(The horseshoe snake)

Coluber hippocrepis pair

Coluber hippocrepis lives in the southwestern corner of Europe and the northwestern part of Africa. Max. size is about 150 cm but adults are normally about 120 cm. It is one of the prettiest snakes of Europe, but especially the animals from Morrocco are very colorful. They normally prey on other reptiles, but will after a time in captivity accept rodents as food. Sometimes things can go wrong. On the picture above the female didn`t accept the mating attempt from the larger male and ate him.   These very active snakes present themself nicely in a terrarium with a large surface. The horse shoe snake prefer a hot and dry inviroment. They are not so hard to handle as many other Colubers, and a few gets more or less tame. Our animals were hibernated at 8-12 degrees Celcius for 3,5 months and copulations took place after their first shedding. The eggs and the hatchlings from our Northafrican horseshoe snakes were a lot bigger than the European animals. All juveniles refused to eat newborn mice and were force fed for 3-5 months. The horseshoe snake is protected in Europe under the Bern-Konvention.