Jamesons Black-Tail Mamba (Dendroaspis jamesoni kaimosea)

Lenght:  

This large and arboreal snake have a average lenght of 150-220 cm but can grow up to 360 cm, around 20-30% of the total lenght is the tail.

Zoological description:

 The body is long and slender. The head is long but not to wide. The ey is small with a round pupil. The color on the back is dark green or yellowish green, the ventral is pale green or yellowish. The scales on the head and back are black edged. We regonize two subspecies of the Jamesons Mamba D.jamesoni jamesoni, and D. Jamesoni kaimosea the kaimosea has a long black tail and is also called the Black tail mamba. Jamesoni has mostly a yellow tail with black edging along the scales which gives a sort of netting effect on which he can be mistaken for a eastern green mamba Dendroaspis viridis

Scalation Dendroaspis jamesoni jamesoni:

-         Dorsal scales at midbody 15-19

 -         Ventrals 210-235

-         Subcaudals 94-122

-         Subcaudals are Paired

-         Anal plate is Divided

-         Upper labials 7-9

-         Preoculairs 3

-         Postoculairs 3

-         Lower labials 8-10

-         Temporales 2+1 variable 

Scalation Dendroaspis jamesoni kaimosea:

-         Dorsal scales at midbody 15-19

 -         Ventrals 209-227

-         Subcaudals 94-113

-         Subcaudals are Paired

-         Anal plate is Divided

-         Upper labials 7-9

-         Preoculairs 3

-         Postoculairs 3-5

-         Lower labials 9-11

-         Temporales 2+3 variable

Geographic range:  

Jamesons mambas occur in Ghana , Togo , Benin , Nigeria , Cameroon , Central African Republic , Zaire , Kenya , Uganda , Rwanda , Burundi , Equatorial Guinea , Angola , Sudan .  

Habitat:  

Jamesons mambas are strictly arboreal they live in forests, woodland, defrosted areas, mosaic thicket and forest-savannas they live from sealevel up to 2200 meters altitude. Jamesons mambas are known to be found in city parks and buildings when there natural habitat is destroyed. They can also been found at farms and plantations.

 Captive behaviour:  

Jamesons mambas are alert and nervous snakes in captivity they follow every movement out and inside there cage. These snakes need a big enclosure with allot of plants and branches as decoration. They can be kept in groups and don’t bother each other. Jamesons are diurnal and are active snakes that crawl around there enclosure quite often in rest do they lay curled up in a branch or stretched out. At night they try to find a hiding place which can be a hidebox or a plant in the cage. Jamesons like to have a warm and humid enclosure but need to have more dry spots otherwise they get skin problems.

When they feel threatened they may flatten their necks flicking their tongue and hissing load after they strike.

Because this species is quite nervous handling can be a pain… I handle them with the tailing and hook method when necessary. Otherwise I lock them in a hide box. When held by the tail they can be very wild and jumpy.

Feeding:

 In the wild do Jameson mambas feed on lizards, birds and there eggs, amphibians and occasionally on small arboreal mammals. In captivity do Jamesons mambas well on mice and rats and also chicks will be accepted. I feed my jamesons on live mice which they take with one bite and on which they hold on till the mice died.

Breeding:

Jamesons mambas are egg layers, but nothing much more is known about there breeding behaviour in the wild. As far as I know are Jamesons mambas not yet bred in captivity. I have seen one mating which took almost 8 hours but no eggs were laid. A wild catched female in my collection laid 4 slugs and 9 eggs which were in fertile.

Enclosure:

 I keep my pair of Jameson’s mambas in a enclosure of 150 cm long, 70 cm high and 50 cm wide. The enclosure is decorated with various branches, rocks and artificial plants. There is a big 5 litre water bowl in the enclosure for drinking. The cage is heated by heat cable under the enclosure and a 60 watt spotlight on the right side of the cage. Extra light is been brought in by a 120 cm long neon tube. The average temperature in the enclosure is 28⁰C with a 70-80% high humidity.    

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