>>There is no record of N. melanleuca ever spitting like a spitter. I suppose a lunge coupled with an exhalation might carry either saliva or even venom over a short distance. Over what sort of distance did it travel in this case? In what direction? staright ahead, or ahead and down?



Hello Wolfgang, and thanks for the reply. This indeed was a very interesting observation. I am inclined to think, however, that this was just saliva because it was rather clear and not yellowish. While attempting to tube and place this snake into a deli container this evening, she was very willing to bite anything she could get ahold of, be it carpet, the floor, tongs, the tube, etc, and at that time I could clearly see her yellowish venom. Since what sprayed out the other day was clear I'm pretty sure it was just saliva being expressed by a very, very agitated snake. Regardless, I'm glad it was my hand that received the splash, rather than my eyes, because even snake saliva would likely be uncomfortable. Whatever it was she sprayed went outward from her head a distance of maybe 0.4 to 0.5 m maximum, with some landing on the hide box directly in front of and below her (since she was raised up off the ground at least 0.5 m). This leads me to think that it was probably drooled more than sprayed since it didn't go very far as well as some large droplets hitting directly beneath her.



Just as a side note...it doesn't surprise me at all that this snake worked itself up enough to spray saliva or venom the other day. She is absolutely the worst cobra I've ever dealt with. There were a couple times this evening while trying to tube her that she even grabbed herself out of sheer fury. I definitely understand why people put forests in the same category as mambas and taipans, rather than with certain other cobras like monocleds, because the forests make kaouthia seem nearly like cornsnakes. Ah well, I guess it was good for shedding a number of calories, lol.

-Chance

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