Recent Snake Pics

[jdmidwest]

Most pics of snake handling in the Ozarks usually involve alcohol. That was an extremely large one and looks like she needed to shed. They are really colored nicely when they are fresh shed.

[Feathers and Fins]

She was fresh in off the boat, after her shed she was spectacular, I always liked getting new shipments in. funny thing is you never knew for sure what was in the bag unless it was triple bagged then you knew it was a mamba. The collectors were very scared of them in Africa and it showed in the bagging. Gabs and Rhino vipers were easy to tell, touch bag and if it sounded like a fire breathing dragon you knew it was one of them.

[E Green]

Is that species also a problem down in southern FL/Everglades like the Rock Python and Burmese (spelling?) Python are?

that is a big snake....so thick.

[Feathers and Fins]

Is that species also a problem down in southern FL/Everglades like the Rock Python and Burmese (spelling?) Python are?

that is a big snake....so thick.

No, Florida has the strictest venomous keeping laws for civillians of states that allow venomous keeping. Yes there are some law breakers that have them without the permit but the keepers that are legal are very vocal about how good the permit is and how well it has kept problems like release from happening.

Not many people who work that hard for a permit would be willing to risk it and most despise people who do keep illegally. I have always been supportive for anyone wishing to keep venomous or large constrictors to be required to be permitted and under the criteria for the Venomous permit.

I would not be suprised of anything being found down there, hurricanes released a great many animals ( specifically Andrew ) tack on parents who discover the cute 2 foot burm became 8 ft very fast and they relase it just added to the problem

Personally I was very happy to work with any venomous snake over a constrictor, there is a cure for envenomation but none for asphyxiation.

[E Green]

cool info...you def know what you are talking about. anytime you feel like posting pics, please do take care

[jdmidwest]

They ship snakes in bags? How do they survive a trip?

[Feathers and Fins]

Depends on where they are shipping from and to JD,

Typically they will bag them up and then place them in crates that have separation chambers to prevent biting each other. Then dependent on where they are shipping to or from they will pack either heat packs or cold packs. They take in to consideration the flight of the transport plane, say its going from Malaysia to Miami but they have a stop in Alaska they will pack in heat packs to protect the animals from the cold during offload time in AK.

Surviving is pretty easy its a 1 to 2 day trip normally and reptiles as a rule do not need to eat or drink for much longer periods of time. The true problem is how they were taken care after collection. Many times we had animals come in very poor shape full of parasites and severely dehydrated or malnourished. That is when the real work started! We would have a trash can full of water and Pedi light and put them in there for some time to allow them to drink and rehydrate. After it was multiple courses of treatments for parasites and feeding.

Some animals didn't survive even with that care as they were held to long without proper care in the collectors facility or they were not in good shape when captured or any number of other reasons. Many species required tube feeding several times to get them back to health and some required as long as a year to get back to shape. It is not something your average keeper/ home hobbyist would ever need to do thank goodness as tube feeding venomous reptiles is not a fun day.

It is however something I wish people that hate snakes or fear them or just hobbyist should have to see. It would make people feel sorry for these magnificent animals and perhaps put more thought in to keeping them alive.

[Al Agnew]

People who have a real snake phobia aren't going to be swayed by much of anything. I know a woman who absolutely can't stand to see a picture of a snake in a magazine, she almost faints. Two different people I took on float trips couldn't fish because all they did was watch for snakes...we saw about five times as many snakes those trips as I usually do, because I never watch for them One of those guys nearly killed another guy who threw a plastic snake at him.

Personally, I really like them. My mom didn't quite have a snake phobia, but she was seriously afraid of them. I brought a ringneck snake into the house and put it in an aquarium, and it escaped after about a day and disappeared. For months after that, Mom wouldn't go into a room at night without turning on the lights. She was not happy with me.

We have a surprising number of western terrestrial garter snakes around the house out here in Montana this year. So far no prairie rattlers, the only venomous snake in Montana. I've encountered a couple of them while fishing, though.

[The Tactician]

Be nice to see the fangs on that bad girl. If I recall correctly Gaboons have the largest fangs of any snake and get over an inch long. Better you handling it than me I suppose.

[Kee sims]

I'll admit. I don't particularly like snakes especially being real close to them. But I do enjoy seeing them from a distant if fishing on the river. Stop and look and then go on fishing. Lol