Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Yesterday they all made it out safe and sound. Nice tinge of blue/green color on their bellies.

Dan

Gorgeous, Dan! Congratulations!
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Venomous snakes---best hobby on earth!
Bill Huseth

I'll second that Dan! As always, nice job on your breeding success. Is that peat as an egg medium?

>>Gorgeous, Dan! Congratulations!
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>>Venomous snakes---best hobby on earth!
>>Bill Huseth
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

That is that coconut husk bark or something like that. Great stuff for incubation. A cribo breeder intoduced me to the stuff and I use it vice anything else. It comes in a brick and expands when water is added. And it retains and generates heat well.

Dan

Out of curiousity, how do you handle such small but deadly little packages? ie. Gentle with tongs etc.

Having not kept anything like this, my first thought would be how difficult it would be to transfer delicately and safely the little guys.

Any rough description of dealing with them at this relative size and age (just for satisfaction of curiosity) is greatly appreciated.

A small long hook is sufficient and always have the other enclosure beside their enclosure to minimize and time it takes to move them.

Also have trap boxes, and they go in and the flap is pushed closed and locks and there is no need to even touch them.

It is also better to move them when they are at rest or early morning or late at night when they are coiled and will remain in a coil on the hook for the short time it takes to move them. If you move them when they are hot or hungry, it is more of a challenge to keep them on track when moving them.

Dan

Gorgeous little deadly shoelaces Dan! Makes me miss the juvenile angusticeps I used to have. Major congrats on the production of some healthy mambas.
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Chance Duncan
www.rivervalleyexotics.com

Im curious how do you examine them? Say one gets tangled in something and injures himself, how do you examine that wound? How do you do routine check ups on the deadly little critters?

This is just a curious question I have, thanks in advance.

Oh yeah, btw, they're really very pretty thanks for sharing.

There's a set of long/clear plastic tubes to fit most smaller species of venomous snakes. The snake is coaxed or tapped into the tube and they wiggle their way inside and when the specimen is enough inside, it is then secured but the lower region and and it is safe to complete an exam or treat the snake with medication. Or you can pin and restrain the snake. Some vets put the snake to sleep for exams and procedures etc. And many exams can be simply completed by putting the snake in a clear shoebox to view the affected ailment up close.

Dan

I am by no means recommending this method of handling any venomous snake, but I did want to relate a story of how I handled a juvenile of this particular species once.

Baby mambas have relatively tiny fangs. You have to remember, their fangs are right up at the front of their mouths, so they've had no need to evolve large fangs even as adults. I had a juvenile that has missed shedding some skin off the tip of her tail and it appeared to be necrotic. Knowing I couldn't let her entirety but the tail run into the tube, I had to handle her. Instead of putting her through the stress of pinning and getting ahold of her head, I instead dawned a pair of thick leather gloves and simply handled her like I would any other nonven while my partner inspected (and ended up removing) the trailing tip of her tail. I of course made sure her head was always in the opposite direction from her tail, but she appeared to be none the wiser.

Again, I'm not recommending anyone handle venomous snakes with gloves, I'm just saying that I was able to use a bit of common sense (and knowledge of mamba anatomy) and safely do what I needed to do while minimizing her stress. I can't say it minimized the stress of my partner though!
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Chance Duncan
www.rivervalleyexotics.com

Are those the eggs you got from the gravid import?
Good to see they finally hatched, congrats.