Water Snakes - Swamp tea?

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JackAsp Ace13 JackAsp Gottee guy Acros Acros CaimanLOL CaimanLOL JackAsp

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#1404743

JackAsp
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Swamp tea?

Something I just read about for keeping small semiaquatic types such as swamp snakes and crayfish snakes was diluting regular drinking tea (the book doesn’t say what brand or flavor) to get a PH of about 6.4, which allows the snakes to continue a highly aquatic existance in captivity without getting the blister problems that everyone here knows about. Made me wonder: has anyone tried it with Nerodia?

Water snakes in the wild spend a lot more time in water than we can allow them to in captivity, so basically the keeper has to make psychological sacrifices in order to maintain physical health. I’m curious whether or not swamp tea could allow us to try larger, filtered, turtle-style water areas for them. Every place I know of that they live that doesn’t have a current to it is acidic, and the snakes that swamp tea was used for suffer exactly the same problems as water snakes if kept the traditional "incorrect" water snake way but simply weren’t adaptable enough to be kept the "correct" water snake way. Since water snakes are, I don’t know that the same system was even attempted with them.

Maybe they were just afraid to give a water snake caffeine.

08/15/07 02:58pm

#1405522

Ace13
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Message To: JackAsp In reference to Message Id: 1404743

Swamp tea?

They dont really mean for it to be kept in that kind of water they mean for treatment of blisters really ......snakes living in tea? lol

08/16/07 02:57am

#1405832

JackAsp
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Message To: Ace13 In reference to Message Id: 1405522

Swamp tea?

The Rossi book suggests it for permanent maintenance. Not Nerodia, granted, but for the glossy crayfish snake and striped crayfish snake he insists on it as the key environmental factor. of course, they still don’t live hugely long, so blisters or not there could well be other side effects. And it has to be kept over 80, which might make for a confusing thermal gradient for, say, a northern water.
English grass snakes might like drinking it though.

08/16/07 11:43am

#1409543

Gottee guy
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Message To: JackAsp In reference to Message Id: 1405832

Swamp tea?

lol

08/19/07 10:43am

#1430600

Acros
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Message To: Gottee guy In reference to Message Id: 1409543

Swamp tea?

I add black water extracts for the same principle reasons that You are referring to: Antiseptic qualities--including, but not limited to, lowering pH. I have not experimented yet, but I instinctively--at this point--still believe that tannins and humic acids are very important to successfully keeping Acrochordus. I also use it with my Homalopsis buccata.

Right now, I am in the process of switching back to hard water (Gh 18, Kh 14, pH 8.0+) from 100% RODI. My Acrochordus setups have C02 injection for the aquatic plants, but the H. buccata donā€™t. So, pH for the acrochordus has been around 6.4 for months now. As low as 5.7 and I maintained it at 6.0 for several months with no problems. With the hard tap water pH should be around 7.4-7.6. But at that pH range ammonia will stay ammonia and not convert to ammonium--weā€™ll see how that goes. Yes, ammonia should be Zero in a fully cycled setup, but with the influx of feeder fish--maintaining a "Complete cycle" 100% of the time is a little beyond difficult.

I have considered using the Indian Almond leaves, but they really are just too expensive over the long haul.

There may very well be some validity to what You are reading....

09/03/07 04:28pm