A Few Venomous Snake Pictures

[Najakeeper]

is it a good idea to hold these, like that cobra? I want to keep hots in the future, you know when im older and don't have to ask for a snake. How often do you handle them? Beautiful snakes

It is a very very bad idea to hold any front fanged venomous snake without protection. I am already sorry that I put that picture up, naturally it gives people ideas. Venomous snakes should only be handled with appropriate equipment like snake hooks etc. , the consequences are way too serious to risk free handling. The snake in the picture is a Cape Coral Snake or Cape Coral Cobra, which is from the genus Aspidelaps. These snakes are not true cobras (Naja) and even though their venom is potent, the quantity is very low. Also, they are usually very calm snakes compared to true cobras and usually strike with a close mouth when they do. Still, full grown Aspidelaps have killed people and I do not intend to handle her again. I did it the day I got her as the previous keeper showed me that she was handled since she hatched, her behavior was pretty much like a corn snake's and she is very calm but dropping your guard is the thing that gets you bitten.

As for getting into venomous snakes, read what Redneck 101 has written. I agree 100%. This is a very serious hobby as it comes with the high risk of death or disfigurment. If you know what you are doing, it is a very rewarding experience to be with these animals but this is not a decision to be taken lightly. I have seen inexperienced people go to reptile shows and buy the pretty Gaboon viper, Bitis gabonica out of a whim, which makes my head explode.

Here is the cobra that chased me around the snake room over 10 years ago:

A friend of mine still has him in the States and he is still alive, around 13 years of age.

 

[Redneck101]

beautiful, N.kaouthia! i cant believe you start with it! a normal is bad enough, but an albino. haha. that just adds to it! i started out with the oh so common southern copperhead. but very nice snake regardless.

 

[The Snark]

OP, I'm still trying to figure out how you ended up in a room with a (rather sexy and cute) cobra. Brainfartus maximus? Even a laid back cobra is insatiably curious. Seeing if bare toes resemble pinkies in a cobras eyes?
My advice for potential hot keepers is get an unhandled adult rat snake, (Ptyas), and see if you can go for a few months without a single tag just keeping in in it's cage. Once you get passed that stage, bare hand catch it every day for a couple of weeks, again without getting tagged once. You get that far you're ready for hots.

 

[Najakeeper]

OP, I'm still trying to figure out how you ended up in a room with a (rather sexy and cute) cobra. Brainfartus maximus? Even a laid back cobra is insatiably curious. Seeing if bare toes resemble pinkies in a cobras eyes?

Youth and complacency I guess. I opened the cage door for feeding, he rushed out, I backed off, he chased me. At the end the mouse looked tastier than my toes I guess so he went for the mouse and I tailed him when his mouth was full. He finished his meal inside the cage. You could probably isolate enough adrenalin from my blood to revive several over dosed drug addicts .

 

[Redneck101]

i am thinking about getting back into keeping a few hots again. yall got any suggestions? somethin a little different.

 

[Najakeeper]

i am thinking about getting back into keeping a few hots again. yall got any suggestions? somethin a little different.

I am interested in water cobras, the old Boulengerina genus (they are in Naja now), especially the undescribed species from Congo, which stay small. They are laid back cobras, very good starter elapids if you can find captive bred offspring, which are very rare. Of course, they are fish feeders in the wild so they have very strong neurotoxic venom.

 

[Redneck101]

okay cool, thanks!. i might look into them. As soon as i move im thinking i might be getting something. not sure what though. we shall see.

 

[Najakeeper]

okay cool, thanks!. i might look into them. As soon as i move im thinking i might be getting something. not sure what though. we shall see.

They are seriously hard to find though. I have only seen an adult pair for sale in US and it was gone in a matter of hours. I am a big fan of Acanthophis as mentioned and captive bred Acanthophis laevis are readily available. Very good looking, manageable snakes that stay small. Here is an Acanthophis laevis that I purchased from Joe Switalski back in US.

---------- Post added 12-19-2012 at 11:53 AM ----------

By the way, here is a video of the female Aspidelaps lubricus lubricus feeding. She seems to be suffering from minor scale rot so I added a little bit of antibiotic paste to the mouse.

[YOUTUBE]aouk1iXkV4A[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Redneck101]

wow. thats crazy. well, im just looking around right now. i cant even get anything until i move out so. we will see how this goes. haha. and how long is she?

 

[Najakeeper]

wow. thats crazy. well, im just looking around right now. i cant even get anything until i move out so. we will see how this goes. haha. and how long is she?

They dont get to be very big, usually under 50 cm.

------

So I was going to make a long video of my Acanthophis feeding but interesting things happened so I ended up making a short video of these.

In the first part, you can see my yearling Acanthophis hawkei female using her tail as a lure. This is called caudal luring and is a very common hunting method for several snake species. Acanthophis genus in general uses caudal luring very often for hunting.

The second part of the video is the unusual part. I was trying to remove my yearling female Acanthophis hawkei out of her cage and she went into feeding mode immediately. When she saw movement, she attacked and bit the little cactus plant, which is planted in the cage. You don't get to see a vegetarian Death Adder everyday so enjoy

[YOUTUBE]BPsMUhkNiZU[/YOUTUBE]

And here is a photo of the incident:

And here is another photo, it shows my male Acanthophis sp. Dajarra feeding:

 

[The Snark]

Ersnt dat a succulent?

 

[Najakeeper]

Ersnt dat a succulent?

The same idiot tried to eat the towel this week!

And here are some more pictures:

And here is a video of my female Aspidelaps l. lubricus :

[YOUTUBE]VY8RFPll65w[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Najakeeper]

I took a few pictures the other day, here are a couple more death adders:

Acanthophis hawkei baby male

Acanthophis woolfi baby male

Acanthophis woolfi wolfing

And the photographer being photographed while enjoying his work:

 

[Petross]

nice snakes

 

[Najakeeper]

nice snakes

Thanks.

I have made a deal for a pair of black headed pythons from "calico" line, which will arrive on March 9th. Awesome looking rare pythons.

I am also following a lead on a pair of Europe bred Acanthophis wellsi. These Pilbara death adders are even rare in Australian collections and they will be the jewel of any collection with their beautiful orange and black coloration. If I can find a pair for sale, they will probably cost as much as a black market kidney of course...

 

[Cydaea]

Some of those snakes look like they were knitted O__O