In my experience these guys are very nervous and flighty. I see a lot of bad nose rubs when they are kept in cages that are too small or that have insufficient cover that help them feel safe. I don't really see that with Easterns or blacks. Most Jamesons will feed fairly readily on mice, but all of them will have assorted parasite problems when they are freshly imported. Some of the holdouts that are suspicious of mice may respond very well to a small finch.



I generally whack them up with 50mg/kg of both Panacur and Flagyl right off, either tubed down them during the initial physical exam or in a small dead mouse if they're eager feeders. I always do a hands-on exam on freshly imported mambas because quite a few will come in with broken bones and other capture injuries that require veterinary attention.



Jamesons aren't too much different to handle than other freshly imported greens - thrashy and flighty on a hook, likely to wiggle frantically and try to jump off. The ones I worked with seemed to take a lot longer than the other greens to calm down and accept being handled. They are an absolute b!tch to tube but all imported mambas really have to be examined thoroughly or you can miss some fairly serious problems and injuries.



If I can see a visible capture injury I do a fast injection of Diazepam to prevent struggle and the risk of further injury, delivered quickly to the tail or via a pole syringe. If they do not appear to be visibly injured I pin them on a soft mat or use Gentle Giant tongs a few inches below the neck in order to get the tube over their heads. Jamesons are a real pain in the rear to do this sort of thing with, wiggly and thrashy and slippery, but it's hard to say whether they're any worse than the other greens. Blacks are probably the worst nightmare because they're a lot more likely to come back around at you. The greens mostly panic and try to run the other way. I generally prefer to use the Pro Bagger to get big blacks into a tube, and I'd probably do the same thing with a large Jamesons that acted snappy.

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