am I wrong? What could WW tell us about it?

Guest

I am by no means an expert on this but as far as I know, they pretty much kill that synapse making the neuron useless permanently.

Im not very good in toxinology,but I think that pre-synaptic neurotoxin is able to cause permanent damage when antivenin isnt in patient on time.
However,what I know from scientific literature is that post-synaptic neurotoxins are the main elements,which have to do with fatal cases.
But I would like to learn more about venom of Kraits. Rolling Eyes

Presynaptic neurotoxins do not normally cause permanent nerve damage. There is confusion here due to the ambiguous use of the term "irreversible". Presynaptic neurotoxins do destroy synapses, and this irreversible in the sense that an antivenom cannot reverse the damage (unlike in a postsynaptic neurotoxin that simply blocks acetylcholine receptors, which can be unblocked again). However, the body can repair the damage and produce new nerve terminals. However, this takes a while, and usually requires the best part of a week on a respirator and a prolonged convalescence that can run into months.

If you are bitten by something with postsynaptic neurotoxins, then antivenom (or even anticholinesterase drugs) can unblock the acetylcholine receptors, and you can go home the next day feeling pretty good - that won't happen with presynaptic neurotoxins. However, rest assured that there are plenty of krait, taipan and other presynaptic neurotoxicity patients who are walking around happy and healthy and leading productive lives after their bites.

Thanks WW - seems, as if my information was quite ok then.
It is definitely a very interesting field (venom and the effects on bite victims) and I am always reding these threads with great interest.
Cheers,
Guenter

Guest

And mine too to a degree as well, it looks like the synapses do not recover but new ones are made by the neurons in time if the proper care is present.

Good to have a master in the house, thanks WW Smile

.

And I still won`t touch kraits Smile

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Thank You Wolfgang for your explanation.

Hi Tom! Don't know if you are still following this thread, or if you now have enough info on feeding kraits. I currently have a Bungarus candidus (all black, from Bali where i live) that feeds readily on wolf snakes (Lycodon a. capucinus). I use these snakes as food because they are relatively common here. The Bungarus is kept very simply under paper towelling with a dish of damp paper towelling into which it crawls to hide. It seems to like being in this damp environment. Initially it was always trying to burrow but has given up on this. I didn't want to provide soil for it because of the difficulty in finding it if i need to, and bcause of the thrat of infections from the soil.
Ambient temps here are from 25 (night)- 32 deg. C (day) every day (no heating needed!). The Bungarus has twice already taken a dead Lycodon (killed by dogs) left overnight in its tank, so it does not seem to need a live moving snake to stimulate it. Also, if it s hungry, it will start feeding in daylight too, not even waiting until dark. Hope this is useful. Anything else, please let me know! Ron Lilley

I have a pair of B. candidus and the female hammers down thawed mice, but the male will not. The male takes live Cornsnakes no problem, and sometimes thawed snakes.

I keep them in a rack system where the cages have lids, so when I pull a cage out, the lid keeps me safe until I put it on the table, and open the lid.

The cages have 2" (5cm) deep Cypress Mulch that I keep a little damp. I have a hide in there, which is actually the water bowl that has openings on each side where they can go under it and use it for a hide.

I will try breeding them next year.

Randy

ronlilley wrote:: Hi Tom! Don't know if you are still following this thread, or if you now have enough info on feeding kraits. I currently have a Bungarus candidus (all black, from Bali where i live) that feeds readily on wolf snakes (Lycodon a. capucinus). I use these snakes as food because they are relatively common here. The Bungarus is kept very simply under paper towelling with a dish of damp paper towelling into which it crawls to hide. It seems to like being in this damp environment. Initially it was always trying to burrow but has given up on this. I didn't want to provide soil for it because of the difficulty in finding it if i need to, and bcause of the thrat of infections from the soil.
Ambient temps here are from 25 (night)- 32 deg. C (day) every day (no heating needed!). The Bungarus has twice already taken a dead Lycodon (killed by dogs) left overnight in its tank, so it does not seem to need a live moving snake to stimulate it. Also, if it s hungry, it will start feeding in daylight too, not even waiting until dark. Hope this is useful. Anything else, please let me know! Ron Lilley

Hi Ron,

Many thanks for the information, and i dont think you can ever 'have enough info' when it comes to this subject! Very Happy

i have made one attempt at keeping Bungarus sp, - a friend gave me a 75cm unsexed Sindh krait, Bungarus sindanus, around 2 years ago. The snake was very thin when i received it, but much to my surprise it began to accept rodents quite readily after a short period of time, and started to gain weight. Unfortunately, this krait only survived for 4 months, and passed away for unknown reasons.

Keeping Bungarus sp. N740380065_6777322_4502565

Keeping Bungarus sp. N740380065_6777322_4502565

Keeping Bungarus sp. 6771_212620335065_740380065_7662216_7644708_n

cheers,

Tom

Guest

I remember seeing that snake Tom. Think it was the first time I met you. Two years has gone fast!

Thanks Dr Wuster:)

Hi all,

we've been lucky to breed B. caeruleus twice in the past few years. Contrary to expectation, that was quite easy. The only "secret" seems to be that one should not hesitate to keep the sexes together for some extended period of time. Actually, I strongly believe that the assumption that these snakes are generally cannibalistic is a myth (wouldn't make much sense either as such behavior would be contra-productive, literally, in the wild). Anyway, our well-fed Bungarus were kept together for some weeks without ever loosing any. Remarkably, eggs were laid between 170 and 300 days after co-habitation, indicating that sperm can be stored by these snakes. The clutch size was small, with 5 eggs only of which 3 produced juvies. After the first shed (10-14 days after hatch), the young snakes fed on freeze-thawed pinkies left in the enclosure over night, without ever causing any problems. Kraits don't seem to grow very fast (compared, for instance, with cobras). Ours took about two years to reach 80 cm, despite eating a mouse a week. Temp was between 25 and 30°C during the day and about 22°C at night. We keep our animals in a dry environment, on common pet soil (the one sold for small mammals), with a hide box half filled with moist sphagnum moss. During the day they usually rest in this box.

We had 5 species of kraits (caeruleus, candidus, multicinctus, sindanus and fasciatus) in our live collection in the past 12 years. With the exception of fasciatus, they were really easy to keep and maintain. All except fasciatus (who only devoured on snakes in our hands) ate f/t mice. Notably, one big sindanus male liked f/t chicken; it never took any mice.

Hope I could help a bit.

Klaus

I had success with B. caeruleus for about three years, after which I traded the snake. Feeding was in the evening because during the day, the snake was shy and reclusive. It was far more alert in the evening, and defrosted mice were readily taken from tongs.

I kept the snake on a thick layer of pine shavings which it enjoyed burrowing under, preferring to burrow rather than using a hide box. Average temperature regardless of season was 68F-around 80F. I did not have a hot spot for the cage.

Greetings, I just bagged this one last night road herping and would appreciate advice from anyone who has successfully maintained them in captivity.

Keeping Bungarus sp. Bungarusfasciatus_zps3475d845-1

Keeping Bungarus sp. Bungarusfasciatus_zps3475d845-1

Currently I'm keeping it on damp coconut husks with a large shallow water tub big enough for it to soak itself in. I heard the diet requirement is very inconvenient. If anyone can elaborate more on this to a helpful degree, I would greatly appreciate it....

Thank you in advance, Cheers and best regards

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