# Ptyas korros care



## jp2193

I'm thinking of moving another snake into my collection, wondering about Ptyas korros, as I've been reccomended them by a few people, and having seen one in the flesh it was very impressive.

My question is care.. what size viv would one need as an adult? I can probably accommodate a 60x45x90, so what snake if not, could live in that as an adult?

If not korros, I wonder about another Boiga species. Maybe nigriceps, or dendrophilia gemicincta or dendrophilia divergens (as I'm told they are smaller mangrove sub sp). 

Cheers!


----------



## Thrasops

Hello! I keep a single_ Ptyas korros_ and to be honest, that viv is WAY too small for one - they are incredibly active snakes that do best with a lot of room to explore and like a fair amount of heat. They are also rather nervous and can be somewhat difficult to observe.
I would suggest nothing less than 48"x24"x30" for a specimen, more if possible as they will utilise all the space you give them (when you are not around to watch)


50%Man50%Biscuit on here breeds them and has some fantastic videos of their activity patterns taken using GoPro, he would be a great person to talk to about the finer points of husbandry.


----------



## jp2193

Thrasops said:


> Hello! I keep a single_ Ptyas korros_ and to be honest, that viv is WAY too small for one - they are incredibly active snakes that do best with a lot of room to explore and like a fair amount of heat. They are also rather nervous and can be somewhat difficult to observe.
> I would suggest nothing less than 48"x24"x30" for a specimen, more if possible as they will utilise all the space you give them (when you are not around to watch)
> 
> 
> 50%Man50%Biscuit on here breeds them and has some fantastic videos of their activity patterns taken using GoPro, he would be a great person to talk to about the finer points of husbandry.


Thanks for the reply! Had a feeling this might be the case, but figured best to ask on the off chance. In that case, which species would that kind of size viv house as an adult do you think? Thanks!


----------



## Thrasops

I assume the 60x45x90 is centimetres, right? Haha.

There are a few snakes you could have in there. A Dione's Rat Snake (_Elaphe dione_) or Twin-Spotted Rat Snake (_Elaphe bimaculata_) would be good, if you built up the back wall with fake rock or fake brickwork for it to climb. They are small, active and I have found them on the Great Wall in China so you could do an interesting themed terrarium based around ruined brickwork for one.

Or you could keep a Green Trinket Snake (_Gonyosoma prasinum_), they are arboreal and would do OK in there.


----------



## jp2193

Thrasops said:


> I assume the 60x45x90 is centimetres, right? Haha.
> 
> There are a few snakes you could have in there. A Dione's Rat Snake (_Elaphe dione_) or Twin-Spotted Rat Snake (_Elaphe bimaculata_) would be good, if you built up the back wall with fake rock or fake brickwork for it to climb. They are small, active and I have found them on the Great Wall in China so you could do an interesting themed terrarium based around ruined brickwork for one.
> 
> Or you could keep a Green Trinket Snake (_Gonyosoma prasinum_), they are arboreal and would do OK in there.


Yup, cm haha. 

Ah, diones are sweet little snakes! G. prasinum are cool, although I think the ones I've see we're quite defensive, not that it's a problem. 
What do you think about that size viv for Boiga, like nigriceps, or dendrophilia gemicincta? Also how about chrysopelea?


----------



## Thrasops

jp2193 said:


> Yup, cm haha.
> 
> Ah, diones are sweet little snakes! G. prasinum are cool, although I think the ones I've see we're quite defensive, not that it's a problem.
> What do you think about that size viv for Boiga, like nigriceps, or dendrophilia gemicincta? Also how about chrysopelea?


I would say it is too small for the larger _Boiga_, although maybe for species like _Boiga ceylonensis_ or _B. multomaculata_ it would be great.

_Chrysopelea_ are very active snakes, you could possibly get away keeping a small male in there, but really you would be looking for something that offered a bit more horizontal space as well as height - I would suggest at least 48" height for a long term enclosure.


----------



## jp2193

Thrasops said:


> I would say it is too small for the larger _Boiga_, although maybe for species like _Boiga ceylonensis_ or _B. multomaculata_ it would be great.
> 
> _Chrysopelea_ are very active snakes, you could possibly get away keeping a small male in there, but really you would be looking for something that offered a bit more horizontal space as well as height - I would suggest at least 48" height for a long term enclosure.


Ok, cool, thank you!  Small Boiga would work for me, hence why I said nigriceps, as everyone who has them I've known has only had them max at about 4.5 ft. Only thing that concerns me with multomaculata and ceylonensis is tiny tiny babies and feeding something that small.
Someone has a CB16 Boiga guaxingensis for sale currently in Europe. He described it to me as like a cynodon by maxing at around 1.2m I'm thinking that might be a good bet for me? 
Good to know about Chrysopelea. I thought about Ahaetulla or Langha too, but no way I could offer the food source really. Oxybelis are cool snakes, but quite unavailable so I understand, and probably too big for the viv I can offer (I know you have one... green with envy! haha!)


----------



## Thrasops

jp2193 said:


> Ok, cool, thank you!  Small Boiga would work for me, hence why I said nigriceps, as everyone who has them I've known has only had them max at about 4.5 ft. Only thing that concerns me with multomaculata and ceylonensis is tiny tiny babies and feeding something that small.
> Someone has a CB16 Boiga guaxingensis for sale currently in Europe. He described it to me as like a cynodon by maxing at around 1.2m I'm thinking that might be a good bet for me?
> Good to know about Chrysopelea. I thought about Ahaetulla or Langha too, but no way I could offer the food source really. Oxybelis are cool snakes, but quite unavailable so I understand, and probably too big for the viv I can offer (I know you have one... green with envy! haha!)


Yes, _B. nigriceps_ gets to around 4.5' to 5' - personally I would consider this a bit too large for a terrarium of those dimensions, although not out of consideration entirely. I like my snake terraria to be at least as wide as the snake is long, although of course in arboreal species like _Boiga_ height is just as important once you reach a certain threshold in width (depending on species - I have found _B. dendrophila_ to be quite terrestrial, even to the point of what could almost be considered "semi-aquatic"). For _B. nigriceps_ I would recommend something at least around 24"x24"x48" although others do get away with less.

There are currently some very nice looking subadult _B. multomaculata_ also for sale in Europe, very beautiful snakes indeed (far more so than _B. nigriceps_ in my opinion, which are among the more dull species in the genus). But yes the babies are absolutely minute.

If you can get small _B. guaxingensis_ that would probably work, although as before I would personally prefer a 90x45x90cm enclosure for any _Boiga_ over 48" or so. Others may (and frequently do!) disagree. 
That is actually a target species for me this year, as I am spending a month in China in June. Would be fantastic to see either _B. multomaculata_ or _B. guaxingensis_!

I believe I have the only _Oxybelis fulgidus_ in the UK, possibly in Europe. At a good 72" and surprisingly active they are much too big for such a setup. Mine inhabits a 48"x24"x48" enclosure with a 40" tall waterfall. Wish I could find a pair for her!


----------



## Satch

I didn't realise _Oxybelis fulgidus_ were quite that rare in collections. 

Do you have any pictures of the set-up? it sounds impressive.


----------



## Thrasops

Satch said:


> I didn't realise _Oxybelis fulgidus_ were quite that rare in collections.
> 
> Do you have any pictures of the set-up? it sounds impressive.


Better... I have a short video on my sadly under-used Youtube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x16yU1hplko


----------



## Satch

Great stuff, well worth taking the risk of looking at anything posted by 'Franaconda'.

It does feel like we might be overdue a photo thread.


----------



## Thrasops

Satch said:


> Great stuff, well worth taking the risk of looking at anything posted by 'Franaconda'.
> 
> It does feel like we might be overdue a photo thread.


Everything is coming out of brumation these few weeks so rest assured there will be plenty of piccies coming up.

The Youtube channel as it stands does not really have much on it, and what is there was filmed on an older mobile, but I do have plans to increase the amount of videos on there.


----------



## jp2193

Thrasops said:


> Yes, _B. nigriceps_ gets to around 4.5' to 5' - personally I would consider this a bit too large for a terrarium of those dimensions, although not out of consideration entirely. I like my snake terraria to be at least as wide as the snake is long, although of course in arboreal species like _Boiga_ height is just as important once you reach a certain threshold in width (depending on species - I have found _B. dendrophila_ to be quite terrestrial, even to the point of what could almost be considered "semi-aquatic"). For _B. nigriceps_ I would recommend something at least around 24"x24"x48" although others do get away with less.
> 
> There are currently some very nice looking subadult _B. multomaculata_ also for sale in Europe, very beautiful snakes indeed (far more so than _B. nigriceps_ in my opinion, which are among the more dull species in the genus). But yes the babies are absolutely minute.
> 
> If you can get small _B. guaxingensis_ that would probably work, although as before I would personally prefer a 90x45x90cm enclosure for any _Boiga_ over 48" or so. Others may (and frequently do!) disagree.
> That is actually a target species for me this year, as I am spending a month in China in June. Would be fantastic to see either _B. multomaculata_ or _B. guaxingensis_!
> 
> I believe I have the only _Oxybelis fulgidus_ in the UK, possibly in Europe. At a good 72" and surprisingly active they are much too big for such a setup. Mine inhabits a 48"x24"x48" enclosure with a 40" tall waterfall. Wish I could find a pair for her!


Ah ok, that certainly makes sense. I was thinking in terms of accessible space for the snake. Exos seem to lend themselves well to SE Asian species, and with arboreals, I have found I can actually give the snake a lot of space, so that even right up at the top they can choose to be closer to the heat source or away from it. 
I have tended towards the height plus width for arboreals, purely because they spend so much time up in the higher parts of the cage (at least mine do), hence why I mentioned nigriceps as a possibility. See, my space is much better upwards than sideways, so there is possibility for me to provide 24x18x48 if I could find one. However, no good for dendrophilia (Id imagine even for the smaller sub sp) as it doesn't solve the height issue.

Interesting, I'd certainly be interested to know about those multomaculata! They are sweet little snakes from what I can gather. Will also think about the guanxinensis, I can imagine it'd be amazing to see on in the wild!

Yes, yours is certainly the only one I've ever heard of this side of the pond. That's also much bigger than I was expecting too! Does no one that goes to Hamm have any? I'd imagine that'd be your first port of call though, so probably not.


----------



## Thrasops

jp2193 said:


> Ah ok, that certainly makes sense. I was thinking in terms of accessible space for the snake. Exos seem to lend themselves well to SE Asian species, and with arboreals, I have found I can actually give the snake a lot of space, so that even right up at the top they can choose to be closer to the heat source or away from it.
> I have tended towards the height plus width for arboreals, purely because they spend so much time up in the higher parts of the cage (at least mine do), hence why I mentioned nigriceps as a possibility. See, my space is much better upwards than sideways, so there is possibility for me to provide 24x18x48 if I could find one. However, no good for dendrophilia (Id imagine even for the smaller sub sp) as it doesn't solve the height issue.
> 
> Interesting, I'd certainly be interested to know about those multomaculata! They are sweet little snakes from what I can gather. Will also think about the guanxinensis, I can imagine it'd be amazing to see on in the wild!
> 
> Yes, yours is certainly the only one I've ever heard of this side of the pond. That's also much bigger than I was expecting too! Does no one that goes to Hamm have any? I'd imagine that'd be your first port of call though, so probably not.


Yes, I really like exo terras a lot! I keep all sorts of species in them. Really cannot wait to get my hands on some of the 90cm tall models this year. I am currently building some fake rock walls for four of them as we type, some with completely original fake rock builds, some by enhancing the existing polystyrene backgrounds.

Width is good for _Boiga_ too as they tend to move horizontally along branches (in fact the vertebral scales are enlarged to help stabilise them when stretching out to a new limb). This is opposed to for example _Chrysopelea_ which (while they obviously move horizontally too) are more adapted to traversing tree trunks upwards or downwards with their ridged ventral scales

Maximising the amount of space available with lots of branches and twigs is great although one thing about exo terras I am not so keen on is that it is harder to fix horizontal branches to the walls (I screw them into wooden vivs at different heights).

Sadly I have never seen another _Oxybelis_ even at Hamm, although now and then they are advertised in the US. I was dead lucky to get this one to be honest, it was a dream come true!


----------



## jp2193

Thrasops said:


> Yes, I really like exo terras a lot! I keep all sorts of species in them. Really cannot wait to get my hands on some of the 90cm tall models this year. I am currently building some fake rock walls for four of them as we type, some with completely original fake rock builds, some by enhancing the existing polystyrene backgrounds.
> 
> Width is good for _Boiga_ too as they tend to move horizontally along branches (in fact the vertebral scales are enlarged to help stabilise them when stretching out to a new limb). This is opposed to for example _Chrysopelea_ which (while they obviously move horizontally too) are more adapted to traversing tree trunks upwards or downwards with their ridged ventral scales
> 
> Maximising the amount of space available with lots of branches and twigs is great although one thing about exo terras I am not so keen on is that it is harder to fix horizontal branches to the walls (I screw them into wooden vivs at different heights).
> 
> Sadly I have never seen another _Oxybelis_ even at Hamm, although now and then they are advertised in the US. I was dead lucky to get this one to be honest, it was a dream come true!



I like them too actually. In my opinion, they lend themselves to bio active really nicely, and are great for live planting, plus the mesh on the top means I don't have to screw in fixtures etc. Only thing I don't like is the price of them, and like you say, affixing branches. I did wonder about how those plastic pro-viv vivs are, as they are cheaper. 

Ah, I see, makes sense with Boiga. I often find mine draped happily over branches in some haphazard manner. I'm going to have to give whatever species I put in the viv some very careful thought, as i want to do what's best for the animal after all.

That's a shame, stateside, yes I've seen them come up (orobably the same adverts to honest) they are also breeding more of the rarer Ptyas sp like nigromarginatus and dhummades, oh and one guy is doing a lot with captive breeding carinata too. They seem to get a lot more stateside than we do, but I guess it help she being much closer to South America than we are.


----------



## adymahadi76




----------

