Reptile & Amphibian Forums

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Longtang. I like snakes and rats.

Pigmy rattle snakes are tied for number one favorites in my heart!

The other number one fav. is Ball pythons.

Copperhead ranks as my number three fav.! (since there are two first place species, Copperhead has to take number three fave).

Here is my first ever Pigmy (male) rattler (next to a nickel for comparison size):

This one is a female near adult size in a $20 neodesha cage: .

This is my favorite little pigmy. He/she is a $10 neonate that feeds on warmed up pinky rodents! (has eaten mouse pinky and gerbil pinky)

here is the copperhead:

here is a four in one pic of the rack and the BP:

thx for looking:

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Longtang. I like snakes and rats.

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WBBH (Fort Myers, Florida) 04 September 03 Man hospitalized after rattlesnake bite (Cara Jones)
Lee County: A local man is recovering in the hospital after suffering a rattlesnake bite Thursday morning. Justin Fecteau was on his route emptying recycling bins in the Summerlin area when the snake, which was hiding in the recycled paper, caught him by surprise.
"I was separating paper and the snake was inside the paper. He jumped out and got me," Fecteau said.
He didn’t know what hit him until he felt it.
"I was just dizzy. My legs felt numb and stuff," he said.
Fecteau was bitten by a pygmy rattlesnake, the smallest of the species. The snake, also called a "ground rattler" is found throughout the southeast U.S.
Though small, generally 15-22 inches in length, their venom is just as potent as larger rattlers – and their bite can be just as bad.
Doctors have not yet given him any anti-venin, but are monitoring his vitals closely.
"The fangs didn't penetrate too deeply, so in eight to ten hours we'll see what develops," said Dr. Richard Kinder.
While the snake got away, for Fecteau the pain is sticking around.
"My finger is throbbing, I have pain in my arm, I feel like my legs are on fire," he said.
Doctors say that they’ll keep him at Healthpark overnight as a precaution.
Snake experts say residents may come across more pygmy rattlers because of all the recent rain as the reptiles look for dry ground.
Man hospitalized after rattlesnake bite

This is a little secret that I sometimes don't tell people. HOwever, once in a while, I feed live mouse to my hots. Lastnight, a friend was over and she wanted to see feeding. None of my ball pythons were ready to eat, so that left the pigmy.

I fed a live adult sized mouse to my female pigmy last night. It was quite interesting. (I usually feed f/t). The venom took about one minute to work.

I don't leave the mouse in the cage after envenomations. I have found that the struggling mouse would disturb the snake. So what I do is let the envenomation happen and then take the mouse out to die in peace.

After about 50 seconds, the mouse was sufficiently gone that I was able to put the mouse on my open palm and lay it on its back with its legs pointing to the air. The mouse just lied there. It went pretty peacefully.

It was a very impressive display of pigmy venom. Both my wife and my friend were impressed with the power of the toxin from the little gal.

I guess you could say that I did this demonstration as an educational demonstration to show my wife and my friend and to remind myself that even though these are small cute beauties, they pack a real punch. The toxin dispensed the mouse in one minute.

I love my little pigmies. I also respect them a bunch.

>>WBBH (Fort Myers, Florida) 04 September 03 Man hospitalized after rattlesnake bite (Cara Jones)
>>Lee County: A local man is recovering in the hospital after suffering a rattlesnake bite Thursday morning. Justin Fecteau was on his route emptying recycling bins in the Summerlin area when the snake, which was hiding in the recycled paper, caught him by surprise.
>>"I was separating paper and the snake was inside the paper. He jumped out and got me," Fecteau said.
>>He didn’t know what hit him until he felt it.
>>"I was just dizzy. My legs felt numb and stuff," he said.
>>Fecteau was bitten by a pygmy rattlesnake, the smallest of the species. The snake, also called a "ground rattler" is found throughout the southeast U.S.
>>Though small, generally 15-22 inches in length, their venom is just as potent as larger rattlers – and their bite can be just as bad.
>>Doctors have not yet given him any anti-venin, but are monitoring his vitals closely.
>>"The fangs didn't penetrate too deeply, so in eight to ten hours we'll see what develops," said Dr. Richard Kinder.
>>While the snake got away, for Fecteau the pain is sticking around.
>>"My finger is throbbing, I have pain in my arm, I feel like my legs are on fire," he said.
>>Doctors say that they’ll keep him at Healthpark overnight as a precaution.
>>Snake experts say residents may come across more pygmy rattlers because of all the recent rain as the reptiles look for dry ground.
>>Man hospitalized after rattlesnake bite
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Longtang. I like snakes and rats.

Hmm... interesting... my Cerastes c. puts them down much faster than that... motion ceases in a smallish adult mouse after about 30 seconds when he really gets a good bite in. Of course this isn't a good indication of how dangerous either snake really is to a human.

*note: we give him f/t when he'll eat it, but sometimes he will and sometimes he won't. Fortunately he's pretty good at not leaving himself open for a bite.