Keeping the Stephens' banded snake
- Nature For You
- 7 days ago
- 7 min read
Hoplocephalus stephensii
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The Stephens' banded snake is a species of snake that must only be kept by experienced elapid keepers. The toxicity of the venom combined with the fact that they can be a snake quite willing to defend themselves when stressed make the Stephens' banded snake a species suited for the more experienced keeper. While Stephens' banded snakes are reasonably easy to keep in captivity, they can be unpredictable.
We at Nature 4 You do not endorse the keeping of venomous snakes without suitable experience and only when you have the appropriate permits and facilities to care for the animal properly.
SPECIES OVERVIEW:
COMMON NAMES: Stephens' banded Snake
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Hoplocephalus stephensii
PRONUNCIATION: Hop-low-keff-al-us stee-fen-zee-e
ETYMOLOGY: Stephens' armoured head, named for W.J Stephens of the Australian Museum.
AVERAGE ADULT SIZE: 90cms
ADULT WEIGHT: 180g
LIFE EXPENTANCY: Stephens' banded snakes have been known to live over 10yrs in captivity.
The Stephen’s banded snake is native to Australia, found between Maryborough in Queensland down to Ourimbah in New South Wales. Isolated populations occur in Eungella NP and at Kroombit Tops in Queensland. They are a predominantly nocturnal snake, living in closed wet forests and rainforests and the drier areas along watercourses. Rocky outcrops are another favoured habitat.
The Stephens' banded Snake is a medium - large sized snake with a robust body. The dorsal colouration is dark grey to black. The bands are distinct in the younger specimens, fading with age. Unbanded populations are also present. The face is blotched with black spots, and the supralabials have black and white markings. The ventral colouration is grey.
The Stephens' banded snake is dangerously venomous. Envenomation from this species have resulted in or could cause death.
HOUSING:
A single Stephens' banded snake needs a semi-arboreal enclosure about 600mm wide X 600mm long X 750mm high. The housing of juveniles is best done by housing them in plastic style enclosures with ventilation holes either drilled or melted with a soldiering iron. This plastic tub can be placed inside the larger enclosure. Plastic tubs are often utilised for small snakes as they are cheap, easy to clean and seal very well. This is important as a small snake is able to escape through very small gaps, which are often present in timber enclosures. Juveniles can be kept in smaller conditions but should be kept by themselves. Not only can cage-mates turn on each other, but the unpredictability of their nature also combined with the toxicity of their venom makes one snake per cage a lot easier and safer to deal with. We house our juveniles singularly in plastic tubs. These tubs have clips on the side to lock the lids in place, are readily available and easy to modify. We start our neonate Stephens' banded snakes in 7L tubs measuring 32cms long x 21cms wide x 12cms high and move them up to appropriately sized caging as they grow. We use paper towel on the bottom of these tubs as it is easy to clean - simply remove the soiled paper towel and replace with new.
The adult cage can have a variety of substrates ranging from bark to paper. We personally use either a kitty litter made of recycled paper – it helps absorb some of the smell and clumping “deposits” or newspaper or butcher’s paper as its easily cleaned. Other effective substrates include synthetic grass mats, bark chips and paper towel. If using the bark chips for a more natural look, make sure no fertilizers or chemicals have been added by reading the bags and try to avoid as much dust in the enclosure as possible. If using synthetic grass, you should have 2 pieces cut to size so when one gets soiled the other can be put in while other gets washed. Pet shops sell a variety of suitable substrates as well, the synthetic grass and bark chips that are available from hardware shops.
Stephens' banded snakes need cover in which they can hide. This can be provided by a hollow log or a rock near the back wall, leaf litter etc. Pet shops have an ample range of naturalist looking hides readily available also. At least one hide should be in the warm end and one in the cool end of the cage. The use of trap boxes as hides is an excellent idea with this species.
The cage needs to be well ventilated. A series of cupboard vents cut into both the front and back of an adult enclosure work well allowing the air to flow though. In housing for younger animals, the holes should be placed in both the lid and around the sides of the plastic containers to ensure adequate air flow.
The water bowl should large enough for the snake to soak in. This is invaluable in the hottest parts of summer and for sloughing. This should be situated in the cool end of the cage. The water bowl should be washed when clean water is added, not just topped up. Not washing the bowl and continually topping up the water can lead to illness in the animal and a green water bowl from algae growth.
The cage should be cleaned out at least once a week to prevent the build-up of pathogens and waste etc. Cleaning out weekly will also allow you to check the animal over whilst removing them from the cage. This is when you will pick up things you may miss from just looking at the animal in the enclosure. However, traces of faeces and urine should be cleaned as soon as it’s noticed.
HEATING:
All heating should be placed at one end of the cage and controlled by a thermostat. This creates a thermal gradient. This is vital for the survival of the occupants. If the cage is either too hot or to cool the snake has a place to retreat to. Excessive heat will kill your snake very quickly - ideal temperatures for the Stephens' banded snake are approximately 31 degrees Celsius at the warm end of the cage and 24 degrees at the cool end of the cage. Your temperatures should be able to fall during night time, just as they would in nature.
Ways of heating include light bulb(s) placed at one end of the cage connected to a thermostat. A light makes viewing easier as well as heating. A heat mat or heat cord at one end, or both the light bulb and the heat mat/cord. Any light globes inside the enclosure should be placed in such a way that the snake is unable to come in contact with them. A mesh type globe cover is ideal as it prevents the snake coming in direct contact with the globe but the allows the heat generated from the light to escape. Uncovered light bulbs usually result in nasty burns to the snake. Heat cord under the enclosure is another way to heat the cage effectively. Never use commercially available heat rocks, as they are not reliable and may cause fire. We use heat cord in a rack system for our younger animals and for our older snakes in larger enclosures, we run heat cord under tiles on the bottom of the enclosure.
LIGHTING:
If heating the cage with a globe set up, the cage should have dark coloured globes such as green or blue. This will then not interrupt its photoperiod. The Stephens' banded snake is nocturnal, thus the photoperiod of 14 hours light to 8 dark in summer and 12 hours light and 12 dark in winter is acceptable. This species like all snakes should has access to full spectrum lighting including access to UVA and UVB. With this species we recommend the application of a Ferguson Zone of 1-2.
FEEDING:
Your snake should be feeding on mice or small rats. The size of the prey item and the amount of them is dependent on the snake in question. As juveniles, they should be fed weekly, but once at adult size this can be reduced to once every fortnight. A suitable feed for the snake is a meal that will cause a slight bulge in the snake’s mid body. Stephens' banded snakes will also readily take fish. Mammals are not their normal prey items for juveniles in the wild, hairless items such as pinks or pinkie tails should be offered to juveniles initially. Food should generally not be offered while the snake is coming into or having a slough.
COOLING:
Cooling allows for the male’s sperm to be produced and the in the females ova to be made. The temperature of cooling should drop to about room temperature. However, this drop should not be sudden, by turning on the heat for 4 hours in the morning for 4 weeks either side of the cooling period (1-month) this will allow the snake to gently go into torpor. (In Australia most reptiles don't truly go into hibernation.) Stephens' banded snakes should be cooled from early May. While being cooled the animal should not be handled or fed. If fed, the food may kill the snake as it may not be digested properly, and may just sit and rot within its stomach as heat also plays a role in digestion. You SHOULD NOT cool juveniles, gravid (pregnant), sick or underweight individuals as this can lead to the death of the snake. When your Stephens' banded snake is an adult (over 50cm Snout to Vent (S.V.L.) it should be cooled in the winter months.
REPRODUCTION:
Male introductions should be from late May - October, but they will continue to mate until January. The males can be removed in and out of the females enclosures, allowing them time to rest. Stephens' banded snakes are livebearers. The litter can vary from 3 - 17 with an average litter size of approximately 6 neonates.
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References and recommended reading:
Ehmann H. 1992 Encyclopedia of Australian Animals - Reptiles, Angus & Robertson, Pymble
Eipper S.C 2012 A Guide to Australian Snakes in Captivity - Elapids & Colubrids, Reptile Keeper Publications, Burleigh Heads
Eipper S.C & Eipper T 2019 A Naturalist's Guide to the Snakes of Australia, John Beaufoy Publishing, Oxford
Eipper S.C & Eipper T 2022 Australasian Elapids, Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main
Eipper T & Eipper S.C 2024 A Field Guide to the Snakes of Australia, John Beaufoy Publishing, Oxford
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