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Title: Keeping and Breeding Snakes by Christopher Mattison, Chris Mattison ISBN: 0-7137-1865-X Publisher: Blandford Press Pub. Date: April, 1989 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (2 reviews)

Rating: 4
Summary: A solid, if patchy, general guide to snake keeping
Comment: The first edition of this book appeared in 1988. This second, "fully revised" edition is essentially an entirely new book. Some material has been reduced (for example, breeding tables and information on keeping venomous snakes), and the new photographs, found throughout the book, are spectacular.

As a general introduction to keeping snakes in captivity, this book is first-rate, if only because there are few such books on the market. While there are many guides to specific kinds of snakes (e.g., boas, corn snakes), few approach the subject in general. This book does so in a thorough and authoritative manner. Very little is left unsaid and, for an adult beginner, this book can serve as a useful reference. Its principal shortcoming is its patchy coverage of individual species: for some snakes it is excellent, whereas for others it leaves much to be desired. Its usefulness to the reader will depend on how well it covers the particular snakes in which the reader is interested.

Its coverage of boas and pythons is very comprehensive, and even lists species rarely available. The exception is its coverage of sand boas, which is limited to a single species.

Coverage of colubrids is more uneven; the one long chapter on this very large family of common snakes affords very good coverage to the genus Elaphe (rat snakes), New World and Old World species alike. Its coverage of kingsnakes is fine but less detailed. Those interested in other colubrids may well be disappointed; the material on pine and gopher snakes and garter snakes is underwhelming, and some species, such as the rough green snake, are omitted altogether. While no book can credibly claim to cover all species equally well, these omissions and shortcomings are surprising when you consider that there are sections for blind snakes and snakes from other families that are seldom kept.

The first edition's section on venomous snakes has been reduced to the most cursory of summaries; those with an interest in this subject must look elsewhere for information.

Rating: 5
Summary: Keeping and Breeding Snakes
Comment: A great book for anyone. It gives details on breeding specific species of snakes. It is also good for anyone who owns or is thinking about buying a snake; or for those who just want to learn about them.