These sharks feed mainly at night on fish and crustaceans they find along the bottom. They reach an adult length of three and a half feet long. Like all sharks it is quite easy to sex the males from the females.
Males have external appendages called claspers used to fertilize the female.
After she is fertilized, the female lays an egg case with a developing embryo shark inside. It can take up to three months to hatch. The young sharks are approximately five inches long when they are born. Riverbanks Zoo Aquarium has one adult male and one adult female. In August two female bamboo shark babies were born in the large Pacific reef tank.