Shining Snakes

This site is dedicated to the snakes of the genus Lamprophis, commonly known as African house snakes.  I have only recently entered the world of these unique serpents, and so far my experience has been a very enjoyable one.

The name Lamprophis is Latin, meaning "shining snakes" and if you have ever seen one of these snakes in person, you would know that the name is quite fitting.  Most of the different species of house snakes can range from a dark chocolate brown to an olive green to a reddish/burgundy hue.  But nearly all of them feature a brilliant iridescence that gives them a very nice bluish sheen.

African house snakes are small-medium sized colubrids that are rather slender in appearance.  However, they are very powerful for their size! I like to describe them as the raw power and coloration of a Children's python combined with the body and personality of a cornsnake, and given the feeding tenacity of a kingsnake.

These snakes are very adaptable and forgiving captives, as well as being very easy to breed.  They come in a wide variety of colors, patterns and morphs, including stripes, albinism and even recently, hypomelanism.  It's a wonder they are not more popular than they already are.  Once you have read the care & husbandry of this site, you'll see just how easy house snakes are to keep.

One of the primary focuses of this site is analyzing the taxonomy of Lamprophis, which is a subject of much debate and controversy.  It has long since been thought that L. fuliginosus was the only species commonly available in the pet trade and all others were quite rare.  Furthermore, many dealers label their animals simply by color, calling them "red" house snakes or "olive" house snakes.  However, there a few other species just as common as fuliginosus and any one of them can be red, brown, striped, olive, and even light green.  Hopefully, after visiting the other pages on this site, you can better understand the taxonomy of Lamprophis.

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"...You can't see it...You see only the scales and the venom and the danger. You don't see the glorious array of colors on their skin.  You don't see the beauty with which they move.  It's art, it's dance...They're everything, snakes.  Marvelously designed, incredibly diverse, and amazingly beautiful.  And they're the purest of all animals.  No limbs, no ears, no eyelids.  Evolution pared down as far as it will go."
 - Boris Starling, in his novel, Storm