My Rubber Eels

[Mikaila31]

I have two in a 55 gal tank, they are about 15" long ATM. I recently was able to sex them and found out I have a male and a female . Their scientific name is Typhlonectes natans, and they are a type of caecilian. I really suck at describing them, but they look a lot like snakes. They have eyes, but are almost blind. They have a really good sense of smell and eat worms, shrimp, and similar things. I saw one of mine shedding this week, they do this 2-3 times a week. This is the first time I have actually seen them in the act. So, I took a picture and a short video. Enjoy.

This is the male, just starting to shed

And Here is the video, it is about 3 min long. The last clip is from a different shedding later in the week.

Also it took me a couple months to figure out why I could never find any of their sheddings .

 

[ollyhtafc]

That picture looks like a puppet or something!Creepy!

 

[sid.sarah]

Watched The Video that is Amazing the are really big! Dont they eat the rummie noses??

You must be so proud will they breed if you have one of each??

Sarah.Sid

 

[Mikaila31]

I'm hoping they will eventually breed. They give birth to live young that are about 6" long. Mine at 15" are still young they will reach 24" eventually. So far they have been growing about 1" every month.

A lot of sources say they will eat fish, but after talking with other owners most say they are fine with small fish. They should not be kept with any bottom feeders, especially corys. They could easily choke on them. Also any fish that sleeps directly on the bottom are risky. They might also eat dead fish, but prefer worms above all else. I will post some more pics soon.

edit: pictures
eating a worm

swimming about

more swimming

Out cold- they tend to fall asleep in the weirdest places

 

[ShoC]

Friging gorgeous

how would they be in tanks with many plants as opposed to yours!!

 

[Mikaila31]

They would love a planted tank. The only problem you might have is that they like to burrow, so if you have fine gravel or sand they may push some plants out of the substrate. They are quite comical.

One important thing is that you have a tight fitting lid with no gaps. They may be blind, but that doesn't mean they aren't good escape artists. They prefer to be in the water, but they have been known to survive outside of the tank for over 4 hours . Their natural habitat are the drainage ditches of Africa, so they are quite hardy and abundant. They are illegal to export out of Africa, but they regularly made it out in the past and now their are captive breed populations. Some times today they are exported as "known eel", which in my mind just seem stupid.