Here's something I'll bet no one has...

[Anonymous]

Blue Marine File Snake

Too cool. You have to click on the link.

 

[Anonymous]

 

[Mike612]

I have 17 of those jkjk. Nice looking fish. I've never seen/heard of it before.

 

[myerst22]

Fish??? Looks like a reptile to me? Where are they found and what do they eat? Do they need land at all? Tim

 

[Anonymous]

Fish??? Looks like a reptile to me? Where are they found and what do they eat? Do they need land at all? Tim

It's called a marine file snake. They are a very primitive family of snakes and thus a reptile. Not true sea snakes and not venomous. The other 2 species are freshwater, from what I understand these are found in brackish and full salt. Range is all over the South Pacific, they eat small fishes and eels.

Before anyone goes out and purchases these, they are apparently very difficult to keep in captivity.

 

[Anonymous]

Going in the big reef?

 

[Anonymous]

Going in the big reef?

Wouldn't that be cool? No, these need a dedicated display and we would not get them for at least a year or two, if ever.

 

[Anonymous]

Some photos of these guys...this is in shallow water in Singapore. Looks like we will probably be getting a few of these in the near future.

http://flickr.com/photos/wildsingapore/ ... otostream/

 

[jhemdal1]

Matt,

After you first posted about these, I looked into them. From all the records I could find, these are REALLY delicate. I was hoping they might be sturdier than the Pelamis I had worked with years ago, but the one year or so longevity that we saw in our Pelamis was better than for what most people are reporting for file snakes. I could not get our reptile curator to go for the idea of trying them. I think the best choice would be Laticauda columbrina, (Koji can get these) but I can't get those either because we don't stock antivenin for them.


Jay

 

[Anonymous]

Matt,

After you first posted about these, I looked into them. From all the records I could find, these are REALLY delicate. I was hoping they might be sturdier than the Pelamis I had worked with years ago, but the one year or so longevity that we saw in our Pelamis was better than for what most people are reporting for file snakes. I could not get our reptile curator to go for the idea of trying them. I think the best choice would be Laticauda columbrina, (Koji can get these) but I can't get those either because we don't stock antivenin for them.


Jay

Hey Jay, our herp folks have managed to find a few people in the country that have had some measure of success with them, including one report of copulation and a gravid female. They do seem very very tricky. It does seem like part of the problem is that the people most interested in keeping them have very little experience with marine tanks and how to manage water quality in them. It also sounds like they suffer greatly from shipping stress. Anyhow, will keep you and all updated on them here.

Interesting article here that you may find of interest:
http://www.acrochordus.com/ginfodl.htm