Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I want venture into venomous but wanna start out slow.....Is a FWC a good starter snake or would the Mangrove be better? Out of the two snakes which has the most potent venom? Will iether of the two snake kill a human? I have been reading alot about them ...there habitat and there husbantry but havent found alot of there potency......I dont plan of getting bit and I plan on treating the snake like its the most venomous snake in the world. But I wanna start out small and go from there. I figured the best way to find out these questions is to post here. You guy seem to be so damn smart Thanks for your time and your help.

Seaweed

I would suggest starting out with something CB and feeding well. You will have a much easier time finding well priced CB FWC's than you will mangroves.
As far as toxcicity neither snake are of much concern, unless of course your allergic. Typically FWC bites give you a fair bit of swelling and pain.

I want venture into venomous but wanna start out slow.....Is a FWC a good starter snake or would the Mangrove be better? Out of the two snakes which has the most potent venom? Will iether of the two snake kill a human? I have been reading alot about them ...there habitat and there husbantry but havent found alot of there potency......I dont plan of getting bit and I plan on treating the snake like its the most venomous snake in the world. But I wanna start out small and go from there. I figured the best way to find out these questions is to post here. You guy seem to be so damn smart Thanks for your time and your help.

Seaweed

I keep both species and it is as much a question of experience and preference as anything else.

The False water will get huge (over 10') are extremely hardy and have a feeding response that can be described as homicidal. They can be gentle, but then they can be fiercly aggressive (they readily chew). The bite has potency at any size (it burns)and there is an old report that rumoured a fatality, though there are no confirmed deaths that I know of.

The Mangrove requires more skill to keep. They are arboreal and require (particularly when young) a moist enviroment as well as daily mistings. They can be problem feeders so make sure yours is established before you buy. They can be nippy. The Plus? Magnificent colors and usually, they tame reasonably well (they used to be sold as harmless). The only real concern is with large specimens as the venom yield is larger. I know of no fatalities with this species and the tendancy is to strike fast and release which tends to drop the risk of serious envenomation.

Hope this helps with your choice. Personally I think both are great.

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

I saw your post and thought i would reply.
I just recieved a call from a pet shop (Gilroy, Ca.).
The lady said her husband had been bitten by an adult FWC. She said his hand was swollen as if he was bit by a rattler. Not life threatening but painful and serious swelling and pain.
They wouldn't allow him to drive home and they were determing whether to take the snake due to the potential severity. His wife said he's not allergic to the venom just a good bite.
I may drive there to get pics tomorrow of his hand.
I don't know what the typical bite is or how serious but this was just to give you an idea..

I was bitten one time, she chewed on the side of my palm, and had no reaction at all. I had a couple inch long slashes but my reaction was just like any other snake bite; punctures, redness, etc. By the way, this bite wasn't unprovoked...she didn't like being probed. LOL! I've handled 7 different FWC's and this was the only bite.

In my experience, I find that FWC's are very smart in that they quickly discern what is food and what is not. I always feed mine frozen/thawed so that they don't associate warmth and movement with food. My male periodically shoots out of the tank to my hand to check me out. The first time, it scared me good. I really thought I would get bit but he just stopped on a dime to "smell" me and never openned his mouth. He's done it a couple other times but obviously knows the difference between me and food...It is incredible.

I don't know anything about Mangroves but FWC's are one of my favorite snakes for their personality. They are different than any other snake, as well as very alert.

The fact that one bite resulted in no symptoms whereas another did does not imply that the latter was a result of allergy. FWCs are well documentedto cause serious pain and swelling, yup, like a mild viperid bite), and have caused more serious symptoms on a few occasions. The bite posted by jusmebabe is pretty typical of a full FWC bite.

Cheers,
WW
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WW Home

This is where it gets interesting in an individual sort of way. My latest experience with a very healthy three footer that hung on a chewed me well, was a local, rather painful burning that lasted about 15min. before fading away. No other symptoms. that was the most severe reaction I have had out of one of these (But I have never been hit by a full sized adult).

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

I think it's just one of those things where you wont know until you're bitten...kind of like giving chocolate to birds.

(If you don't know what I'm referencing to, chocolate can be deadly to birds. Some can handle it and are fine, some just die and there's no way to know which way it will go until they eat some.)

The guy that was helping me probe her the day I got bit has been bitten on numerous occasions. He used to breed FWC's so he'd been bitten by all sizes! LOL! He also never had any reactions to them.

My thoughts are, if it was just the venum and not an allergy, we should ALL have some type of reaction. It may be a poor assumption on my part but nothing else makes sense.

She grabbed my knuckle and when I tried to grab her with the other hand, she got my finger on that hand, then the side of my right palm. I'm right handed so it took me a little while to get her unhooked with my left hand. I was more worried about hurting her than myself. Like I said, she left a couple inch long gashes in my palm and she did chew on my quite a bit. She was about 4.5-5 feet at the time.