Copperhead Husbandry

[$NaKe PiMp]

hey who out there is keeping copperheads in there collection??
and how long you been keeping them?? i would like to gather some information on this beautiful species and both lowlands and highlands of corse

 

[andyscott]

Hi Pimp.
They like much the same set up and conditions as Tiger Snakes.
I keep mine with no heating in the enclosure, just room temp with UV on a timer from 8 am to 8 pm.
They can stress a little, so keep a few hides for it to choose from.
One thing I do with my vens is put a small door knob on the top of each hide,
makes removing the hides and finding the snake a little safer.
Cheers Andy.

 

[voodoo]

I use to have a pair of highland copperheads, which i sold a few months ago, They were approx 5 yrs old, I owned them for about 18 months, both were around 3 feet long. I tried keeping them below 24deg all year round (which sometimes was extreamly difficult here in Brisbane).
Both were extreamly placid (freehandlable), Although all the copperheads ive delt with have been great to handle. Both ate 2 adult mice each per week no probs.
Highly reccomend them. Id say the most important think is keep them as cool as possiable.

Ive got a pic of the male on my profile album.

Cheers
dee

 

[-Matt-]

Just curious Voodoo, how did you manage to keep them so cool all year round? Air-con? Or by different means?

 

[voodoo]

A few things. I kept the enclosures on concrete in a ventilated area, The enclosures had 2 computer fans blowing over the water bowls. Id turn the fans on when the room temp got over 24deg. Id also put a chunk of ice in there waterbowl on really hot days (say 30deg plus).

dee

 

[$NaKe PiMp]

yes guys i also keep 1 highlands male,i keep him with no heating and something different that i do is keep one half the enclosure substrate as moist sphagnum moss and the other half a dry bed of breeders choice,and a large waterbowl which he spends alot of time soaking in.It is my belif these species should be kept in a very wet cool environment which would probably kill most other snakes.
He likes to lay on the moss or in the bowl mostly but sometimes lays on the dry breeders choice.
He is also a very quiet snake who is quite happy to be handled.
I have written a husbandry manual on black snakes as a major work for my co**** of captive animal husbandry,i am slowly collecting info on the copperhead species which will go towards a document on them also.

This is my copperhead as photographed by the lovely forum member sweet angel

 

[jack]

i kept highland copperheads for years. despite the habitat they naturally occur in being moist, i would not recomend damp spagnum moss as a substrate. i tried this experiment way back with one adult and found wet conditions can lead to ulcers/scale rot.

 

[$NaKe PiMp]

i kept highland copperheads for years. despite the habitat they naturally occur in being moist, i would not recomend damp spagnum moss as a substrate. i tried this experiment way back with one adult and found wet conditions can lead to ulcers/scale rot.

really?? scale rot? this was also a concern of mine but he stayed in a tub that was permenantly very moist and humid and if you put dry substrate in he would wet it by climbing in bowl and crawling all over it.I daily checked him for signs of scale rot and it never happened with this individual.Thats why i am interested in others experiences so i can get an idea on what is the best husbandry for this species.Thats why i offer him wet and dry substrate in enclosure now, and he opts for the water bowl alot lol

 

[Snake Catcher Victoria]

I keep them inside at the moment, on newspaper with leaf litter,no heat a big water bowl and lots of places to hide.
I reckon they need the hides more than tigers because,
generally, they are a lot shyer and more timid..jmo
I used to keep them outside and that was easy here in southern vic.
Cheers
Oh yeah, nearly all my copperhead keeping experience is with the lowland form.

 

[$NaKe PiMp]

oh interesting,most find them shy,although my individual is quite the oppisite he is mostly out lounging around in the open or in his waterbowl
thanks for input guys

 

[varanid_mike]

Hey all
Have a few lowlands at the moment. We keeps some in enclosures and some in tubs with heat tape at one end of the enclosure set at 30 for cooler days. Over winter I don’t heat them very much and during summer they have almost no heating. It’s mostly for when they are being fed to aid in digestion. I also provide a lot of ventilation and 2 hides to choose from. These are probably my favorite snake; they are so amazingly docile and beautifully natured and can be real guts, private licenced keepers are only allowed to keep lowlands but demonstrators can apply to keep highlands. I might be interested in swaps if anyone has some pretty highlands.
We have a (suspected) gravid female at the moment that is getting a bit more heating to aid in the development of the young. Young can be very fiddly though and hard to get feeding but once going can easily be overfed.

​

 

[$NaKe PiMp]

Hey all
Have a few lowlands at the moment. We keeps some in enclosures and some in tubs with heat tape at one end of the enclosure set at 30 for cooler days. Over winter I don’t heat them very much and during summer they have almost no heating. It’s mostly for when they are being fed to aid in digestion. I also provide a lot of ventilation and 2 hides to choose from. These are probably my favorite snake; they are so amazingly docile and beautifully natured and can be real guts, private licenced keepers are only allowed to keep lowlands but demonstrators can apply to keep highlands. I might be interested in swaps if anyone has some pretty highlands.
We have a (suspected) gravid female at the moment that is getting a bit more heating to aid in the development of the young. Young can be very fiddly though and hard to get feeding but once going can easily be overfed.

​

wow your the first keeper that has mentioned heating ,but obviously works for your animals if there breeding,there is no study done into the needs of copperheads,i am very intrested in this.

 

[Bushfire]

There was a good article on copperhead husbandry in one of the Monitor magazines from the early 90s. Cant remeber the volume or number but I think Simon Fearn wrote it. If someone else doesnt know beat me to it Ill have a look through mine tonight to find it.

 

[redbellybite]

I would love to have coppers ,but it would be hard to keep them cool here ...winter here would be like their summer ..

Have to stick with you know, those boring coloured RBBS

 

[jamgo]

I used to have heat mat under my ramsayi's tubs.

 

[moosenoose]

I've had a young lowlands copperhead for a little over a year now, it was all of 2 months old when I got it and not feeding (boy has it been fun :lol Anyway, we're both getting there

I've also found that mine, although given plenty of hides, is always out lounging around on the top of them, and additionally is rarely concerned about me opening the enclosure lid to remove her. I give her no heating except the occasional access to a sunny window where I'll sit and watch her (coffee in hand ) and will only move her when she's had enough (eg: she moves to a hide).

The wild copperheads (from my observations) tend to be the ones of particularly nervous disposition, the captive ones seem to loss this trait quite quickly and settle beautifully. Wonderful snakes IMHO

 

[reptilerob]

Awesome photos. Whyen my wife and i are out herping, the highland copperheads are our favourite reptiles to encounter. They are sooooo timid and shy. The downside to that being that they usually dissappear pretty quickly when they see us, the upside is that the ones that dont dissappear happily pose for photos and allow us to get up nice and close.
If we were ever going to keep an elapid, a highland copperhead would be out first choice by a mile.
Have a look at this, i took this video with my cheap compact digital camera that i take fishing with me. I doubt that a tiger or brown would allow me to get this close and just video it going about its business!!!
[video=youtube;A28_IzaZ1g4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A28_IzaZ1g4[/video]

 

[Chris1]

varanid mike, thats an amazingly beautiful snake, i had no idea how good looking/coloured they could be.

 

[SnakeyTroy]

I just wish I had a class two licence already. pythons are great but veno's are just that extra bit interesting.

 

[dodgie]

Hey all
Have a few lowlands at the moment. We keeps some in enclosures and some in tubs with heat tape at one end of the enclosure set at 30 for cooler days. Over winter I don’t heat them very much and during summer they have almost no heating. It’s mostly for when they are being fed to aid in digestion. I also provide a lot of ventilation and 2 hides to choose from. These are probably my favorite snake; they are so amazingly docile and beautifully natured and can be real guts, private licenced keepers are only allowed to keep lowlands but demonstrators can apply to keep highlands. I might be interested in swaps if anyone has some pretty highlands.
We have a (suspected) gravid female at the moment that is getting a bit more heating to aid in the development of the young. Young can be very fiddly though and hard to get feeding but once going can easily be overfed.

​

I also provide my coppers with heat during the day and they use it to not just when there digestion.I find them more heat tolerant than tigers.:shock:Lost a tiger this summer but no copperheads.