Broke my Own Rule...

[Najakeeper]

This guy really likes chicken, still has no interest in mice:

 

[Najakeeper]

He was sold to me as a mouse eater but hated the stuff when I offered him. The breeder told me to cut a corn snake open and take the blood to scent the mice, which I can never do. So I was feeding him with chick drumsticks so far. The other day I scented a pinky with the drumstick and offered him, he bit it and released it immediately. Then I scented the pinky again and attached some chick feathers to it and success! He loves these feathery pinkies. I have a varied diet for him now.

 

[The Snark]

Been meaning to ask, just how big does that version of a king get? How long until maturity?

 

[Argos]

Fine looking acquisition. He'll probably hit a few growth spurts.

 

[The Snark]

Fine looking acquisition. He'll probably hit a few growth spurts.

View attachment 203836

That's what I was thinking looking at the snake and the delicate cute little terrarium. A few years down the road and a Hannah would be tipping the enclosure over or dragging it around the house . And a Hannah the size of the snake in that picture would be considered a maturing juvenile or young adult.

 

[Najakeeper]

Been meaning to ask, just how big does that version of a king get? How long until maturity?

Fine looking acquisition. He'll probably hit a few growth spurts.

View attachment 203836

That's what I was thinking looking at the snake and the delicate cute little terrarium. A few years down the road and a Hannah would be tipping the enclosure over or dragging it around the house . And a Hannah the size of the snake in that picture would be considered a maturing juvenile or young adult.

His daddy is a 6 year old cb snake at about 350cm and still growing. Yeah, as for his current enclosure, he can easily carry it around on his back when he is full grown. He will grow out of it within a few months and move the a sturdy 120cm wooden cage. Then to a 240cm wooden cage when he is large enough. I have both cages ready. After that, he will need a custom made enclosure about 2m tall, 2m deep and 3m long and regular "out time."

I took him out yesterday as the side of his mouth has been swollen a bit for a while. Seems like a very small splinter got lodged in the tissue and caused inflamation. I will wait a shed cycle to see if it goes away or not, otherwise we would need to visit my vet, which is always fun with venomous.

 

[The Snark]

A man with a plan. That custom racing stripe sports model going to be setting you back a fortune on building materials alone. Hope you're documenting the hoops of fire you're jumping through to clue the 'Wow! I think I'll get me one of those' crowd.

I can see that one coming down. Packing him off to the vet. 'I'd like you to look in his mouth...'. Umm, that's what you spend most of your time doing with a cobra anyway!

How clean is his food? I just got to thinking poultry is loaded with bacteria and his immune system is on the steepest part of it's learning curve about now.

 

[Najakeeper]

A man with a plan. That custom racing stripe sports model going to be setting you back a fortune on building materials alone. Hope you're documenting the hoops of fire you're jumping through to clue the 'Wow! I think I'll get me one of those' crowd.

I can see that one coming down. Packing him off to the vet. 'I'd like you to look in his mouth...'. Umm, that's what you spend most of your time doing with a cobra anyway!

How clean is his food? I just got to thinking poultry is loaded with bacteria and his immune system is on the steepest part of it's learning curve about now.

Oh yeah, it is gonna cost me. I will probably reduce my collection to a fraction of what it is just to keep him. I have already sold the Samar Cobras to open cage space. Also, my wife being pregnant, I didn't wanna keep anything without antivenin.

Poultry is always a concern. I am getting the chicks from chicken breeders. These are the poor males, which get killed immediately after sexing. I am sure they are not super clean coming from a mass breeding environment.

Kings die a lot more as babies, mostly due to respiratory infections. He still has a strong feeding response so there is nothing systemic but I will watch closely. The thing is, vets can't do much with venomous snakes when they are this small. He is not gonna get in there and work in his mouth and probably just prescribe some antibiotics.

 

[The Snark]

You just got me to thinking about something and with you being so dedicated to certain animals, something you should put together. An antibiotic database.
1. Safe for X reptile
2. Specific organism targets for each AB.
3. Dosages, quantity and duration of treatment.
4. Broad and narrow spectrum alternatives.
5. Efficacy
6. Known side effects.
Especially known side effects. As a perfect example, humans almost never get clued that the old reliable back-up, the double barreled infection treatment shotgun Flagyl, Metronidazole, almost always causes neurological issues later in life.

Docs, and no doubt vets, almost always go for the nukes when prescribing ABs and only dial it back to a narrower one if the organism is cultured and identified. The good old Augmentin overkill method. A little savvy and knowing your charges very precisely can save them from potential treatment debilitation down the road.*

Fingers crossed.

*(I had a super nasty infection and got put on Flagyl-Augmentin IV for several weeks. A smart doc and friend heard about this, did some research, and moved me to Ancef, a much narrower spectrum AB with far fewer side effects. And now I have chronic, classic Flagyl side effect damage.)

 

[Najakeeper]

You just got me to thinking about something and with you being so dedicated to certain animals, something you should put together. An antibiotic database.
1. Safe for X reptile
2. Specific organism targets for each AB.
3. Dosages, quantity and duration of treatment.
4. Broad and narrow spectrum alternatives.
5. Efficacy
6. Known side effects.
Especially known side effects. As a perfect example, humans almost never get clued that the old reliable back-up, the double barreled infection treatment shotgun Flagyl, Metronidazole, almost always causes neurological issues later in life.

Docs, and no doubt vets, almost always go for the nukes when prescribing ABs and only dial it back to a narrower one if the organism is cultured and identified. The good old Augmentin overkill method. A little savvy and knowing your charges very precisely can save them from potential treatment debilitation down the road.*

Fingers crossed.

*(I had a super nasty infection and got put on Flagyl-Augmentin IV for several weeks. A smart doc and friend heard about this, did some research, and moved me to Ancef, a much narrower spectrum AB with far fewer side effects. And now I have chronic, classic Flagyl side effect damage.)

Would surely cool to have a database like that but the thing is, I do not have enough data points to make sense of it. I guess a proper reptile specialist vet can help us to come up with something like that.

In the meantime, I shot a quick vid of the King eating mice today:

 

[Quixtar]

I find it pretty fascinating how king cobras are so intelligent compared to other snakes. I wonder what led to them evolving this way. Beautiful boy you have there!

Off-topic, but it's good to see a fellow Blizzard fan on here too!

 

[Najakeeper]

I find it pretty fascinating how king cobras are so intelligent compared to other snakes. I wonder what led to them evolving this way. Beautiful boy you have there!

Off-topic, but it's good to see a fellow Blizzard fan on here too!

I wonder why that's the case as well. It is not just size as Taipans are also large venomous snakes but people do not have the same impression about them.

Starcraft and Diablo were my childhood favorites so they stayed with me .

 

[The Snark]

Had a bizarre one yesterday. A very dark bronze colored snake about 5 feet long cruising slowly across the road. It was entirely one solid color without any markings, a slim body and normal looking head as seen moving away from me. I thought some variation on a Ptyas. The roadside verge was sparse of vegetation and bare field beyond so I decided to get a closer look. Approaching cautiously I saw movement, poked with my hook and up it rears and expands a hood!! Only coloration indicator was that cream colored tummy. I'm still unsure. The head seemed too slim for a Hannah. Rat snake impersonating one?

 

[Najakeeper]

Had a bizarre one yesterday. A very dark bronze colored snake about 5 feet long cruising slowly across the road. It was entirely one solid color without any markings, a slim body and normal looking head as seen moving away from me. I thought some variation on a Ptyas. The roadside verge was sparse of vegetation and bare field beyond so I decided to get a closer look. Approaching cautiously I saw movement, poked with my hook and up it rears and expands a hood!! Only coloration indicator was that cream colored tummy. I'm still unsure. The head seemed too slim for a Hannah. Rat snake impersonating one?

If there is a hood, then no. It might have been a hungry young king. Very cool to see these things in the wild.

 

[Najakeeper]

My boy had his 3rd shed since I got him and he is growing nicely. Some of his scales already started changing color! Here is a feeding video:

 

[kjm]

What an amazing animal to work with. They just get too big for my comfort level and then add in the venom aspect. No thanks I will watch from a great distance.

Thanks for sharing and good luck!

 

[The Snark]

What temperature are you keeping him at? He's acting quite hyper.

I need to amend this. Not excessively hyper but along the lines of mid day and has been in the sun inquisitive.

Do you give him day-night temperature changes? Wondering about that from a paper I read a while ago on the effects on their metabolism when they don't get a cooling off period. Something about shortening their lives from organ development issues.

 

[Najakeeper]

What temperature are you keeping him at? He's acting quite hyper.

I need to amend this. Not excessively hyper but along the lines of mid day and has been in the sun inquisitive.

Do you give him day-night temperature changes? Wondering about that from a paper I read a while ago on the effects on their metabolism when they don't get a cooling off period. Something about shortening their lives from organ development issues.

30 in the morning 23 at night.

That's the best I can provide at my place. The video was shot midday so he was quite warm.

 

[The Snark]

Makes sense. I just get itchy when I see a cobra that active, especially a Hannah.

 

[Najakeeper]

Makes sense. I just get itchy when I see a cobra that active, especially a Hannah.

You should see the kaouthia... Out of control...