Anyone have expirience keeping false water cobras?

[Masa06]

I was thinking of buying one of these marvelous animals. I know a decent amount on them and stuff, but I would like to hear about them and their needs from a keeper who keeps them... not so much someone who has heard what they need to be kept well, although if you have a friend who keeps one and you ask him then I guess that works. Also where would be the best place to get one(I didn't see any at the hamburg expo)? Also which sex gets larger? male, female, or no difference. Also what would be a reasonable price? 150$ maybe more? Thanks for any help!!!!

EDIT: Sorry for misspelling experience in the title and saying also a lot.

 

[Masa06]

Not a single person on here has kept one or even knows someone with one? What about mangrove snakes?

 

[CJH]

Not a single person on here has kept one or even knows someone with one? What about mangrove snakes?

I have kept both species. FWC's were very easy to keep. I'm sure there are online care sheets that can tell you more than I can. I'm not sure what a good price is or who to get them from anymore.

There have been both captive hatched and true captive bred Mangroves available the last couple of winters.

I had 2.2 FWC's and in both pairs the females were larger. I did not keep them until they were huge adults, however, so maybe the males would have caught up. If you have any further questions I can try to answer them.

 

[Masa06]

Hmm how was the aggression with them? and How was the feeding response of yours? I heard they were "active" eaters. And where could I find those CB mangroves?

 

[CJH]

Hmm how was the aggression with them? and How was the feeding response of yours? I heard they were "active" eaters. And where could I find those CB mangroves?

I made no attempt to handle or tame down my FWC's so they stayed pretty aggressive. I was keeping a lot of venomous back then so it didn't really bother me and I didn't give it much thought. They were far from being a concern compared to some of the other stuff I was keeping at the time.

Their feeding response is amazing. They would grab and suck down rodents so fast I could have sworn my ears popped from negative pressure in the room.

They are definitely neat snakes but they do eat a lot and they smell worse than a lot of species. My girlfriend (now wife) was really glad to see those go. I would get home from work and she could tell when either my False Water Cobras or Coral/Shield-Nosed Cobras had deficated. Each had a distinct odor, both unpleasant.

I have seen true captive bred Mangroves on both Kingsnake and Fauna in the past few months. I think it was the same seller. I have not seen the captive hatched mangroves yet this winter and I don't recall who was bringing them in. Pretty sure they were B. d. melanota.

A friend of mine just hatched some B d. dendrophila, which is my favorite subspecies. They haven't even eaten yet so he's a ways away from selling, assuming he doesn't hold all of them back.

 

[mainbutter]

I cared for an acquaintances for a short while when he was out of the country on business.

It was young, fast, and a bit scary to be honest, as I'm less confident with young animals. I didn't handle it.

As far as price goes, if it were me I'd splurge on a fantastic specimen, there are some super nice hypo FWCs out there that run $300-500. I haven't seen anyone with a group of neos for sale in months, so perhaps the breeding season should be upon us soon?

 

[Masa06]

I like the regular morph the most . But if I get one, I think I would prefer to get an a juvie :9 Which I mainly see for like 300's.. the price on these guys vary so much :/