Arafura file snake

[jimbo]

Im interested in getting a couple of file snakes soon and just want to know who sells them before i set up a tank. Anyone know where i can get some? Iv looked through the old thread on them but wasnt much help. I got in contact with David from Reedys reptiles but he doesnt sell them.
Any help would be great.
Cheers

 

[reptilefan95]

Hey mate,

you would be hard pressed to find a arafura file snake. As for setup obviously aquatic, you should do a 4 or 6 footer with some australian natives like archers and boesmani rainbows or perhaps a few australian eel catfish, whatever you prefer. You would need some good strong plants i suggest wisteria and hairgrass also you should buy aquatic plant fertilizer as the plants will have a stronger base for the snake to hang on to. A good filter is a must an eheim 450 lt would do the job. lots of oxygen in the water and give him meals of a few goldfish, remember to keep him fed other wise his little fishy friends will go missing.

Sorry i dont know of any breeders try getting in contact with a few zoo's i think sydney aquarium has one ask them where they got it, that would be your best bet.

Cheers

 

[the_dora_explorer]

A question about file snakes, their tank setups in terms of water/land/basking spot are meant to be almost exact to a turtle's yeah?

 

[reptilefan95]

no they are completely aquatic, no need for a landing dock or anything along those lines just keep the water warm and perhaps have a few nice places to hide, keep it in a dark place as well

 

[leighroyaus]

also interested in these if anyone knows anyone that breeds them.
cheers

 

[reptilefan95]

hey guys like i said your best bet would be to contact sydney aquarium or a zoo they should give you the info

 

[antaresia_boy]

hmm, forget what magazine it was soory, tails & scales (or is it scales and tails...? lol) I think.
they had a article on it in the last edition which had a fair bit of info, but they looked pretty hard to look after, so try and find out what it was in, might be useful. by the way, Melbourne zoo has a few and they have been experimenting in husbandry, so try to have a chat to them.

 

[Jonno from ERD]

G'day guys,

In my experience, they are quite simple to look after. A lot of people have had bad luck with them, especially with "White Spot". I have an inkling that this might be stress related, I'm not sure.

I keep mine in a 4' x 18" x 18" tank, completely full of water sitting at around 6.5pH. I have a smaller filter that doesn't break the surface tension of the water - this I believe is essential, they seem to hate fast flowing water. The tank is kept at around 28 degrees Celcius, with a aquarium UV fluro on a 12/12 cycle. It has a base of large river stones, topped with smaller river stones and finally a layer of river sand. Several different species of plants were added a few months ago when I rebuilt the tank...mainly reeds, with some Java Fern in there too. The most important part is the hidey holes - three large pieces of drift wood that allow him to hide away out of view if he wants to. I've had him 5 years now and he's going great guns.

 

[reptilefan95]

Yes white spot is caused associated with stress, it is a common disease amognst many tropical fish and marine inverterbrates. The book with all the info was Reptiles Australia cant remember what issue though and dont think i kept it.

Hope that helps
BTW from what ive heard they prefer slightly acidic water like 6.5 to 6.8

 

[Renagade]

I think 'croc hunter penny' has some. she lives somewhere in the top end. there is some cool footage on utube of some being fed, they may be hers. dunno. not even sure if she still has them.

 

[jack]

as jonno said... but i used teabags in the filter to stain water with tannins and create slightly acid conditions. put them in a dark part of the house, flouro on for 3 hours.

 

[dougie210]

Im pretty sure it was in Reptiles Australia Vol. 5 Issue 2

 

[Acrochordus]

Im pretty sure it was in Reptiles Australia Vol. 5 Issue 2

Yep thats the one, Thanks Tim.

 

[Acrochordus]

G'day guys,

In my experience, they are quite simple to look after. A lot of people have had bad luck with them, especially with "White Spot". I have an inkling that this might be stress related, I'm not sure.

I keep mine in a 4' x 18" x 18" tank, completely full of water sitting at around 6.5pH. I have a smaller filter that doesn't break the surface tension of the water - this I believe is essential, they seem to hate fast flowing water. The tank is kept at around 28 degrees Celcius, with a aquarium UV fluro on a 12/12 cycle. It has a base of large river stones, topped with smaller river stones and finally a layer of river sand. Several different species of plants were added a few months ago when I rebuilt the tank...mainly reeds, with some Java Fern in there too. The most important part is the hidey holes - three large pieces of drift wood that allow him to hide away out of view if he wants to. I've had him 5 years now and he's going great guns.

What kind of fish you feed it?
Thanks Tim.

 

[reptilefan95]

You can feed it plain goldfish but give it a variety and make sure you quarantine them before feeding for about two weeks. Your best bet is to tong feed and make sure they go in head first so the dorsal fins dont get stuck in the snakes throat.

 

[slither]

hey mate johno summed it up perfectly we have ours at about 6ph and water sits about 27 degrees we feed em regular goldfish and the seem to love it plenty of places to hide and they should do fine we have had white spot a few times but have treated it early with no problems had them for a year and a half now and there doing great

 

[butters]

The "white spot" that marine fish, freshwater fish and Filesnakes get are very different from each other.
Marine "white spot" is caused by a protozoan Cryptocaryon irritans where as Freshwater "white spot" is a different protozoan Ichthyophthirius multifiliis.

Neither of these is caused by stress.

The parasite has to be present whether the fish is stressed or not. If the fish is stressed and there are no parasites present then the fish will not get "white spot".

But, if the fish is stressed in the presence of the parasite and its immune systems is supressed then it is more likely to become a host. A stressed fish with a supressed immune system ( be that from transport stress, crowded conditions or poor water quality) is also more likely to succumb to a heavy infestation.

The few cases I have seen of filesnake "white spot" did not seem to be a protozoan at all but a fungal infection and fungal treatments appeared to remedy the situation. Same again the fungus has to be present for an outbreak.

Tannins which would be released from tea bags, low pH and leaves from plants such as Indian Almond Leaves are all known to inhibit fungal growth.

Slither,

How did you treat the "white spot" on your snake? Or more accurately do you know the active ingredients in whatever you used?

Cheers Andrew

 

[BlindSnake]

I use to get white spot sometimes on my fish from time to time.
I was told by my fish guy that white spot can't survive at temps of 30deg C and above.
so I set my temp to 30 and have never had white spot since.

Not sure how true it is, but it seems to work.
Anyone herd of this before?

 

[reptilefan95]

Usually raising the tempreture does result in killing parasites, or rather making their life cycle a lot quicker. As i said white spot is a common disease among fish, never said it was the same it does stem from poor water quality and STRESS, trust me mate i work at an aquarium. The negative of keeping your temps high is that it is not good for the fish/snake i would sugest that if you began to notice the first stages of white spot then you should elevate your tempretures to 30 or 32 degrees for about a week, if it persists go to the vet.

 

[dottyback]

A UV sterilizer would help aswell. I use them on my fish tanks.