Lamprophis

taxobox
name=Lamprophis

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image_width = 235px
image_caption = Brown House Snake (juvenile), "Lamprophis capensis"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Reptilia
ordo = Squamata
subordo = Serpentes
familia = Colubridae
subfamilia = Boodontinae
genus = "Lamprophis"
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = 15 recognized species, see article.

"Lamprophis" is a genus of colubrid snakes commonly referred to as African house snakes. They are small, non-venomous snakes, usually brown in color but display a range of variation from red, orange, green to black. They also exhibit a wide variety of pattern variation even within single species, they may be spotted, striped, or solid colored. House snakes are sexually dimorphic, the females grow significantly larger, to approximately 120 cm, some specimens have been recorded over 150cm, the males which only grow to approximately 75 cm.
Several Colour variants of L.capensis are known in captivity including Albino, Amelanistic, Annerythristic, Hypo & Piebald.
Albino variants of L. aurora have been found.
An albino L. fuliginosus has been found in Tanzania & is now owned by Donald Schultz of www.mfezi.com

Species

There are 15 recognized species in the genus "Lamprophis":

*Abyssinian House Snake, "Lamprophis abyssinicus" (Mocquard, 1906)
*Aurora House Snake, "Lamprophis aurora" (Linnaeus, 1758)
*Ethiopian House Snake "Lamprophis erlangeri" (Sternfeld, 1908)
*Fisk's House Snake, "Lamprophis fiskii" (Boulenger, 1887), vulnerable (VU)
*Brown House Snake, "Lamprophis fuliginosus"
**"Lamprophis fuliginosus fuliginosus" (Boie, 1827)
**"Lamprophis fuliginosus mentalis" (Gunther, 1888)
*Yellow-bellied House Snake, "Lamprophis fuscus" (Boulenger, 1893), near threatened (LR/nt)
*Seychelles House Snake, "Lamprophis geometricus" (Schlegel, 1827)
*Spotted House Snake, "Lamprophis guttatus" (Smith, 1843)
*North African Olive House Snake, "Lamprophis inornatus" (Dumeril & Bibron, 1854)
*Striped House Snake, "Lamprophis lineatus" (Dumeril & Bibron, 1854)
*Cape House Snake, "Lamprophis capensis" (Dumeril & Bibron, 1854)
*Dotted House Snake, "Lamprophis maculatus" (Parker, 1932)
*Olive House Snake, "Lamprophis olivaceus" (Dumeril, 1854)
*Swaziland House Snake, "Lamprophis swazicus" (Schafer, 1970), near threatened (LR/nt)
*Hallowell's House Snake, "Lamprophis virgatus" (Hallowell, 1854)

Geographic Range

House snakes are found throughout all of sub-Saharan Africa in a wide variety of habitats, some species are well adapted to living in underground burrows. They are named "house" snakes as they are frequently found around human dwellings, feeding on the rodents that congregate around human waste. They are extremely adaptable snakes, which are found in scrubland, woodland, savannah, and montane regions.

Behaviour & Diet

House snakes can be nervous, but are not prone to biting. Their first defensive reaction is to flee. They are frequently found around human dwellings, where they are avid consumers of rodents. House snakes are prolific breeders and lay clutches averaging 8-12 eggs that hatch after around two months of incubation. Hatchlings are typically around 20 cm in length.

In Captivity

African house snakes are common in the exotic pet trade, the primary species available is "L. capensis", others are harder to come by. They are easy to care for and breed readily. Their popularity has declined in recent years due to more interestingly colored snakes, like the corn snake. Despite this, captive breeding of house snakes for color and pattern is ongoing. Due to their ease of breeding and low market value few are exported from Africa.
They can live up to 20 years if well taken care of. Males are smaller than females and seldom grow longer than 2 1/2 feet Females can attain lengths of 3 1/2 feet and specimens from the eastern region of Southern Africa (Kwa-Zulu-Natal) are reported to reach lengths of 5 feet upwards. These snakes are nocturnal. The female lays one clutch of 9 to 16 eggs in early spring, they are known to store sperm and lay up to 6 clutches per annum in captivity but it rarely happens in nature. Hatchlings are 5 to 7 inches upon hatching.

Food The main diet consists of rodents, smaller snakes take pinkie mice, large females are known to occasionally eat weaner rats. Adult snakes get fed weekly. Hatchlings may eat small lizards, skinks and newborn mice. In captivity they can successfully be fed on gecko tails. Larger specimens are also known to take lizards, and in rare cases they will catch small bats. House snakes should be fed alone, their often violent feeding response may cause cannibalism.

Captive Snakes Feed snakes in a different tank and watch over them if offered live rodents as the snakes can be injured by them. The vivarium in which they are kept in should be of a decent size for the snake to be able to move around freely without problems. Paper towels are okay as well as Aspen shavings for the substrate of the tank. The humidity in the tank should be kept at a higher percentage when the snakes start to shed. They should have objects inside the tank that help them hide or such things as branches for them to climb upon. Lighting is an optional extra, if provided with added lighting, they should not have more than 12 hrs day period and 12 hours night period - keeping the snakes in a room that is naturally lit with sunlight would suffice. They should have a large bowl of water so that they can drink and bathe - females not provided with an egg laying chamber when gravid may use this to lay their eggs. The water should be changed daily.

External links

* [http://www.kingsnake.com/housesnake/ The African House Snake Page]
* [http://www.housesnakes.net African House Snake]
* [http://closetcreationherps.tripod.com/housesnakes.html House Snakes]
* [http://lamprophis.proboards62.com Lamprophis Forums]
* [http://freewebs.com/erikpaterson/snakes.htm House Snake Captive care Guide]