Something a little different - Homoroselaps lacteus

I thought it would be interesting to post these two pictures I took a few years ago of a very small and relatively secretive African Elapid.
The spotted Harlequin Snake - Homoroselaps Lacteus.
This individual was photographed about an hour from where I live in Durban.
She was probably just over 40cm long and was carrying a belly full eggs when we found her.
The photographs don't show it but all the H.lacteus from this particular area have a very nice deep turquoise colored belly.

Something a little different - Homoroselaps lacteus Harleq10

Something a little different - Homoroselaps lacteus Harleq10

Something a little different - Homoroselaps lacteus Harleq11

It really is a shame that these pictures are of such bad quality as they really do the animal no justice at all but unfortunately they are very old photographs and where originally taken on film.
But an interesting animal exposed none the less.

Interesting and beautiful snake!
And - I have seen photos of snakes that were much worse. Above are absolutely OK, especially if one takes into account that it have been made on film and in wildlife conditions.
Cheers,
Guenter

Oooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

This is what Im waiting for!
I´d like to have some of these...

Really stunning snakes, but hard to keep. I had a discussion with Rene about the feeding. Is anybody breeding them in SA or keep them longer?

The biggest hurdle with this sp. is its diet.
It feeds almost exclusively on smooth scaled prey and although it will eat small skinks and other snakes, it is well documented for showing a particular preference to blind snakes from the family leptotyphlops.
In truth very few people I know of currently work with this species or have attempted to work with it in the past, and as a result a lot of its captive habits remain something of a mystery.
The general husbandry should be relatively straight forward as it is a strictly fossorial species found in usually dry areas.
A shame really that more effort hasn't been put into this species as it is a very beautiful looking snake that can vary drastically from location to location and the individuals from the Eastern Cape will look like a completely different species to the one I have posted.

Thx. I read some interesting papers about this species
http://www.crepinstitute.co.za/pdf/marcelpaper.pdf

That was the point I asked for. Good to have some people, who make us such nice pics available.

rgds Fabian

Interesting paper.
And certainly something special to witness.
Interestingly enough you can see the difference in the patterning in that specimen from the Cape and the one from KZN, even when the picture is in Black and white.
I also believe the individuals from the Cape are generally bigger animals than those from KZN and therefore probably more likely to include other snakes in their diet.
Just a theory.
My personal experience with keeping this species is unfortunately limited but I can tell you I successfully kept a number of individuals in 1ltr plastic containers with average ventilation and a basic substrate of vermiculite about 3cm deep.
They fed well on Peters Thread Snakes - Leptotyphlops s. scutifrons and Wahlbergs Snake-eyed Skinks - Panaspis wahlbergii.
It is a tricky species and would take someone with serious patience to get it right.
A while ago there was one young chap here in SA that claimed he had one specimen that was eating meal worms!!!

You went to Mooi River? Without me? Eish! Wink

Ha ha Rob mate sorry i am sure i called you before i left....no?
Rob a while ago you had a couple old photos of a good sized Eastern Cape specimen if i remember correctly. If you can still find them please post it here.
Would be good to see the color variations on the different localities.

Very nice looking snake!

Chris - A BIG no! Wink

Kidding man
Quite a few striped lacteus come out of Mooi River. Ive also gotten them there before.
Did you see any Rinkhals there?

Ok here is a large female from Port Elizabeth- Eastern Cape

Something a little different - Homoroselaps lacteus DSCF7622

Something a little different - Homoroselaps lacteus DSCF7622

A hatchling

Something a little different - Homoroselaps lacteus 123

Hello Chris, hello Rob,

nice to read your conversation but even nicer to see these animals. And somehow different from seeing these or other colours / patterns in books.

Thank you, they are real beauties.

Rainer

Stunning... I agree with Rainer

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