# Golden Crowneds and Marsh Snakes



## omg_a_gecko (Apr 1, 2011)

Earlier this month at the AHS meet in Syd, I picked up some beaut little snakelings from Colin Smallwood. A pair of Golden Crowneds _(Cacophis squamulosus) _and a pair of Marsh Snakes _(Hemiaspis signata)_. 









Over a week later, I assist fed them gently on mice tails using a clever method suggested by Col. This not being their natural food item I’m a little nervous - but I have faith. As soon as they poop I’m going to be ecstatic c:








Anyone else looking to get these species, they're not often available and will probs be all sold soon so get in quick c:

Look forward to sharing more of the excitement soon! ^_^
Pete


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## GeckoJosh (Apr 1, 2011)

Wow great pics, they are such underrated species!!!!


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## AUSGECKO (Apr 1, 2011)

Very nice, I've always liked the golden crowns.


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## jack (Apr 1, 2011)

pretty. golden crowns are near the top of the list for next species for me.
good luck with them.


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## Snake Catcher Victoria (Apr 1, 2011)

They will poop Peter, you keep poking mouse tails into them they gotta poop sooner or later.
Whats the clever method Colin told you?.
I dip the tail in some water so they get a drink as well as it slides down easier.
Great pics.

Cheer.


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## waruikazi (Apr 1, 2011)

I was looking at gettign both of those species but the heat up here is a bit much for them. Awesome lil snake too.

I have a little bit of experience with small elapids and gettign them feeding. I am not a fan of mouse tails. They carry very little nutrition and don't offer much to the snake as an incentive to eat. I have had alot of success using small fish, first as a force/assist feed and then very quickly voluntary feed. Then i used them as scenting on mice and then voluntarily on unscented pinkys.


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## D3pro (Apr 1, 2011)

I caught I crown adult myself once... it regurged up another crown lol.
I love their bluff displays, your very lucky and I hope they do well with you!


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## Jay84 (Apr 1, 2011)

Gorgeous little snakes! Thanks for sharing


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## jack (Apr 1, 2011)

waruikazi said:


> I have had alot of success using small fish, first as a force/assist feed and then very quickly voluntary feed. Then i used them as scenting on mice and then voluntarily on unscented pinkys.


 
be careful with little fish, some have spines in the fins ... even gambusia spines that seem flimsy to us can cause injury in a small elapid


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## shaye (Apr 1, 2011)

love them 
i was considering a marsh or 2 
but cnt exactly go too far with a broken leg  so i guess i miss out haha 
thanx for sharing and make sure u post updates in a few months or so


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## waruikazi (Apr 1, 2011)

jack said:


> be careful with little fish, some have spines in the fins ... even gambusia spines that seem flimsy to us can cause injury in a small elapid


y 

Guppies are best the are all soft. You do need to use your brain with them and cut off anything that may cause injury.


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## jack (Apr 1, 2011)

i have switched to syringe and catheter tubing, lubricated with egg white. pinkie mush injected straight down the throat to the stomach.
fine rubber catheter tubing (and lots of interesting medical stuff that can be used for all sorts of jobs) can be found on ebay!


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## Snakeluvver2 (Apr 1, 2011)

Or if your moms a nurse. 
I've been talking to Colin this week hopefully I get a pair.
Any more info would be awesome guys.


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## python_dan89 (Apr 1, 2011)

Awesome looking pics. Cheers for sharing =)


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## sweetangel (Apr 1, 2011)

they look great pete!!! good luck with them, the little marshy is so cute!!!


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## jack (Apr 1, 2011)

Jannico said:


> Or if your moms a nurse.QUOTE]
> 
> MUM, the word is MUM... bloody seppo speak, what are we austericans?


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## Sock Puppet (Apr 1, 2011)

jack said:


> MUM, the word is MUM... bloody seppo speak, what are we austericans?


Yeah I winced at that one too. 

Peter, just be careful mate, I know the crownies aren't meant to bite, but we've all heard the stories....


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## Fuscus (Apr 1, 2011)

Crowns are one of the most common snakes I see and, even though I've seen hundreds, I still get a buzz when I see one.


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## boogeralby (Apr 1, 2011)

Nice work mate...

Thanks for the praise. Its taken a long time and a lot of hard work to breed these guys. Imagine the persistence of assist feeding 6 clutches of GC's and a litter of Marshies every week or two...

I'll try to get some photos up of the parents soon.

And yes Mr sockpuppet, the stories are true. Once a Golden Crowned reaches 80cms plus, they are more than capable of giving a decent bite


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## junglepython2 (Apr 1, 2011)

Awesome guys, one of the few snakes I'd love to keep that we can't here in Vic.


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## omg_a_gecko (May 1, 2011)

*More pics*

They're now had multiple feeds and poops as you can see in these pics, now they're taking a whole adult mouse tail. Each feed is taking less time and fiddling having practiced the method Col suggest, thanks again Col! 
Before feeding & cleaning





After




More Marsh and Crowned feeding


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## Snakeluvver2 (May 1, 2011)

I bet their MOM's look great omg a gecko.


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## omg_a_gecko (May 1, 2011)

Jannico said:


> I bet their MOM's look great omg a gecko.


Lol, I bet they do too! still looking forward to the pics when Col shows me eventually


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## GeckoJosh (May 1, 2011)

Looking good mate!
Just curious is there a reason they are in tall tubs or is that just what was available at the time?


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## Ramsayi (May 1, 2011)

Great to see them being kept and bred in captivity.We often get them coming inside trying to escape the heat in summer.


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## omg_a_gecko (May 1, 2011)

Geckoman said:


> Looking good mate!
> Just curious is there a reason they are in tall tubs or is that just what was available at the time?


 
For the moment, I find tubs convinient to keep clean and maintain some humidity. Also while they're so small they could easily slip between the panes of glass of an enclosure! Maybe you have some ideas for a setup?


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## GeckoJosh (May 1, 2011)

omg_a_gecko said:


> For the moment, I find tubs convinient to keep clean and maintain some humidity. Also while they're so small they could easily slip between the panes of glass of an enclosure! Maybe you have some ideas for a setup?


 Tubs are fine imo, I was just wondering why the tubs were so tall as usually people keep them in tubs that have more length than height, I thought there may be a reason behind this?


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## omg_a_gecko (May 1, 2011)

Ramsayi said:


> Great to see them being kept and bred in captivity.We often get them coming inside trying to escape the heat in summer.


 
Yep Col did a great job breeding them, I think he mentioned getting them a tiny bottle of passion pop. 

A lot of people stress out over the marshies and crowneds around thinking they are brown snakes- if only they knew how lucky they are like you do


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## bluewater (May 1, 2011)

Were you by any chance at the last Ahs meeting chatting with col? I was the nosey one looking at the gold crowns


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## AshMan (May 1, 2011)

Beautys. Its a shame they dont come onto the market more often.


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## snakeluvver (May 1, 2011)

Yeah I'd love one if they werent hard to get feeding.
Oh and my mum wouldnt let me anyway :/


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## Snakeluvver2 (May 6, 2011)

I don't think they are hard to get feeding Snakeluvver you just have to be shown how. 
Different isn't hard. 
But I'll put my money where my mouth is and found out in a week!


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## omg_a_gecko (May 27, 2011)

The crowneds and marshies are enjoying a new substrate, moving on from dampened paper towel to expanded cocoa peat. A few pics from their most recent assist feeding session c:


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## Snakeluvver2 (May 27, 2011)

Hey omg_a_gecko!

How big are they now?
I've got my lot feeding pretty well, one of them seems to swallow as soon as you put it's mouth but the other needs to be down further, nearly the whole thing.
Have yours got progressively better?


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## omg_a_gecko (May 27, 2011)

Snakeluvver2 said:


> Hey omg_a_gecko!
> 
> How big are they now?
> I've got my lot feeding pretty well, one of them seems to swallow as soon as you put it's mouth but the other needs to be down further, nearly the whole thing.
> Have yours got progressively better?



Easier each time, improving my method each assist feed, usually about 2-3cm in and they walk the top of their mouths along with a bit of assist by them pushing the mouse tail against the enclosure wall c:


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## monitordude (May 27, 2011)

bahahahahahaha^^^
Great work all mine are almost feeding fluently by them selves.
greats snakes to keep.


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## Snakeluvver2 (May 27, 2011)

Yer one is perfect, the other is a little tool haha.


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## omg_a_gecko (Jul 19, 2011)

Sunday night one of my bub Marshies fed without assist feeding for the first time! very satisfying





Oops, Just cleaned out my PM inbox, any snobbing was unintentional!


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