Deathadders (Acanthophis ssp.)

There is a lot of confusion surrounding the Death Adder complex and its taxonomical history. A few years ago, several people described 12 new species and/or subspecies of Acanthophis in Australia and for the Islands of Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya. Due to the lack of scientific evidence, we cannot take these taxonomic changes seriously. There is no doubt in my mind that the Death Adder complex is much larger and includes many more species and subspecies than there are currently described. However, there needs to be much more research with these animals to give them proper and factually based taxonomical names. These new names are already being used by some dealers and breeders of Death Adders, I believe this is only to increase the prices of the animals. Until proper research is completed I will only recognize Acanthophis laevis and Acanthophis rugoses.

- The subocular scales are present, the loreal scale is absent Death Adders are highly venomous snakes and caring for them requires a lot of responsibility. A bite from a Death Adder must always be considered dangerous or life threatening.

Keeping Death Adders:

Because Death Adders have a large distribution range it is difficult to give them a proper microhabitat in a captive environment. In the wild they live in monsoon and rainforest habitats, grasslands, the lowlands, and the mid-altitude highland areas. There are also encounters in savannah woodlands, valleys, cultivated areas, and farm plantations.

Because of their sluggish nature, people often think that Death Adders are friendly and quiet snakes, this could not be further from the truth, Death Adders can be really unpredictable and will bite without any warning when you get too close or harass them. In the terrarium, Death Adders make for undemanding captives, they don’t need a lot of space and, unlike other elapids, you can use nice plants and decor to make their enclosure look more natural. Because Death Adders are generally inactive they wont destroy everything in their enclosure.

I keep all my Death Adders separated in enclosures that measure 60 x 50 x 50 cm (24 x 20 x 20in.). For substrate, I use a mixture of potting soil and sand, this mixture absorbs the animals feces really well. Each enclosure is provided with a large, shallow water bowl so the animals can drink and soak in it. I also provide them with some tree roots and plastic plants so they can hide if they feel so inclined.

Every enclosure is heated with a 40 watt spotlight during the day, at night a 5 watt heat pad is sufficient. The temperature under the spotlight is approximately 39⁰C. (102⁰ F.), the ambient temperature in the terrarium is 27-29⁰C. (80-84⁰ F.). The night time temperature on the heat pad is 28-29⁰C. (82-84⁰ F.) and the ambient is 21-24⁰C. (70-75⁰ F.)The humidity during the day is 75-80%.

In the months of November through January, I give the animals a wet period by spraying them twice a day. During this time, I also cool them down a little bit with an average temperature of 26-27⁰C. (79-80⁰ F.)during the day and 18-20⁰C. (64-68⁰ F.) at night. The heat pad is still in use during this period so the animals can warm themselves if they want to. The average daytime humidity is around 90% and 80% at night. After the first month of this simulated wet season I introduce the animals and most of the time mating behavoiour starts quickly. I don’t stop feeding during this time.

I feed my death Adders on a weekly basis, most of them accept pre-killed food. Some are more stubborn and only eat live mice. Most of the death Adders in my collection will not accept white prey items, but seem to prefer dark coloured food.

When the babies are born (Death Adders are live bearing), they are very small; averaging 4-6 cm (1.5-2.5in.). Some of the babies will eat crickets, however, I need to force feed most of them until they have attained a size that allows them to eat day

old mice. I feed the babies a mixture of Cat Food (Hills), baby mice, and a calcium supplement (Korvimin). I put this mixture in a syringe and I force feed the babies with a tiny feeding tube.

Breeding Death Adders is quite common nowadays. One of the good things about captive-bred Death Adders is that they are much stronger then the wild caught individuals. Wild caught Death Adders are very sensitive and stress easily. They are difficult to get feeding on their own and are normally loaded with parasites. Medicating Death Adders can easily lead to high levels of stress which can kill them.

Copyright©2002 Richard Mastenbroek

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 This page is not build to stimulate people to keep venomous snakes. All Captive information given on this page is based on own experience