Reptile & Amphibian Forums

General questions for FWC keepers. I want to know the temperment of your snake. Are FWC very fast? This is in regards to their ability to run and ability to strike. I have a bullsnake and a coachwhip right now. I've finally got the bullsnake undercontrol when I need to clean his cage, but (as my name is a clear lie, lol) the coachwhip is VERY difficult to get out of his cage. He will strike at my hand when it is above the cage when I even remove the lid (I hate that snake sometimes, lol). Very difficult to handle! So I want to make sure that the snake isn't this extreme of an aggressive species. I just want to know what I'm getting myself into. I can handle big snakes that aren't aggressively fighting me the whole time, I just can't handle (well) the spaz dance that some snakes do. To clarify I haven't been bit by my coachwhip since the first day I got him, but I also don't handle him but once every couple of weeks.

Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to know how aggressive this snake will be and if it will overwhelm me.

This may not be the snake for you.

FWC's are somewhat territorial and occasionally spread the hood and do a rather good amount of thrash and hiss as you approach them.

Once hooked out of the cage mine calm down. My female is a total pussy cat to handle. My male gave me my only nips from this species...about 15 minutes of burning from the venom.

As said the personalities can be individualistic. One thing that rings true with all I have seen is when they are hungry the feed response is fast and HARD.

Still, for someone like me that won't keep a conventional cobra, they are not a bad substitute.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

Mine is very quick and pretty aggressive(although it probably varies with the individual snake), has a very strong feeding response as well. She wasn't this way as a baby, but grew into her attitude. She will now strike the cage everytime I walk by and is quite impressive as a display animal, but I only handle her to clean her cage, even when she is acting docile she will, without warning, bite. I wouldn't say she's downright nasty, but you have to watch yourself when you handle her. You might want to consider another species.

Thanks for your responses. If I use a Gentle Giant Tong and a good sized hook, will I be in good enough shape to handle the snake for general husbandry? I mean are they extremely fast and able to overwhelm someone with aggressiveness? I mean I'm not totally incapable of handling snakes that are fast, just not great. Basically, if I get one will it be a bad idea to expect to get bitten a couple of times before I get up to speed on handling a big and aggressive snake?

TO CLARIFY AGAIN: Is this snake really fast and agile, and willing to double back on a handler quick to strike?

The closest I can come to describing their movements is to compare it to a cribo-indigo. They are not big on wrapping on you.

I recommend getting a very young one and handling it often. Hopefully this will make it easier to work with. This is a snake that the "hook and tail" method works well on for moving them. They can easily turn back on their bodies, but seem to lack cordination when off the ground, so support the snake when holding it.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

I agree that while they are fast they aren't totally unmanagable. I too have found that tailing them and using a hook to control the head works best if I'm not wearing gloves. As far as getting bitten, it's probably not going to do permanant harm to you, I just try to avoid it because I have taken several bites from my adult and it made my hand feel weird for a couple of days, but from babies it doesn't seem to have much effect at all. If you really want one you can always get a baby and try to handle it often like was mentioned already. I have heard of certain adults being somewhat docile, but that's just not my expierience. And if you decide it is unmanagable as an adult, I'm sure there would be someone willing to buy it off of you with no problem. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Thanks guys for the quick and informative responses. I am think I've finally made up my mind that I will get one. When I first started looking at hots I really wanted a monocled cobra, and now am VERY happy I learned a bunch about them before I made an impulse buy. I'm still going to wait until January so I can think about it some more and buy a vision cage to keep it in. One final question though... how bad does it hurt when it grinds on you? Sounds pretty painful.

If they just bite and release, it's not bad at all, but if they really bite on and start to chew(it happens really fast, as you'll notice the first time you watch one eat, they are extremely speedy eaters, so I'm assuming mine got a fair bit of venom chewed in by the time I got to the water bottle to spray her to make her let go)it burns a little, bleeds like with most snake bites, and everybodys reaction is different, but with me my hand swelled a little, started to get tingly, and then for a couple of days was kind of numb, I remember is was hard to write with it, but I think that is about as severe a reaction as you will have(unless of course you happen to be allergic to their venom, which I've heard is likely if you are allergic to bees)It really sounds worse than it is, I just like to avoid being bitten if I can, but if it happens, it happens, that's the advantage of rearfangers, you get that room for error, unlike with hots(which I someday wish to be able to keep).

Kind of felt to me that I had poured vinagar into a cut. There was no swelling and in about fifteen minutes all pain was gone.

I should point out though that I am naturally resistant to venoms, though I have never had the experience of being bit by something serious.

Even so, I don't think FWC bites will be any big deal after the first one you get.

Antiscipation is the worst part of it.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

I am NOT trying to be critical of your coments but it sounds like you expect to be bitten? The whole idea of having a venomous species is NOT to be bitten.

If this is your first venomous snake I strongly advise you to learn a bit more. There is no shame in waiting to get a hot, rear fanged or front fanged.

I have been keeping hots for over 30 years and in the field I have been tagged five times, in my home NEVER!.

As for the pain, all snakes are different even those of the same species, There are so many variables to the possible outcome of a bite it is impossible to guess what will happen.

If you get one do NOT free handle it, buy a shift box for cleaning, I have 8 hots and 3 non hots and I handle them as little as possible. Dogs and cats like to be handled snakes do not care for it much.

May I advise you to get a CB species if you do get one, try Great Vally Surpentarium in California, Bill is a very reputable dealer and I along with several others have had great service from him and the last FWC I purchased from him is doing well and is a joy to have in my collection.

Once again don't expect to get bit ! remove all doubt from your mind and practice safe husbandry. One bad outcome causes problems for all other herpers who strive to be safe and teach safe hurping.

Best of luck
Joel
joellarocque@gmail.com