Boiga irregularis
Brown tree snake
Arboreal and secure. Import and movement are restricted, including under 50 CFR 16.15 in the United States.
Legal status
- Venomous · rehoming blocked
- US injurious wildlife
Rear-fanged and treated here as venomous, so rehoming is blocked. Also named in 50 CFR 16.15 as Boiga irregularis (brown tree snake). Not found in the CITES Appendices file that was checked, and no EU annex was verified, so both stay empty. 50 CFR 16.15 (compilation of 1 October 2024) prohibits importation, transportation, or acquisition of listed live reptiles except under 50 CFR 16.22. Repticentra blocks a rehoming listing when the country is the United States. If the country is blank or somewhere else, the status is a warning and the listing can continue after a legality confirmation. The 2017 D.C. Circuit decision in USARK v. Zinke limited the Lacey Act shipment clause between the continental states; this note does not say that movement between US states is uniformly illegal. State permits still apply. Check local rules before you keep, move, or rehome an animal. This record is not a permit and not legal advice.
Official sourceNot legal advice. Rules differ by country, and sometimes by region. Check the law that applies to you.
- Temperature
- 24–30°C
- Basking
- 30–32°C
- UVB
- Ferguson zone 1. About 0.1–0.7
- Humidity
- 60–80%
- Minimum enclosure
- A tall, locked enclosure at least as long as the snake
- Adult size
- Often 1–2 m, sometimes longer.
- Lifespan
- Records in captivity vary. Plan on a long-lived snake if a lawful animal already exists.
- Difficulty
- advanced
Diet and feeding
Vertebrate prey. This sheet is identification and context, not a keeping guide for a restricted species. Not a beginner interval. A veterinarian or a permitted facility sets it.
Substrate
Paper for quarantine and observation.
Health
Rear-fanged and recorded as venomous in this database. Do not test the bite.
Handling
Hook and tub only, and only where keeping is lawful.
Husbandry ranges are general guidance for captive care, not a veterinary prescription or a permit. Confirm the gradient with your own thermometers. UV zones follow Baines et al., Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 4(1), 2016, https://www.jzar.org/jzar/article/view/150. Legal fields use the source link on this species and stay empty when an annex was not verified.