Captive Care and Breeding of the Monocle

First, I would like to state that I am not writing this article to encourage everyone to go out, get some Cobras, and try to breed them. They are extremely venomous and can be incredibly dangerous snakes. Monocle Cobras belong to a family of snakes called Elapids. They are Proteroglyphs, which means that they have front fangs that stay fixed in place; however, there is a limited amount of movement. They are also smart, fast, and aggressive. This leaves no room for error; your first mistake may be your last! Therefore, only the experienced handler should keep Monocle Cobras. I have been keeping venomous snakes for over 25 years and have never suffered a bite! Some say that I have just been lucky. However, I credit my success to my procedures of using shiftboxes, tongs, restraining tubes, as well as common sense. Some of my Monocles are as passive as a pet Kingsnake, while others are totally treacherous. Always follow protocol, no matter what the temperament of the snake is. Whatever the case may be, you can never be too careful.

SAFE HANDLING. By following a well-planned out protocol, and with a little common sense, Monocle Cobras can be worked with safely. Nevertheless, consider that accidents do happen. And mistakes made while working with venomous snakes can possibly cost you your life.

The first thing to consider is setting a “bite protocol”: -Find an MD trained in envenomations and administering antivenin correctly. Also, make sure there is antivenin available to you. -Post your MDs phone number and the hospital you need to go to in a visible spot in your facility. -Have a cell phone, car keys, and restriction bandages at arms reach at all times. With these things handy, and if a bite does occur, you are ready to rock n' roll. Let’s face it, we all don’t have Venom 1 and Al Cruz at our disposal. That man and his team are worth their weight in gold! Personally, I would like to get a venom bank started for hot keepers in the Northern United States.

USING THE RIGHT TOOLS. I am big fan of shift boxes and like to build my own. I use shift boxes as a snake’s hide-box, and normally will have 2 in one cage. I place one at the warm end and one at the cool end. They are constructed out of plywood and have a trap door in the front that can be operated with tongs. The top lid has hinges and a lock, for easy access to the interior, so it can be cleaned. The shift boxes make cleaning the snake’s enclosure easy, as Cobras will spend most of their time in them. Just drop the trap door and remove the box from the cage and the enclosure is safe to clean. I handle my cobras as little as possible and only if necessary; removing eye caps, probing to determine sex or medicating. Using a clear plastic tube with tons of holes drilled in it works great for removing eye caps. Once the snake is secure inside the tube, use fine tweezers to remove the eye cap through the drilled holes. This keeps you away from the fangs and is less stressful on the snake then pinning and necking them. I use “Gentle Giant” tongs and hooks by Mid-West to move snakes around, if needed. The tongs are also used for feeding. Mid-West also has a bagger system called the “Pro-Bagger”, which is a-must for venomous keepers. The unit is equipped with a sleeve located on one end of the bottom of the bag and is designed to slide over restraining tubes. This makes tubing fast, safe, and easy with cobras. The bags are deep, strong, and well constructed of parachute material. The unit even works well with my large adult King Cobras.

HOUSING AND FEEDING REQUIREMENTS. Most Elapids are very active snakes requiring space to move, climb, and exercise. An adult Monocle may reach 6-7 feet, but 4½ -5 feet is the norm. I keep my large adults in 4-foot Vision cages, with newspaper as substrate. Cypress mulch and aspen are also acceptable. I like newspaper because it eliminates the possibility of a mouthful of substrate during feeding. There are hide/shift boxes positioned in the cool and warm ends of the enclosure. The use of heat tape and low wattage light bulbs will achieve temperatures in the high 80’s on the warm end, but it will remain in the mid 70’s on the cool end. To keep humidity at approximately 60%, mist the enclosure a few times a week. Fresh clean water is always available in a container large enough for the snake to get into. I keep sub-adults in custom-made wood cages with front-opening doors. They are set up the same as the adults, but just scaled down to suit their size. Hatchlings are reared in a “racking system,” containing shoebox-size plastic tubs. I do not believe that a “photo-period” plays as much a role in cycling Monocles for breeding as temperature does. I do however, operate my lights on a timer for breeding adults. They get 12-on, 12-off in the spring, 16-on, 8-off in the summer, and then back to the 12 and 12 in the fall and winter months. With the exception of October when they are kept in total darkness.

Monocles are eating machines, but they do not seem to have the swallowing ability that other snakes have when it comes to large meals. They do better feeding on smaller prey items. For example, I will feed a 20” Juvenile 3 to 4 fuzzy mice instead of one adult mouse. I maintain my Monocles with a diet of frozen/thawed rodents. Large adults, 4’ + in size, are fed 2 medium rats bi-weekly. Sub-adults are fed 3 to 4 adult mice bi-weekly. Juveniles consume pinks and fuzzy mice. Hatchlings are easy to get started. They will often take F/T “pinks” just after the first shed. First, I thaw pinks out in warm water, then split the head open (for scent) and offer them from forceps. If they refuse, I will leave the “pink” at the entrance of the hide box over night. And if they still refuse to feed, I place the hatchling snake and a fresh killed “pink” in a deli cup over night. By using this method, very rarely do hatchlings refuse to eat. But once in a while you will get a problem child that is just a pain. So as a last resort, I get minnows from my local bait shop. Baby Monocles LOVE them offered live. After they have fed on a few minnows, it is easy to make the switch, first over to “minnow-scented pinks,” then on to the “split-head pinks.” Hatchlings can be fed a few times a week and will grow rapidly. If a Monocle is fed properly, it can reach breeding size in 3 years and may be bred annually. I prefer my breeder Monocles to be at least 4 feet long, and 3 years old, but I have seen smaller, fresh caught imports, lay good eggs. I have had 15 year old Monocles that produce good clutches. I have also heard of Monocles, well into their 20’s, that are still breeding. The Monocle Cobra can be a hardy, long-lived snake if its’ requirements are met.

BREEDING. After the snakes are well fed all season and breeding time is approaching, 1 month prior to cycling I start to back off on the feeding. For the month of September - food is withheld, but temperatures remain the same. This is also when I start to shorten their daylight cycle. It goes from 16-on, 8-off to 12- on, 12-off. Then I mist the enclosure 3 times a week, and by the first of October all lights and heating elements are turned off. The front of the cages are then covered with newspaper or blankets to block out all light. They are kept in total darkness for the entire month of October. During this time, the temperatures will range between 62 and 68 degrees. Fresh water is available to them at all times. The snakes are left undisturbed for the entire month. Then, on the first of November, they are placed back on the “12 and 12” photo period. By the second week of November, all heating sources are turned back on. Feeding will resume at this time, and let me tell you, they are ready to eat! I have had some males refuse to feed at this time, but not too often. The females will feed non-stop. After the Monocles consume a few meals, they will go into their pre-breeding shed. This normally happens the last week of November or by the first week of December. This is when I introduce the females into the males’ enclosure. Evidently, this pre-breeding shed must release pheromones that are stimulants that cue breeding, because I have had females that will refuse to breed until the male has shed, or visa versa.

My ‘08 breeding went as followed: Oct 1^st - brumation started Oct 31^st - brumation ended Nov 20^th - female shed Dec 13^th - male shed Dec 19^th - pair copulated Feb 11^th - eggs laid Apr 7^th - eggs started hatching I have had the dates vary from year-to-year, but it is always close.

When breeding starts, normally the males will refuse to eat, while the females will continue. However, when the females become gravid, I opt to feed them smaller prey items because of the developing eggs. When a female becomes gravid, she will need a suitable nest box to lay in. She will need a dark, warm, and humid place to lay her eggs. A Tupperware plastic tub works well as a nest box. I cut a circular hole in the center of the lid, then fill the tub about 3 inches high with moist vermiculite, or sphagnum moss. I place the nest box in the warm end of the enclosure. The ideal temperature inside the nest box is approximately 80-85 degrees with 75% humidity. The nest box is placed in the enclosure a few weeks after copulation. Eggs will be laid approximately 40-50 days after breeding occurs. I like to insert the nest box early so she gets accustomed to using it. Females will go into a pre-egg laying shed. Once this has happened, she will often remain in the nest box until she drops. Approximately 2-3 weeks after the pre-lay shed, eggs are laid. Once eggs are laid, I remove the nest box out of the cage; eggs, mama, and all! She is then carefully removed away from her clutch, and placed back into her enclosure. Normally, the eggs adhere together, with the exception of a few stragglers. The substrate around the eggs is freshened up. The lid of the nest box is then replaced with a lid without a hole in it. Then the whole nest box is set inside an incubater. You should never have to touch the eggs. Monocle eggs should be white and plump. They will grow in size as the weeks go by. They are kept at 84-86 degrees, with 70-80% humidity. Hatching occurs in 50-60 days. It can sometimes take 4-5 days for an entire clutch to hatch. Baby Monocles hatch with an attitude, often hooding and hissing right out of the egg! Monocles can lay anywhere between 12-30 eggs. My largest clutch contained 29 viable eggs.

I started my Monocle breeding projects 20 years ago with normal-phase animals. Then I moved on to Albinos. Now I am producing all the latest morphs, including the Red-eyed Leucistic, AKA “Blizzard Cobra.” There are less then 20 of these in the world. Diamond Reptiles first produced this morph, and I have been fortunate enough to produce a handful of them myself! I have been breeding venomous snakes for over 25 years and by no means claim to be an expert. However, the techniques I have stated in this article have worked well for me, year after year. One must consider that keeping and breeding venomous snakes can be very unforgiving and mistakes made are costly. It is not a hobby; it’s a way of life for those of us who work with these fascinating serpents.

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