House Snake
An African colubrid that stays small, feeds readily and takes handling well. One of the easier snakes to keep and one of the least often kept.
Photo by Teddy Gilbert, CC BY 4.0
Overview
The African house snake is a small nocturnal colubrid found across sub Saharan Africa in grassland, semi arid scrub, farmland and towns, and as the name says it lives around people because rodents live around people. It is non venomous, two to four feet long, and it hunts rats and mice.
It is not widely known outside snake keeping, and it deserves to be better known, because it is about as forgiving an animal as this shelf holds.
Temperament
Calm, tractable and small enough to be handled easily by one person. Keepers describe it as an extremely easy captive, and it settles faster than most snakes of its size.
It is nocturnal, so most of its activity happens after the lights go out. Like most colubrids it is housed alone. Females are prolific: a breeding female can produce a large clutch every 45 days across the year, which is worth knowing before putting two together.
Care and grooming
Frozen thawed mice, sized to the snake, thawed under refrigeration and warmed before offering rather than fed cold.
75 to 88 F across a gradient with 40 to 60 percent humidity. House snakes are undemanding on all three of temperature, humidity and diet, which is what makes them a sensible first snake for somebody who wants something less common than a corn snake without taking on more work.
Living and exercise
A 20 gallon long enclosure for an adult, with hides at both ends and enough substrate to burrow into.
They are small and they are strong for their size, and they are good at finding gaps, so the enclosure needs to close properly. Beyond that this is a snake that asks for a warm end, a cool end, a water bowl and a meal every week or two.
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