Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Had a low pressure system with rains come through this afternoon. Saw this corn on an oak in my yard. The ventral surface was heavily infused with orange from about midway down. Nice animal, although, prone to bite.

Regards,
WK

Wow,That is one smok'n okeetee!! Okeetees are my favorite corns and to see a true locality varmit is priceless!!Thanks for sharing pics and keep them coming! Jeff

Really nice looking Okeetee! I'm not sure if you realize it or not but your corn is crawling through Poison Ivy!

John

it is a beautiful snake.... but if you are as sensitive to poison ivy as i am.... BOY are you in trouble... but on a happier note, i hope your not nice photos!!!
~kin
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~Sober Serpents~
www.freewebs.com/soberserpents
Corns, Creamsicles, A Black Rat, Thayeri, Cal Kings, A Jungle Corn(Just A Pet), A Ball Python, A Bearded dragon, Leopard Geckos, Green Anoles, a Snapping turtle, and a white cheeked mud turtle

Yes, I saw that it looked like the snake crawled through poison ivy. Even though I'm not particularly sensitive to urushiol, I waited before the snake cleared the ivy before picking it up, and washed my hands immediately after handling it.

The worse case of poison ivy / oak rash I have seen was in a teen who came into contact with the plant oil by cleaning a wild hog he had killed. The rash was severe enough that he was hospitalized to receive intravenous steroids.

I've wondered why herpers sensitive to urushiol do not break out in rash when grabbing things like wild snakes that crawl through poison ivy or oak. The toxic oil is stable for years, so I don't see why it would not be present on the surface of snakes that frequently crawl through it.

Interesting stuff...

WK

when i was little i had a cat who i guess got into some poison ivy. all i know is my parents have photos of me and my face was HUGE!!! i had rubbed my face all over the cat and got poison ivy all over my face!!! my brother got it on 1/2 of his face. it was so bad, i had to have steroids... I'm also allergic to bug bites. i got stung by 3 fire ants when i was in 1st grade and they thought about cutting my leg open before it explode.... heh.... lucky me... it didnt swell any larger... and i got to keep my leg
~kin
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~Sober Serpents~
www.freewebs.com/soberserpents
Corns, Creamsicles, A Black Rat, Thayeri, Cal Kings, A Jungle Corn(Just A Pet), A Ball Python, A Bearded dragon, Leopard Geckos, Green Anoles, a Snapping turtle, and a white cheeked mud turtle

Some people can have a significant reaction to poison ivy as you've found out. You must have developed extremely severe swelling following the ant bites. It sounds like the doctors were considering doing a fasciotomy to relieve pressure from the swelling. This procedeure, as far as I know, has never been done for swelling from ant bites. It's done occasionally to relieve pressure from swelling accompanyng venomous snake bite, but probably more frequently than needed.

Bottom line, I guess, is steer clear of poison ivy and fire ants!

actually there's a comment on that in the boa forum maybe just a guess but maybe snake scale don't hold the oil on them

I agree there is some merit to the notion of snake scales not holding onto urushiol. The "oil" is essentially the sap of poison ivy / oak / sumac and shares some properties of saps, in general. Think about how often a corn or rat snake comes into contact with tree sap. I've never seen one sticky with sap so I bet the scales have properties that prevent adherence of this stuff. Very interesting. Thanks for the comment.

WK

BTW, I checked out the boa ivy post you referenced. You should tell the poster Bigurt that contact dermatitis like that caused by urushiol in sensitive people is not a Type 1 hypersensitivity reaction, and is absoulutely not anaphylaxis.

Awesome snake. Way to go.

The clean orange ground coloration is what surely was the founding stock of Rich's beautiful fluorescent orange corns. I cannot imagine stepping into my back yard to catch such beautiful corns.

jealous

Don

South Mountain Reptiles

Hi Don. Yes, I certainly see the family resemblance in the snake you posted. I think this yard corn in amel form would look pretty similar to that fluorescent orange. Beautiful snake.
Wasil

Many reading this are wondering why I'm krazi enough to consider altering the awesome looks of this snake. Naturally, the nominate form is stunning, but the nature of the hobby demands variety.
South Mountain Reptiles

Wow!,.........what a BEAUTIFUL example!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

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Besides the poison ivy,If I saw that in my yard I would think someone was playing a cruel joke on me and I'd have a heart attack!! KILLER!! Jeff

Well, don't think me moving down here was mere coincidence. I'm probably one of the few people in the world who chose there job location partly on the appearance of the local corn snakes.