The Sunbeam, a Glowing Snake

The Sunbeam Snake is a beautiful creature. It gets its name from
the glowing look (incandescence) of their scales. They reflect
the light in such a way that it look like they are a glowing
prism. These snakes primarily come from Indonesia. They are
mainly black in colour, with their belly being the opposite, a
creamy-white. The Sunbeam Snake spends most of its time burrowed
in the ground, where they are most happy. They have evolved to
make this lifestyle easy, with their heads sharply pointed to
dig through the earth easier. These snakes will eat anything
they can; rodents, insects, other snakes and any other small
animal. They are very quick eaters, so keep your fingers away
from them when you are feeding them. Make sure to stun or kill
the rodents before you feed them to your snake, as rodents are
very dangerous. And never leave them alone when eating a rodent.
Sunbeam Snakes are not very common in North America. You rarely
ever see them at pet stores, or reptile shows for that matter.
They are imported from Indonesia. Wild caught Sunbeam Snakes do
not normally live for very long, as they get stressed easily
like their lizard cousins. Every once in a while you will see
them at a show. If properly taken care of, the Sunbeam Snake can
live for a very long time, and be a great Snake pet. Keeping
captive Sunbeam Snakes is very easy, if done properly. Like most
snakes, and many lizards, they need to be left alone. They will
stress easily if handled too much. They need a high humidity as
well. They come from the wetland parts of Indonesia, so
emulating this habitat will increase their durability. A good
level of humidity for Sunbeam Snakes is between 85 to 100%.
Sunbeam Snakes will also require a good depth of burrowing
substrate. Damp soil, peat moss or other forest floor substrate
works very well. You must keep it moist. You must also keep a
heat gradient from 75 degrees F to around 89 degrees F. One more
point; Sunbeams have a natural defense. They emit a very potent,
and very bad, musty odour. Be careful not to get sprayed, as it
lingers on you like a skunks spray.