B schlegelii. new pics and question on tiger phase, please

Hello all, I´m about to get a B schelegelii, so I would like to know if some of you guys have a nice and detailed care sheet for this species or know a book or a website that can help me pleas.
I´ve read some books and websites but I would like more specific information to avoid a mistake, but any information or personal experience would be helpful. I´ll upload pic of this guy as soon as I get him
thanks in advance

regards

Sorry, I don't have a detailed care sheet, but I did keep a specimen of B. schlegelii for over 23 years, and I learned a few things along the way. I fed mice to my Eyelash Vipers (I fed mice or rats to EVERYTHING!), and the feeding schedule would be very basic...feed a medium sized item, wait for defecation, wait another few days and feed again. I fed every 10-14 days. Don't overfeed. Don't UNDERFEED either, you don't want to let them go too long without eating.

Humidity and temperature were whatever the room was, probably 75-80 degrees F., humidity around 40%-60% I sprayed the cage once a week or so, also around the time the snake would be in a shed. I had a hot spot above one end that the snakes didn't seem to like, so the hot spot was reduced to a "warm corner" which they didn't make use of either.

I didn't fuss about them and they flourished. Mostly, I left them alone, fed them well without overfeeding them, and I didn't have any problems. If you get good ones, they're an easy species to keep and many people keep B. schlegelii very differently from the way I did and they've had excellent results so I would think that B. schlegelii is a very adaptable species.

I'd stay away from WC adults due to the probability of a heavy parasite load, but if you start with a CB juvenile that's well started, it's a species that can do well for you for many years.

Hello april, thank you very much for your answer, very appreciated, I´ll try to upload pics of this beauty as soon as I get it, I only saw a video of the original animal eating by himself so I hope he is a healthy one.

thank you very much again

The problem with WC, is they feed on lizards and frogs in nature, a good way to become parasitized. What happens, is as long as the animal isn't heavily stressed, it can live a long and natural life with the parasites, but when the animal is collected and shipped, then forced into captivity, the parasites become a heavy burden for the animal, and it can stop feeding and ultimately dying from the parasitic load. I'm not a veterinarian, and the anti-helmetics for the parasites can be toxic if overdosed; much better to start with healthy, established specimens.

thanks for your comments, I´m almost sure that this snake is CB something that I really hope so. I´ll keep you updated. by the way this guy is eating pinkies so hope it continues like that.

regards

just got the little B looks very healthy and hope he or she continues like that, I´ll ´post pictures later on
greetings

this is my new baby, it just got his her frist meal today did it very well, I´ll show more pics later regards

well here are a few new pics of this young eyelash, a little bigger compared when I got him/her,looks like he is kind of a tiger phase or something like that,any ideas if he or she could change its actual coloration?
you can see in this pics that it has some orange bands with yellow background, so what do you think??

best regards

B. schlegelii very often will change its coloration as it matures. For example, I had one that was a light tan coloration as a neonate, and as it matured it took on a wonderful intense brick red. Yours may change in terms of color and intensity, with the adult having a more intense yellow with brown or tan bands or blotches, scattered black specks, and possibly some green on the head; overall, a very pretty animal!

thank you very much for your answer April, well I just hope he or she keeps growing big and with a nice colouration, I`ll keep updating pics and see what colouration it gets.

thanks again

regards

Gustav Eloy wrote:

I just hope he or she keeps growing big

Depends upon where the breeder stock originated from. B. schlegelii from Costa Rica, for example, is larger and more robust, while specimens from Honduras tend to be smaller and relatively thin.

Ultimate size also depends upon the size of the food items. Larger food items force the snake to work harder and to stretch in order to swallow larger prey resulting in the snake developing a wider head and body. This is true for many species. I've had Gaboon Vipers, B. gabonica, that were raised on mice that remained thin until I started feeding rats and eventually, rabbits. I raised my own mice, so it was never a question of how many mice to feed; I could have fed as many mice as the Gaboon would eat and it would never have developed as wide a head as it did from being fed rats and rabbits. I had an Australian Tiger Snake, N. scutulatus, that was healthy, but on the slender side until I introduced rats, then the snake doubled in thickness within a relatively short time.

My B. schlegelii originated from Costa Rica, but meals were always on the small side and none of the snakes ever grew to a great length or width. Because B. schlegelii has a relatively slow metabolism, I preferred small meals on a more frequent schedule than large meals less often.

A word about humidity...have you ever been to a rain forest? While the humidity may feel like 100%, there's great air movement, my husband described it as "buoyant." Orchids are epiphytic plants with exposed roots to absorb the moisture in the air, but the roots are never wet. It's a feeling of humidity that's very light, not a feeling of being saturated in the atmosphere. Of course, high humidity and warm temperatures will have us perspiring very heavily, but it's a different feeling from a swamp with stagnant air. In a rain forest, the air moves. A similar sensation is experienced after a thunderstorm, where the ground is soaked, the air is saturated, but the movement of the air lends a feeling of coolness. If we were to keep a snake in an enclosure that is frequently sprayed, unless there's adequate movement of air, the environment will be wet, leading to the growth of bacteria, mold, and fungus. A well placed fan can move the air in the room and it can prevent bacterial infections from a wet enclosure. None of my enclosures were wet for more than a few hours. If I wanted to raise the humidity for a longer period of time, I'd use a larger water dish.

thank you very much for you answer April.
that is an interesting information I never tough about that, but I will try and see how it goes.
I´ve been on some rain forest, we use have some conservation projects in there, so I know how it feels in there, right now the Bothriechis is still in quarantine, but soon I´m going to move it to its new terrarium, and I´ll post pics of as soon as I can and you tell me what do you think, by the way I was planning to add a small computer fan in one end of the cage to improve ventilation.
again thanks for your answer.

regards