The African house snake is a small, nonvenomous snake native to southern Africa, often kept as pets due to its docile nature and ease of care. Unlike some of their larger cousins, African house snakes are relatively small and well-adapted to living in close proximity to humans.
Boaedon fuliginosus
Introduction to House Snakes
House snakes are a 2-4 foot long colubrid snake that is native to Africa. Hailing from Africa, these house snakes reach on average between 2 - 4 feet, with females being much larger than males. Some males may only reach 2ft in length and they remain a fairly slender snake so do not require a large enclosure.
Variability in Size and Color
The African house snake comes in a variety of colors and patterns depending on the specific subspecies. Typically, they’re slender snakes with smooth scales and grow to be about 2 to 4 feet (0.6 to 1.2 meters) long. The African house snake family includes a variety of subspecies, all within the genus Boaedon, with Boaedon fuliginosus being one of the most common.
- The brown house snake, aka Cape house snake, is commonly found in a rich brown color.
- The black African house snake (sometimes just called a black house snake) is, as the name suggests, a deep, glossy black.
- Some subspecies, like the aurora house snake, have bright yellow or green stripes running along their bodies.
Natural Habitat and Behavior
Wild African house snakes can be found throughout southern Africa in a variety of environments. Their ability to adapt to a range of environments, from savannas to urban areas, makes them quite versatile. African house snakes (Boaedon fuliginosus) are 2-4’ long, nocturnal, terrestrial snakes native to sub-Saharan Africa. They can be found in a wide variety of habitats, including scrub, woodland, savanna, and grassland.
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African house snakes are solitary creatures, much like other snakes. In captivity, they are known for being relatively docile and easy to handle, making them a favorite among snake enthusiasts. Unlike wild-caught snakes, captive-born African house snakes are especially calm and tend to thrive in human care.
In the wild, African house snakes primarily feed on small rodents, birds and occasionally other reptiles. Their strong appetite and willingness to eat regularly make them an easy species to care for. They’re great feeders, compared to some other reptiles that might be picky eaters.
The female house snakes lay eggs, typically producing clutches of six to 13 eggs. Once the young snakes hatch, they are immediately independent and start hunting small prey on their own. Captive-born snakes tend to be hardier and better suited to life as pets, compared to wild-caught specimens.
Housing
For those kept in captivity, creating an enclosure that mimics their natural environment is important. Due to their size a 24x18x18” vivarium is adequate for a single house snake, or a similar sized enclosure made of glass will also be adequate. Of course they will use a larger enclosure if the space is offered and will also make use of some height, despite being a terrestrial (ground dwelling species).
The absolute minimum terrarium size for an African house snake is 36”L x 18”W x 16”H. Of course, larger is always better! African house snakes are prone to escape, particularly as juveniles. They are slender enough to even escape through the gap between sliding doors!
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For a substrate we use aspen bedding which is dry, easy to clean out and provides a great burrowing substrate. It is possible to use newspaper or other replaceable, dry substrate, but the more natural you can make the environment, the better! Providing a thick layer of naturalistic substrate (“bedding”) will help cushion your snake’s body, maintain correct humidity levels, and also helps make your enclosure more attractive! Substrate should be at least 2” deep and completely replaced every 3-4 months.
An empty terrarium makes for a bored snake, reducing its quality of life. At bare minimum, an African house snake terrarium must contain substrate, a water bowl, and a place for the snake to hide. Decorating their enclosures with foliage, caves, and logs will help them feel safe and offer enrichment.
Aside from hiding places, you will also need at least one low branch for your snake to climb on, as well as some live or artificial foliage to provide cover.
Hides and Enrichment
Two hides should be provided, one on the hot and one on the cool end as well as a moist box containing sphagnum moss for shedding. They will climb on branches and foliage that you provide and can be very active. Whilst they are active mostly at night due to being nocturnal, it is not that unusual to see this species roaming briefly in the daytime, especially if something interesting is happening or there is food around!
I Built a Bioactive Vivarium for my African House Snake TWICE because of FAILURE
Heating and Lighting
African house snakes come from a warm environment so they struggle with the cold and humidity of the UK. To insulate against both of these factors we recommend keeping the snake in a wooden vivarium.
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Naturally, African house snakes would be experiencing temperatures of around 90°F in the sun. We try to provide this heat over 1/3 of the enclosure while letting the rest of the enclosure cool to 70°F on the opposite side. To achieve this we attach a basking lamp to the ceiling of the enclosure on one side. This is controlled by a dimming thermostat to make sure that the temperature is kept correct throughout the day.
House snakes do well with a hot spot of ~90 degrees F, an ambient temperature of 75 degrees F, and a humidity level of 50%.
Like other reptiles, African house snakes are cold-blooded, which means that they rely on external temperatures to manage their own body temperature and metabolism. Specifically speaking, African house snakes should have a basking temperature of 90°F. On the other side of the enclosure, the temperature should be around 70-75°F.
Provide heat for your snake with at least one halogen flood heat bulbs, placed over the basking area (ex: a piece of flagstone or stone paver) to evenly heat the snake’s entire body. The warm hide should be placed directly below the basking surface.
Heat Bulb - a 40-60w bulb will provide the correct heating if you do not have a heat mat. This should be controlled by a dimming thermostat. You can also use both for an ideal combination of daytime and night-time heating, as long as they are controlled by thermostats. If selecting only one, I would recommend a heat mat with thermostat, at which point you can have a low wattage or energy saving bulb for lighting and a small amount of daytime heat.
At night, all of the lights should go off and the enclosure should be completely dark. This should make sure that the snake has a clear day night cycle. To provide this warmth throughout the night without introducing light to the enclosure we lay a heat mat under the basking area. The heat mat will warm objects around it providing a warm patch of ground for the African house snake to rest on. To make sure that the heat mat remains the correct temperature it is controlled by a simple on/off thermostat set to 80°F.
Though the thermostats we sell are very reliable it is always best practice to monitor your temperatures with a thermometer. A 5°F variance on the basking spot is nothing to worry about as long as your cool side is still cool.
Technically they can survive without it, but we still recommend providing appropriate UVB lighting for African house snakes.
The UVB bulb should be half the length of the enclosure, housed in a reflective fixture, and placed close to the heat lamp on top of the enclosure, no closer than 6” above the basking area. UVB is blocked by glass and plastic, so you can’t give your snake UVB by placing its terrarium in front of an open window. Lights should be on for 13 hours/day during summer and 11 hours/day during winter.
Humidity
African house snakes need an average humidity of 40-60%. There should also be a humid hide for your snake, lined with moistened sphagnum moss. Increase humidity by misting your snake’s enclosure 1x/day with a spray bottle. Mist each evening after the lights turn off, then again in the morning if needed.
Misting your snake’s enclosure with a sprayer each evening will help create the right humidity levels.
Feeding
African house snakes readily feed on rodents weekly, starting on pinkies as babies and adult mice into adulthood. Adult House Snakes are ready feeders on defrost mice, rarely causing any problems feeding once started. Getting newly hatched youngsters to feed can sometimes be challenging, so always buy your snake from an experienced breeder.
The readiness of breeding in captivity coupled with relative difficulty in getting a snake feeding has resulted in the African House Snake being used as a feeder snake for other snake eating species. It’s important that you buy your pet from someone selling well started and established babies who readily take defrost mice.
Males may stop feeding during breeding season and females towards their egg laying if gravid, other than that once started, you should find this species very greedy! Be aware that overfeeding can cause obesity that can cause serious health problems, so don’t be tempted to overfeed.
Due to the adults high feeding response, make sure you always wash your hands before handling - they have an extreme sense of smell and aren’t too smart about knowing what to try and eat! This is the most likely time to get bitten by a house snake as they are usually docile and not aggressive. If you do get bitten - don’t worry, it’s harmless.
House snakes have been known to eat a variety of prey , including mice, rats, frogs, lizards, bats and even small birds. Very young hatchling house snakes may need to be tempted with brained or scented pinkies.
Like other snakes, African house snakes are carnivores, which means that they need to eat whole animal prey in order to get the nutrition that they need. Prey items should be around 10% of your snake’s weight or no more than 1.5x its width. Although live prey can be used, it’s safest and most humane to use frozen instead.
Remember, the key to great nutrition is variety! African house snakes can survive without vitamin or mineral supplements, but occasionally using them can help prevent nutritional deficiencies and optimize your snake’s health.
We always include a medium or large sized water bowl in the snake's enclosure. You might notice the snake use it for bathing, this is usually to cool down or to help loosen its shedding skin.
Always feed your house snake alone. Never feed two house snakes in the same enclosure.
Breeding
Males should be 150g and females 250-300g in weight before breeding, which usually takes around 2 years. A large female may reach 500g in 3 years. Waiting this long is beneficial as you will get larger clutches from a larger female.
They will almost always mate readily when introduced together. You are likely to see twitching, some chasing and possibly some entwining before copulation. Ensure you provide a large lay box for the female filled with sphagnum moss as without this she will most likely lay her eggs in the water bowl, resulting in their loss.
After 50-55 days the female will go into her pre-lay shed state and is unlikely to feed now. 7 to 10 days after she has shed her skin she will lay anywhere between 5 and 20 eggs with the average being on the lower end, around 8-10.
Females will lay multiple clutches in one year, and a large mature female can lay as many as 5 or 6 clutches. This will take a heavy toll on her weight and condition so it is strongly recommended that males and females are not housed together unless you are specifically trying to breed them.
If you keep a male and female together, they may breed. You do not need to do anything to encourage this. As long as they are healthy and the conditions are good, it will happen naturally. You need to consider whether you want this to happen before introducing the pair. What will you do with the babies if you incubate the eggs?
A gravid female should have access to a nesting box to lay her eggs. The box should be large enough that she can fully turn-around inside it. Inside the nesting box we use a soil mix that is kept humid enough to hold its shape but not so wet that it will saturate any eggs. We have found that ProRep spider life is perfect for this.
Once laid, the eggs should be incubated in an incubator at 84°F. We incubate our eggs in sealed boxes on a moisture rich substrate (such as Hatchrite) to trap the humidity around the eggs.
Handling
Few reptiles actually “like” to be held, but African house snakes generally tolerate handling well. That being said, they can be nippy and squirmy as babies, so be cautious. Be gentle, and pick up the snake from below rather than from above. Avoid forcefully restraining them.
When picking up your African house snake, be gentle and try to pick it up from the side or below rather than from above. Avoid forcible restraint.
Cleaning and Maintenance
African house snakes, as with most pets, require a clean environment to thrive. We recommend a spot clean as often as possible (every day) and a full clean every 4 weeks or so. If you are keeping the snake in a bio-active enclosure you can spot clean and monitor the enclosure. It may still be a good item to change out the bedding a few times per year.
When cleaning the enclosure you should remove your animal, all decorations and all of the bedding. Once the enclosure is clear you can spray it all over with a reptile friendly disinfectant. These usually work very quickly and only need to be left for around 30 seconds, instructions can normally be found on the disinfectants packaging. Once the disinfectant has done its work it can be wiped away from the surfaces with a paper towel. In some cases you might want to repeat this process a second time to ensure that the enclosure is thoroughly cleaned.
Your decorations can be cleaned in a similar method, simply spray them down with the disinfectant and rinse thoroughly with water before drying them off and putting them back into the enclosure.
Availability in the Pet Trade
Due to their ease of care and variability, house snakes are currently growing in popularity. They are usually available as Wild Caught Animals, but are starting to be bred commonly in captivity.
Conservation Status
Currently, African house snakes are not considered endangered, and they have stable populations in their natural habitats. The practice of captive breeding has reduced the demand for wild-caught specimens, which is a positive development for the species.
Important Considerations
- Always buy your snake from an experienced breeder.
- Be aware that overfeeding can cause obesity that can cause serious health problems.
- Always wash your hands before handling to avoid accidental bites.
African House Snake Morphs and Specialized Care
Here are some suggestions for care variations on the various species:
- Black House Snake: Humidity 70%+, Temperature 80+ cold and 90 hot. They're from Hot humid scrublands. Be sure to check out the black house snake page for more details on this species.
- Togo Stripe House Snake: 60%+ Temperature 80 cold and 90 hot. They get cranky kept too cold or hot so if they're biting you adjust your temperatures, because in my experience that's the problem a lot of the time.
- Tanzanian Stripe House Snake: 60% is really the sweet spot. Too much drier and they wont shed right, too much more humid and they develop respiratory issues. These are not a beginners snake.
- Aurora House Snake: Humidity 70%. temps at 72 cold and 86 hot side tops has been working really well for me. Can be a little fussy about food too. Not a beginners house snake.
- Namibian Bug Eye (B mentalis): Humidity 40-50% they really dont tolerate very high humidity for long. higher heat 82 cold and 92 hot. These are nocturnal desert dwelling animals, which seem to really need a solid night light cycle to feed.
- Spotted House Snake: These guys surprisingly don't want to be too warm. Like 85 tops. Definitely provide the tightest hides possible they looove to be wedged into things. The retes stack is the absolute favorite for spotteds. Same with swazi rock snakes but i'm still working out the kinks on those.
- Olive Snake (inoratus): These guys will hate you if you don't give them large water dish to soak in, even swim in, they are basically a water snake so make sure you give them that. I even have one girl that drags her prey into the water before she eats it.
Deworming Wild Caught House Snakes
Captive born house snakes are a pleasure and easy to keep. However, you absolutely do need to deworm your wild caught house snakes.
