Incoming Cobras!!! (1.1 Naja kaouthia)

[Najakeeper]

THAT IS A FANTASTIC VIDEO! That's exactly what I was saying about cobras.

Take note in the video. Elvis is in summer coloration. Blond-olive drab. Perfect camouflage when hunting in the tall grass. The white circumferential stripes barely visible. Then note when on flat surfaces the body becomes triangular. That is, after all, the triathlete of snakes and the fastest 'runner' in the world along with being an excellent swimmer and can take to trees like a vine snake. It adapts it's body constantly to the environment. Towards the end of the video it starts to get feisty. It's becoming territorial of that kitchen counter.

---------- Post added 06-14-2015 at 06:44 AM ----------


I always forget about spitters when I think of cobras because... that pretty much sums up their personalities. Hissy fits waiting to happen.


This is a very young Hannah injured as mentioned in the video. The tail damaged up to the anal vent. I had hopes it would just lose the tail and survive. It has the same summer coloration.





One addendum about that video. Many people will see it and think they would want one. It would be so nifty to have one cruising the house!

One third of the deaths from snake bites are caused by king cobras.

I am not your friend​

---------- Post added 06-14-2015 at 08:17 AM ----------

This has got to be a rat snake!
Look close. See the white circumferential stripes?

Cool photos mate.

Here is my orange beauty getting out of the cage for a little while:

[YOUTUBE]yF1pbrFfk2g[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Najakeeper]

And here is the white one:

[YOUTUBE]wXdHkB8sVio[/YOUTUBE]

They are growing like weeds...

 

[Najakeeper]

Anybody dropped a head? :

 

[Najakeeper]

This is an interesting one. My white Monocled Cobra eats a piece of chicken burger and chases me for fun :

[YOUTUBE]--ozuV-sYEg[/YOUTUBE]

 

[The Snark]

This is an interesting one. My white Monocled Cobra eats a piece of chicken burger and chases me for fun :

[YOUTUBE]--ozuV-sYEg[/YOUTUBE]

Link corrected

 

[Najakeeper]

Link corrected

Thanks .

Here is the white male post shed:

 

[Najakeeper]

Here is some nice Monocled Cobra footage. Displays their general personality traits quite accurately IMO.

[YOUTUBE]dsFKVhDWn-A[/YOUTUBE]

 

[The Snark]

Here is some nice Monocled Cobra footage. Displays their general personality traits quite accurately IMO.

Quite lively. What temperature is she kept at, is it when the video was made?

 

[Najakeeper]

Quite lively. What temperature is she kept at, is it when the video was made?

Low 30s in daytime (when video was made) and mid to low 20s when lights are off at night.

She hides in her moist box when full, comes out and cruises the age when hungry (3 days after she is fed basically)...

 

[The Snark]

That explains it. The snakes around here are very slow and laconic right now. It's down around 8 at night and maybe 26 in the sun at mid day.

 

[Najakeeper]

That explains it. The snakes around here are very slow and laconic right now. It's down around 8 at night and maybe 26 in the sun at mid day.

I need to reduce my winter temperatures for sure but 8 sound really low. Is it common?

 

[The Snark]

A little brain exercise here. Overlaying temperature and animal range maps. We get an air flow down from China and the Himalayas November through most of February which drops night time temperatures in Laos, north and western Vietnam, northern Cambodia, northern Thailand and northern Burma down to 0 on mountain tops to 8 - 10 in the lowlands. The flow is mediated near the coasts.

So figure Kaouthai average range area, average temperature drops to 4-6 for over a month at night.

Cobra swamp, which they filled in to make Suvarnabhumi airport, with a mix of mostly Kaouthai and Hannah is 10 at the lowest, probably 14-16 average, at nights during January. I'm sure airport web sites somewhere would have accurate data on that. All that pavement would have some thermal battery effect so subtract a couple of degrees.

Watching that video I'd be leery of handling a full adult Kaouthai as fiesty as that. They are deceptively powerful and can put on surprising bursts of speed. Definitely not a training video for people new to cobras.

 

[Najakeeper]

A little brain exercise here. Overlaying temperature and animal range maps. We get an air flow down from China and the Himalayas November through most of February which drops night time temperatures in Laos, north and western Vietnam, northern Cambodia, northern Thailand and northern Burma down to 0 on mountain tops to 8 - 10 in the lowlands. The flow is mediated near the coasts.

So figure Kaouthai average range area, average temperature drops to 4-6 for over a month at night.

Cobra swamp, which they filled in to make Suvarnabhumi airport, with a mix of mostly Kaouthai and Hannah is 10 at the lowest, probably 14-16 average, at nights during January. I'm sure airport web sites somewhere would have accurate data on that. All that pavement would have some thermal battery effect so subtract a couple of degrees.

Watching that video I'd be leery of handling a full adult Kaouthai as fiesty as that. They are deceptively powerful and can put on surprising bursts of speed. Definitely not a training video for people new to cobras.

Thanks Snark, 14-16 degrees seems reasonable for a winter break. I will try to facilitate that next winter when the snakes are a little larger.

The video was not meant to be a training video. Maybe I should create a disclaimer start for every video. If it was a training video, I would have a large hook at hand, would not lean into the cage even with the snake's mouth full, and just leave the food in there with the door closed. The purpose here was to show the animal's regular behavior.

I agree, they can be incredibly fast when they want to be...

 

[The Snark]

Probably a good idea to have some kind of disclaimer as a general rule. The mentality these days being what it is. I mean, a locality in So. Carolina just refused to allow a solar electric installation as rumors claimed it could cause cancer! ::

 

[Najakeeper]

Probably a good idea to have some kind of disclaimer as a general rule. The mentality these days being what it is. I mean, a locality in So. Carolina just refused to allow a solar electric installation as rumors claimed it could cause cancer! ::

Not just that! They were worried that the sun panels will take all the sunlight and kill the surrounding vegetation as, get this, "there won't be enough sunlight for photosynthesis!"...

 

[Najakeeper]

I can imagine! And youngsters... Oh look! A flying snake!

Here is a nice example of "flying snake" The Snark mentioned above. These guys are a handful:

 

[The Snark]

Guy, you are dicing. That was over the top. You have resorted to relying on dumb luck. Excuse me for saying it but that's the sort of video I'd expect from an amateur. Second handler and a clear area to work in. Cobras in a foul mood shouldn't be worked with.
I didn't enjoy the video though I'm sure others will. Just too close to the edge. You know as well as I do if that had been a Hannah with that attitude you would very likely have been tagged.

My apologies, my words from a handler much less experienced than the OP.
There's a breaking point. A point where the snake isn't interested in cooperating, has worked itself into a fury and instead of wanting to go for cover decides it just plain wants to bang you. It can be seen in Steve Irwin video out takes where he gives up, the second handler becomes visible and they pack the snake away. With the big powerful snakes, Taipan, king Brown, Hannah, et al, they have a very good chance of succeeding in that bang.

 

[Najakeeper]

Guy, you are dicing. That was over the top. You have resorted to relying on dumb luck. Excuse me for saying it but that's the sort of video I'd expect from an amateur. Second handler and a clear area to work in. Cobras in a foul mood shouldn't be worked with.
I didn't enjoy the video though I'm sure others will. Just too close to the edge. You know as well as I do if that had been a Hannah with that attitude you would very likely have been tagged.

My apologies, my words from a handler much less experienced than the OP.
There's a breaking point. A point where the snake isn't interested in cooperating, has worked itself into a fury and instead of wanting to go for cover decides it just plain wants to bang you. It can be seen in Steve Irwin video out takes where he gives up, the second handler becomes visible and they pack the snake away. With the big powerful snakes, Taipan, king Brown, Hannah, et al, they have a very good chance of succeeding in that bang.

I am always open to criticism from an outside eye so no offense is taken. I especially take your words seriously.

In the meantime, if that was a hannah, I wouldn't be filming. I would be about 50m away behind two locked doors. Yet it is a kaouthia and keeping all their spasticism in mind, I know what they are capable of after dealing with them for about 13 years now. During this 20 min interaction with the snake, there was not a moment where the animal had any interest in me and if he had, he would have been hooked and put away. Also, the camera is attached to my head and both of my hands are free to use in case I needed to use them.

Yet, there is an inherent risk of taking a snake outside of his enclosure during feeding. I could have left the food in the cage and that would have been it, no video, no fuss, which is the "correct" thing to do by the way for any potential keepers out there.

 

[The Snark]

That needs reiterating. Demonstrations are rarely if ever how to's for the amateur.

Yet, there is an inherent risk of taking a snake outside of his enclosure during feeding. I could have left the food in the cage and that would have been it, no video, no fuss, which is the "correct" thing to do by the way for any potential keepers out there.

No, this is not how you handle a cobra. This is a demonstration as to not how to do it.

What isn't seen in that pic is the snake is cold, docile, and hungry. It is just in that slow curious mode. That guy has handled snakes since about when he learned to walk and would not be doing that if it was even the middle of the day with that same snake. A cool early morning with a snake he has handled dozens of times.

This is another people miss all the time. This snake could be stone cold. It will strike at anything that disturbs it.

 

[Najakeeper]

That needs reiterating. Demonstrations are rarely if ever how to's for the amateur.

Yeah, I need to better formulate how I put these videos out there. A disclaimer screen to the start is the least I should do.

For example, I wouldn't push the female you can see in the background as I push this male. Even though they are from the same species, they are very different animals with different personalities. She wouldn't take this sort of harassment before challenging me. I wouldn't want someone repeating this after seeing a video like this with an aggressive snake.

Thanks for the input.