Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So last week I went to visit the Reptile House at the Houston Zoo, (which is where I am originally from, by the way) to look at (what else?) reptiles and to talk "Bogeys" with any zoo herp keepers that I could bother while I was there.
Andrew Godambe and Dan were both very nice and answered all of my questions. And lo and behold, there was a new first rate suboc vivarium in a showy, corner cage! This is the cage that I'm going to build to keep some of my subocs in one day...(sigh)...one day...

The suboc that was resting out on its rocky ledge was a large, handsome golden-yellowish orange animal, and somewhere else hidden in the cage was a silver blonde. He emerged from his subterranean retreat in the late afternoon. It was a really nice, rainy, cold, ugly day...the perfect kind of day to be at the zoo and have the entire reptile house to yourself so you can just take your time indulgently observing unmolested animals and their activities until you get your fill.
The habitat was absolutely perfect for these animals. You could just tell that the snake was quite content. Anyway, hope you get a kick out of the picture. It was a truly nice set up.

By the way, Happy New Year to All, and may you have success with your resolutions and goals for 2007 (and may you have lots of subocs too...)!

DR

Suboc.com

Hey Dusty, that is a great looking setup. I just did one similar in a 40g breeder but didn't stack the rock as high. I've been working in Alpine recently and collected a bunch of flat stone to do it. The subocs love it. The had to find the tightest spot to wedge themselves in. I've met Andrew twice and he's a good guy to talk to.

Alpine... Utah?

>>Alpine... Utah?

LOL! No, no...Alpine,Texas. In Brewster Co. just south of Fort Davis. If there were subocs in Alpine, UT my wife would'nt have a husband, because it's just up the highway and I'd be there every night!

I was talking about Alpine Texas. Great website Dusty. I'm heading back next week and it's really killing me to get a paid company trips out there for a week each time in the dead of winter! I can't wait for Spring. Chris

Nothing worse than going to the zoo on a nice day. My favorite is when your trying to enjoy yourself as you watch some animals that you only get to see at the zoo, and then a group of little brats push their way in front of you and start to pound on the glass as their parents stand back and pretend that nothing is wrong with it.

>>Nothing worse than going to the zoo on a nice day. My favorite is when your trying to enjoy yourself as you watch some animals that you only get to see at the zoo, and then a group of little brats push their way in front of you and start to pound on the glass as their parents stand back and pretend that nothing is wrong with it.

That's one of the funniest things I've read on here in a long time. And it's funny because it's true!

DR

Thanks for that picture.
I cheer you on, Dusty, in planning to make a manageable, cleanable, spacious Suboc habitat cage. I may try myself this year.
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On a bizarre, contrasting note, when I was a teenager, I went to the Staten Island Zoo about 5 times and spent all day.
It was always on a weekend and Kauffeld was one of the few curators that sanctioned feeding on weekends for the public to watch.
Many Rat Snake cages were basically the same:
spacious, tall, pea gravel floors with a tree fixed in the middle of the cage. When a keeper opened the door with pre-killed mice on tongs, the Black Rats or Yellow Rats would come down out of the trees and take the mice at the door.
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This in itself is not unusual, but what floored me was that he had two Subocs that acted the same way and lived in the same “tree” environment, just like a Black Rat!!!

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Regards, Bill McGighan

Now that brings me back. That place was a mecca for me back in the 60's and 70's. Besides the great rattlers and Jersey pines they would come up with great new things I'd never heard of. I saw blackheaded pythons there before I even knew they existed. Same with False Water Cobras and several other great reptiles. My sister-in-law used to go on the pine barrens trips with Kauffeld and his successors. I haven't been back there in 20 -25 years. I'd probably be greatly disappointed by what's there now.

John

Hey John,
The Rattlesnake collection was the best!!!!
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Regards, Bill McGighan

>>This in itself is not unusual, but what floored me was that he had two Subocs that acted the same way and lived in the same “tree” environment, just like a Black Rat!!!

Ya' know, Bill...I've read that he kept his animals in a cage with a tree. Really interesting. I've always seen subocs (and most rat snakes) as more of platform/ledge climbers rather than thin branch/bush/small tree climbers (e.g. subocs on rock walls or black/yellow/TX rats in a barn on the rafters). Don't get me wrong...I myself have caught TX rats climbing trees, and I know that they and other obsoleta LOVE trees, but they were BIG trees. The branches and trunks of these trees were basically like platforms in and of themselves, when compared to the size of the snake that was climbing them.

Maybe it was one of those "beggars can't be choosers" type of situations where the only place that those snakes could feel secure was in that tree.

Anyhow, did you get to meet him? Kauffeld must've been a really neat guy. Along with Carr, Herriot and others, he is probably one of the most popular animal authors of all time. He is largely responsible for some of the charisma and popularity of Trans-Pecos ratsnakes, no doubt.

And those subocs of his that you saw were pretty famous too. One of them broke a longevity record for the species, at the time.

Dusty R.

I think you're right about the tree. It was the only cover in town. Rocks would have made more sense, but he wanted the public to see and appreciate the animals.
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DR said:
>Anyhow, did you get to meet him? Kauffeld must've been a really neat guy.
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On two separate occasions I chatted with him at length. I was only 14 (1962). He didn't seem to have the pretentious, self-important attitude that some zoologists have.
Of course, he carried a paper cup that seemed to have a little scotch in it!!!
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Regards, Bill McGighan