Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What genera of colubrids have you personally seen vibrate the tail? Thanks!

~~Greg~~

My California Kingsnake (a lot when I first got her) and a couple of times from each of my Cornsnakes.
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1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
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1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
1.0 San Felipe Rosy Boa "Legalos"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"
0.1 Okeetee Corn snake "Amazon"
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0.0.1 Irian Jaya BlueTongued Skink
0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer "Kira"

n/p

keith
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I'm not sure I want popular opinion on my side -- I've noticed those with the most opinions often have the fewest facts.

Keith: Can you be more specific? I don't know which you have worked with, nor which did not.

~~Greg~~

no problem Greg......

black rats....(i keep several morphs....totalling 17)

fox snakes.....even adult wild caughts

bairdi....every time i pick him up

almost every corn i ever seen.....( i have kept about 40 or 50 at different times in my life)

even nerodia (water snakes) both northern and ones ive found in florida here

cal kings.....

texas rats......

egyption rats....

even dekays snakes lol (funny seeing a 6 inch snake take a defense against a human!)

theres more.....but my brain hurts remembering all of them lol (almost every colubrid has this tendency from what i've seen, although each individual animal is different, some have more tendency than others, even siblings)

keith

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I'm not sure I want popular opinion on my side -- I've noticed those with the most opinions often have the fewest facts.

Nerodia was the one I was looking for, but not really expecting to find. I have caught literally thousands of them ( years ago, so lighten up..I'm old heehee) and have never seen one tail shake. I even use tail rattling in aquatic snakes as a key that the snake is a cottonmouth.

I was aware that the ratsnakes, kings, racers, coachwhips, indigoes, & the bull/pine/gophers exhibit this behavior, but was pretty sure the Nerodia & Thamnophis do not. I'll have to do a serious re-think, I reckon.

~~Greg~~

i have seen them do it......but the more i think about it....not really often....and never from a garter (that i recall)
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I'm not sure I want popular opinion on my side -- I've noticed those with the most opinions often have the fewest facts.

I had (until recently when I traded it) an Idaho red sided garter that was very much in the habit of tail shaking. Can't say that I recall seeing an adult Nerodia do it, though some netonates I've caught did it.

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

texas bairdis (both of them), blue beauty, and my black ratsnake. all have at one point or another. only one who never did was my licorice stick black ratsnake.
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)

Two of my subocs, Eastern yellowbellied racers, Brooksi, bullsnakes, and the california kingsnakes.

keith
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I'm not sure I want popular opinion on my side -- I've noticed those with the most opinions often have the fewest facts.

Pantherophis, Coluber, Drymarchon, Masticophis, Lampropeltis, Agkistrodon, Elaphe, Pituophis... that I can remember.

Another behavior that I've observed from time to time that seemed to be restricted to certain Crotalid snakes and Elapid snakes was a flipping of the tail from side-to-side...not a rattling, just flipping the tail. It seems the ones I've seen to that the most were Agkistrodon piscivorous and A.bilineatus. It seems like some of my Asian Cobras have done that from time to time, too.
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Greg
Here goes:

Following snakes in my collection as hatchlings/juveniles -

Both cal kings; prairie king; black king; desert king; everglades; yellow; greenish; KY locale black rat; albino black rat; and corn. My Corn and male cal king still do it when I first pick them up from their enclosures. Only one was a biter, and that was my albino black rat.

My MO locale female black rat still does, and as well as my eastern milk and eastern X red milk when startled.

Out in the woods while herping:

Black rats-juveniles/hatchlings/adults
Southern black Racers - same
garters- same
Midland/Northern watersnakes - same
diamond back water snakes
corns
black kings
speckled kings
eastern yellow belly racers
gray rat
hognose
brown snake
red bellied brown
prairie king
eastern milks
eastern red intergrades
red milks
copperheads

Im sure there are others but those are the ones that I can really remember.
Brian

>>What genera of colubrids have you personally seen vibrate the tail? Thanks!
>>
>> ~~Greg~~

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RATS
1.0 Corn snake "Warpath" (KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake "Havok" (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes "Reaper and Mystique" (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake "Malakai" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake "Deadpool" (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Greenish rat snake "Rogue" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Yellow rat snake "Wolverine" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Grey rat snake "Punisher" (White oak phase)(Dwight Good stock)

MILKS
0.0.1 Eastern Milk snake "Cable" (KY locale)
0.0.1 Eastern/Red milk intergrade "Omega Red" (KY locale)
Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

Hmmm....

Elaphe (Pantherophis, whatever...)
Bogertophis
Lampropeltis
Pituophis
Crotalus
Agkistrodon
Nerodia (slowly)

and probably others.
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Chris Harrison

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Current Collection:
0.1 Antherystic elaphe guttata guttata - Corn Snake
1.0 Elaphe vulpina gloydi - Eastern Fox Snake
0.1 Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta - Black Rat Snake
0.1 Leucistic elaphe obsoleta linheimeri - Texas Ratsnake
1.1 Morelia spilota cheyni - Jungle Carpet Python
0.1 Tiliqua scincoides intermedia - Northern Blue Tongue Skink

Coluber, elaphe, pantherophis & pituophis.

lost for 3weeks, she only did it for awhile then she escaped again for 2weeks and she started doing it again when I would pick her up. Needless to say I changed the screen top on her encloser and she has tamed back down and never does the tail thing anymore.First time she did it I couldnt for the life of me figure out what the noise was. I kinda think its funny since shes so harmless, trying to act like a rattler...
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.........
0.0.1 Northern BTS (Siegfried)
2.0 Ball Pythons (Titus and Hercules)
1.0 Western Hognose (Fuego)
1.1 cornsnakes (Asmodeus and Strawberry)
0.2 Bearded dragons (itchy and scratchy)
0.1 Rosehair T. (Jigglypuff)
1.0 dog BC..(Kippy)
2.1 cats (Thomas,Sunflower,Diablo(Boo))

b
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.........
0.0.1 Northern BTS (Siegfried)
2.0 Ball Pythons (Titus and Hercules)
1.0 Western Hognose (Fuego)
1.1 cornsnakes (Asmodeus and Strawberry)
0.2 Bearded dragons (itchy and scratchy)
0.1 Rosehair T. (Jigglypuff)
1.0 dog BC..(Kippy)
2.1 cats (Thomas,Sunflower,Diablo(Boo))