Hi y’all!! I wanted to introduce everyone to a species of house snake that is (as far as I’m aware) new to the U.S. hobby! These two beauties are Boaedon perisilvestris - the taxonomic name means “near-forest” (“peri” = around, about, or nearby; “silvestris” = forested, wooded). These are gorgeous black snakes, but they are NOT the black fuliginosis we already have in the hobby!
Christen (Stygian Exotics) and myself imported these from a breeder in Slovakia. These are F1 animals, produced from WC adults that are in the breeder’s possession. These are Cameroon-locality near-forest black house snakes, so a completely different species than the black African house snakes (Boaedon fuliginosis) that are already established in the hobby.
The reason I’m really excited about these as an alternative to the black fuliginosis is that they seem to, according to the Slovakian breeder, adapt much better to captivity. Black fuliginosis babies are known to be difficult to start (often start on live pinkies or even fish-scented live pinkies) as well as difficult to keep on frozen-thawed - as aduls they often prefer live mice and will switch back to preferring live even if they have taken frozen thawed in the past. These near-forest black house snakes, Boaedon perisilvestris, are more reliable eaters - these babies started on frozen thawed pinkies and the WC adults also reliably eat frozen thawed rodents. B. perisilvestris are also more robust than the black fuliginosis, reaching closer to Cape house snake size (4ft for females, 3ft for males). I’m really excited to work with these and hopefully get them established in the hobby as an alternative to the black fuliginosis, which are often still wild caught and are not particularly reliable feeders.
Here are my two beauties - Anubis and Persephone. I’ll keep this thread updated as they grow on how their temperament, feeding habits, and size are progressing!
