Brightly colored and beautiful, this Giant Dwarf boa still retains the even brighter tailtip used in luring their prey of anurans and lizards into striking range.
It seems as if all too often the world’s herpetoculture hobby centers on the almighty dollar. In the 70+ years I have been involved with herps I have seen so many species come and go that I would be at a loss if asked to name them all. But since I’ve been on a “Dwarf Boa” kick for the last few months I’ll just mention one of them—the Giant Trope, Tropidophis melanurus. Since mentioning several species of this genus in my blogs, I have had a number of queries asking about their availability in the American hobby. The answer has been and will seemingly continue to be, they are now longer available. Why? Because hobbyists have chosen to breed more prolific snake species that are easier to breed than the Giant Trope was. Think $$$!

By the way, the term giant pertains to the adult size of T. melanurus as compared to other species in the genus. The adult size of this “giant” varies from about 26 to 36 inches but it is of rather heavy girth. Although it is often of light mud color, some (rather rarely seen) examples are much brighter. It was these, of course, that were being captive bred and available to hobbyists. But sadly, even though easily kept and bred, these little snakes had small litters (usually only 2 to 5) and they disappeared from the American hobby decades ago but it is a commonly seen species in the wilds of Cuba. Prey includes frogs, toads, lizards, and nestling rodents.

And just as a heads up, all species of Tropidophis are capable of, and prone to, autohaemorrhage from the mouth, nostrils and eyes if unduly disturbed.

Stiletto snakes lack an enlarged head but are venomous, and have a short, stout, tail tipped with a spiny scale.
To see any of the several species of African/Mid-Eastern Stiletto Snakes, one would think that they were viewing a harmless little black burrowing snake species. When uncovered these 15 to 26 inch long snakes try immediately to cover themselves again and will quickly succeed unless impeded by substrate or human. All 15+ (according to geneticists there may be 20 or more species) are fast and they are squirmy. They do not have an enlarged head but, heed this hobbyists and systematists) they are venomous and almost impossible, thanks to greatly elongate fangs that slide easily under and beside the upper labial scales, to handle without sustaining a bite. Venom is produced in small quantities but is considered dangerously toxic and is known to cause severe pain. These little burrowers preferentially feed on burrowing reptiles (seemingly on lizards) but will accept nestling mice as well.

It seems that it is the Southern Stiletto Snake, Atractaspis bibroni, that is most often (now rarely) available to American hobbyists and is pictured here.