Forest Cobra - Naja subfulva

Here are some pics of my female KwaZulu Natal locality, Naja subfulva. She's about 1.8m long but was too thin to breed this season. She should be ready for the next one.

Forest Cobra - Naja subfulva 548480_173649232842165_1556716380_n

Forest Cobra - Naja subfulva 548480_173649232842165_1556716380_n

Forest Cobra - Naja subfulva 1459985_173649482842140_61906480_n

Wade

Wery beautiful and alert looking scpecimen.

Can you link any papers or publications, where is more info about this forest cobra complex?

http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2009/f/zt02236p036.pdf

http://www.smuggled.com/Issue-20-3-7.pdf

http://devenomized.com/libraries/elapids/Forest_Cobra.pdf

Interesting, but also littlebit confusing.

Im wondering what are Wolfgang latest thoughts about this.
I only know that he did keep small lecture in latest venom day, in Bangor, called this:
Cryptic diversity in the African forest cobra (Naja melanoleuca) complex.

I wasnt there.

Australasian Journal of Herpetology. Seriously?

well, the fact that I'm reading these journals and that i'm posting these links in order to give others the opportunity to read them does not mean i'm taking them for serious....

One important question while trying to breed "subfulva" is on which season i should lay my eyes on - South African spring or European spring?
I know from other species like Naja nigricincta and Naja nivea they can and do breed in European spring and in European fall as well. From both species i have records from successful breedings in both spring and fall - same year and same specimen!
So what should i try? Changing temperatures in which season (lowering temperatures in our summer almost impossible) - or changing humidity? Giving them a new enclosure (what will be done anyway soon because they get too big in their "house")?
As far as i know, "subfulva" has never been bred successful in captivity, it's about time to make this dream come true....
Any help from other keepers, especially from our South African friends will be welcome.

I think either of those two proposed approaches is possible, although my personal preference has always been skewed toward cycling snakes according to my own local seasons. This will also alleviate the potentially significant difficulty of lowering ambient temperatures during the local summertime.

I'm currently expecting to receive a pair of hatchling specimens that have been marketed as "Naja melanoleuca subfulva," and I would be shocked if there have not been any successful captive breedings of this taxon by keepers in South Africa.

No need to be shocked, Thomas - LOL
On the other hand, I myself wouldn't be shocked when hearing from a captive breeding, but would love to see a breeding report or even get in contact with a successful breeder.
Remember another story: the first captive breeding of Naja n. nigricincta is only about three years ago, even this species has been kept by many keepers for many years before.

Good point, Peter. That said, there is a big difference between the first captive breeding and the first reported captive breeding. There have been plenty of cases, in which those two events were not only different, but were also separated by significant periods of time. In any case, I too look forward to seeing some published accounts of successful captive reproductions of this taxon.

They have been bred before in South Africa. I've asked a friend of mine (his pair locked about a month or two ago) to give me a write up on how he did it, so I can post it here.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures of his pair locking:

Forest Cobra - Naja subfulva 1469978_174659469407808_71903964_n

Forest Cobra - Naja subfulva 1469978_174659469407808_71903964_n

Forest Cobra - Naja subfulva 1459806_174660122741076_1034840995_n

Forest Cobra - Naja subfulva 60600_174660726074349_1212966679_n

I'm in the United States and have a LTC pair of N.melanoleuca subfulva that look identical to the ones pictured above. I have only gotten them to breed one time and most of the eggs were infertile. She laid 28 eggs total but none hatched. At the time I estimated they were around 4-5 years old, judging by their size when I got them and how much they grew in that time. They ended up breeding in May. No matter what I've done since then, cycling, misting, putting them together at different times throughout the year, they have not showed any interest in breeding. It's unfortunate because I would have liked to see babies from them. They are probably in the neighborhood of 8-9 years old now.

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