any other herpetologist out there

[StukaJU87]

I really dig snakes, but Kathy will have no part of it. She is deathly afraid of them.

Several years ago I got a panicked call at work. The was an "anaconda" in the basement. When I got home, I found that her son Kyle had "bravely" slain the beast..................an 8" garter/garden snake.

I was like WTF? You couldn't pick it up and put it outside? Crazy bastid he is.

[jblicharz]

We raised Red Tail Boas and also had a dedicated rep. room with the huge electric bill. Like many others, before our son was born we stopped for safety reasons. There are times I really want to get back into it with a Tree Python but that will have to wait until he's much older.

[Hyperfuzz]

Snakes can cross but it would have to be boa to boa, python to python, viper to viper. A cobra could survive given the temp in the area is close to it natural enviroment. Look at the glades in FL. Burmese pythons that have either escaped or were released by careless owners have started colonize down there. Those snakes are big predators and will most likely have an adverse affect on the ecosystem there. A similar thing happened in Guam where a foriegn species made its way into the ecosystem and totally wiped out several species of birds.

Jason hit the nail on the head.

A king cobra escaped into the woods near Sylacauga, AL a few years ago and was never recovered. I can't imagine what would hurt or kill one out there, or how long it could live in the wild either. Can different snake species crossbreed? I'd hate to see a cobra/eastern diamondback blend populating the Southern forests!

Wow Lerx, I had forgotten about that story but yeah, I heard it too. I remember "a cobra" had escaped. Didn't recall what brand. But no, there are some cross-breeds out there but they have to be fairly close genetically, example being that a Timber Rattler and Diamondback may be able to cross, and certainly Eastern and Western Diamondack could cross since they are basically the same species just that one is darker than the other and found on a different side of the continent. There's nothing native to North America that would be remotely compatible to a cobra of any variation. A Coral Snake is semi-related to a cobra but it is too different.

Most likely, if you are tromping around in the woods in AL and ran across this thing and you left it alone, you probably wouldn't even know it was a cobra. And actually, a King Cobra isn't that closely related to "regular" cobras like the Egygtian, Spectacle or African-Spitting-Tobacco-Chewing, etc. It would need another King to multiply. Those are pretty few and far between.

Unfortunately, there is money to be made by selling dangerous exotic animals to ignorant people who don't know how to deal with them. Either an accident or an escape will happen. It's sad.

[Nuclear Vampire]

Those pics are cool. Garter Snakes are pretty abundant around here, and there's a really neat place just north of here called the Narcisse Snake Pits, where you can see THOUSANDS of them all over the place. Almost every school in the province takes kids there to see them. Crazy shit during mating season - dozens of males wrapped around the females trying to get some.

Check this out ---> http://www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/wi..._narcisse.html

And here---> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcisse_Snake_Pits

[lerxstcat]

Wow Lerx, I had forgotten about that story but yeah, I heard it too. I remember "a cobra" had escaped. Didn't recall what brand. But no, there are some cross-breeds out there but they have to be fairly close genetically, example being that a Timber Rattler and Diamondback may be able to cross, and certainly Eastern and Western Diamondack could cross since they are basically the same species just that one is darker than the other and found on a different side of the continent. There's nothing native to North America that would be remotely compatible to a cobra of any variation. A Coral Snake is semi-related to a cobra but it is too different.

Most likely, if you are tromping around in the woods in AL and ran across this thing and you left it alone, you probably wouldn't even know it was a cobra. And actually, a King Cobra isn't that closely related to "regular" cobras like the Egygtian, Spectacle or African-Spitting-Tobacco-Chewing, etc. It would need another King to multiply. Those are pretty few and far between.

That's a huge relief! I think a king cobra would be recognizable just by its length if it were an adult though. Didn't someone above say the Memphis Zoo has one that's 18 feet long? Nothing indigenous in the Bama woods that long! I'm just glad to know there won't be 20-ft. hooded cobra/diamondbacks in our future!! And yeah, a king cobra trying to bang a coral snake would be like a St. Bernard banging a Chihuahua! :ROTF::ROTF:

[Sanctuary]

One of my babies

[TommyD]

any other herpetologist out there

> On the subject of people selling/buying dangerous snakes or anything else,I saw a story on Animal Planet that must be told here. They were interviewing a Columbus,Ohio police officer,and he told this story about dealing with exotic snakes. He got a call from a concerned parent about an unfamiliar,possibly poisonous snake his son and another boy found in the garage,smartly the father told the boys to stay away from it and come inside. As he drove to the scene,he though to himself "OK,this is Columbus,if it's poisonous it's probably a Northern Copperhead,or maybe a really lost Timber Rattler." He got there,and the boys told him they saw the tail of the snake sticking out from behind a couple trash cans,so he decided to look there first. He pulled the first can away,and saw the tail,not believing what he saw,and told everyone else to step back. He slowly slid the second can out of the way far enough that he could clearly see what he was faced with,and said it felt like he was having a heart attack once he figured out exactly what breed this was. Somehow,in the middle of Ohio,a 4 foot Gaboon Viper found it's way into a garage. He managed to get in touch with someone from the Columbus Zoo,for backup and possible antivenin delivery,and captured it without incident,the snake never moved once it was uncovered. He told the kids and the father how smart it was for them to have not messed with it,as he showed them the nearly 2" fangs,and explained that 93% of the people bitten by this monster die from it. He said that after some research,that approximately 20 others were sold at a flea market for 35 bucks each,and that this one was probably bought with drug money,the owner realized they were in over their heads,and it was irresponsibly released into the nearby woods. He added that only crazy people and trained professionals even try to keep poisonous reptiles at home,for the following reason. According to him,you are better off shooting yourself in the leg with a .357,and going to the ER,than you are showing up at the ER with a snakebite of non-US origin. With a serious gunshot wound,they know exactly what to do,if you showed up in some kind of strange shock caused by a snake they know nothing about,they might not figure out what is wrong until the autopsy is finished. Tommy D.

[GodOfRhythm]

> On the subject of people selling/buying dangerous snakes or anything else,I saw a story on Animal Planet that must be told here. They were interviewing a Columbus,Ohio police officer,and he told this story about dealing with exotic snakes. He got a call from a concerned parent about an unfamiliar,possibly poisonous snake his son and another boy found in the garage,smartly the father told the boys to stay away from it and come inside. As he drove to the scene,he though to himself "OK,this is Columbus,if it's poisonous it's probably a Northern Copperhead,or maybe a really lost Timber Rattler." He got there,and the boys told him they saw the tail of the snake sticking out from behind a couple trash cans,so he decided to look there first. He pulled the first can away,and saw the tail,not believing what he saw,and told everyone else to step back. He slowly slid the second can out of the way far enough that he could clearly see what he was faced with,and said it felt like he was having a heart attack once he figured out exactly what breed this was. Somehow,in the middle of Ohio,a 4 foot Gaboon Viper found it's way into a garage. He managed to get in touch with someone from the Columbus Zoo,for backup and possible antivenin delivery,and captured it without incident,the snake never moved once it was uncovered. He told the kids and the father how smart it was for them to have not messed with it,as he showed them the nearly 2" fangs,and explained that 93% of the people bitten by this monster die from it. He said that after some research,that approximately 20 others were sold at a flea market for 35 bucks each,and that this one was probably bought with drug money,the owner realized they were in over their heads,and it was irresponsibly released into the nearby woods. He added that only crazy people and trained professionals even try to keep poisonous reptiles at home,for the following reason. According to him,you are better off shooting yourself in the leg with a .357,and going to the ER,than you are showing up at the ER with a snakebite of non-US origin. With a serious gunshot wound,they know exactly what to do,if you showed up in some kind of strange shock caused by a snake they know nothing about,they might not figure out what is wrong until the autopsy is finished. Tommy D.

Very true, I saw that same report on TV. Brought chills down my spine.

I've also seen those shows on 'venom' on NGC, about the world's most toxic animals. The showcase on the Black Mamba was horrific....People got bit by one and they started bleeding heavily from EVERY bodily orifice AND (this is the really nasty part) all of the scars/wounds they'd ever had, even some they'd totally forgotten about, as far as 20 years back, burst open and started bleeding again as well....

I like snakes and I find them highly interesting and beautiful. But I find Siberian Tigers to be interesting and beautiful too, does that mean I should have one running around my house?

[FusionFarmer]

People who mess with venomous snakes are nuts in my book,unless they are doing so to aquire venom for serum or some other scientific reason or actual zoos or reptile houses, and to release one into the wild is especially a non domestic snake is just plain criminal,
There is a myth about treating a venomous snake bite with a strong electric shock to break down the venom, this has proven to be false, if anything it just make it worse,

[fett]

e

I used to keep geckoes for a few years ... but I just don't have time for them any more...



-a

They don't look so good without make up. I need a quote.

[IrfaanSE801]

Ah memories...I used to work with this guy who bred and sold reptiles, and we also worked with Animal Rescue for awhile. I dealt with a lot of crazy stuff, I've worked with boas around 8 feet long, worked with water monitors, countless turtles, snakes and even a few caiman crocs. I haven't done that in a few years, but it was so much fun and I loved these animals, so I got a kick outta working with this guy. I think my friend has his own animal shelter now here in NY, I just haven't checked it out. Maybe I'll drop in and post some pics of the more exotic animals. I gotta say though, you won't believe what some of these idiots here used to keep as pets. I'm surprised more people didn't end up in the newspapers from the stuff we used to take outta their houses.

It was kinda fun though, once we had to feed a friend's water monitors for him when he went outta town. Normally, you don't mess with these things because they WILL take a finger off if they have the chance (one took a chunk outta my friend's palm once, luckily he got it fixed right away), but this one was walking around this guy's house! It was totally house broken (to a degree, it is a wild animal) to a point where it would crawl up my jeans and lick my hand (20 lb animal with 1.5" claws and a nasty infectious bite crawling up your leg is a bit scary) and just hang on to ya. Fun stuff, wish I could still do it with him, but there wasen't enough money in it for me to stay with it, but I still help him out from time to time. You guys have some interesting stories too, and very cool pics to reference to also. I'll try and post some more stories or pics when I have time. He did a job for Alice Cooper's video shoot too once, but that I can't remember specifics. I think he supplied some tarantulas, but that's still cool

[Thrust]

I love herps! I've had bearded dragons, savanah monitors, and a redtail boa. I'd love to get another (probably a Veiled Chameleon) but I don't have the time to care for one at the moment. Here's a pic of my redtail when he was a baby.