Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Take a look at this guy.

http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/index.php?photo=194042

Just got his first hot...a cobra (looks like kaouthia, though the pic is out of focus). However, and to quote him, "an indian cobra...i think".

Wait a sec. What's wrong with that statement..."I THINK" it's a cobra?

Another classic quote: "i wanted a gaboon viper or bitis narsicornis, but hey, something better than nothing "

I NEVER thought I'd be saying something like this, but I actually hope that the snake is a venomoid, just so that there isn't another big high profile bite that ends up killing this hobby.

Bitis naRsicornis, huh? ARRRGGGGGHHHH! Most unfortunate that the morons will always outnumber the responsible keepers. The
"something better than nothing" quote didn't impress me, either.

Bill Huseth

They're everywhere!!! Nuts cases mucking it up for us all.
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The more people I meet...the better I like my venomous snakes.

Im in no way supporting any of whats going on there, but in the guys defense, if he said "it's an indian cobra, I think" it's not that he thinks it may or may not be a cobra, but which species it is.
Again, Im not defending this guy at all, but still, it's bad to twist what someones saying.
Always the devils advocate........sorry
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Tom
TCJ Herps
"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

I'm no expert on elapids (I'm more of a buzztail guy myself), but not knowing the species of lethal animal you are keeping can have deadly consequences...One of you elapid fellas may want to correct me, but in the event of bite treatment, there may be a world of difference between an "indian cobra" and a monocle.

In the world of the buzztails, that's like saying "it's a diamondback I think" when in fact it's a scutulatus...Two VERY different venoms, different symptoms, etc....

I used to think that people's phobias of snakes were the biggest enemy when it comes to hot keeping...I'm beginning to think that an even bigger culprit is yahoos like this keeping lethal animals (probably in his house with a small child) and not even knowing what species of snake it is....Ignorance can kill! I'm not going to preach to the choir like everyone else....Maybe idiots SHOULD find the deadliest snake they can and practice their free-handling techniques...It would add some MUCH NEEDED chlorine to the already germ infested gene pool...

I think he should get himself a rhino viper too....sleep with it at night, scratch it under it's chin and give it kisses...PLEASE!!!!

-AzAtrox

Guttersnacks,

That was a typo on my part...I know he knows it's a cobra, he states that it's an indian cobra (or so he thinks), but not knowing the correct species is just as bad as not knowing what snake it is at all in this case. Unfortunately ks does not allow editing of posts (that i know of), so I couldn't correct my typo.

.
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Tom
TCJ Herps
"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

"Its ok, ive confirmed an albino naja naja and have taken measures against any possible accidents.
sorry to have all of you worried, never meant to, my bad.
I still wanted a bitis gabonica ( heard from various herpetologists it the calmnest of all vipers) but then again, cant say no to my boss ( hes the one who gave it to me:-S )"

An albino Naja naja? I've never heard or seen of one...not to say they don't exist in collections, but that would seem to be quite a valuable snake.

Bitis gabonica the calmest of all vipers? Well...maybe...but it's that false sense of security that gets those 2 inch long fangs thrust into your soft flesh.

I should add that it is extremely ignorant to label an entire species of snake as the "calmest" of anything...sure, gaboons are USUALLY quite placid and lethargic, but I personally know of a specimen that would huff and puff ANYTIME ANYONE got within 5 or so feet of it's enclosure. Sure as hell wasn't calm.

When I said in my previous post that B. gabonica may be the most placid, I was doing it moreso for the sake of argument than anything else.

Thats my impression...?
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It's what you learn AFTER you know it all that counts!

Terry Phillip
Curator of Reptiles
Black Hills Reptile Gardens
Rapid City, SD.

www.reptilegardens.com

np

It's certainly no albino. If it is, the thing is dirty as heck. And I might be wrong as I haven't looked at the pic in a while, but it's head does look a bit caved....
-Chance
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Chance Duncan
1.1 Retics (1.0 Tiger Het, 0.1 Dark Lavender)
1.1 Olive Pythons
1.1 Woma Pythons
1.1 Ball Pythons (Het Albino)
http://www.rivervalleysnakes.com

The people selling the hots.

I guess $$ is more important to most dealers than the safety of others, & our privilages.....SAD! Dealers are more to blame than the inexperienced people keeping them.
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Chad Bachman

Whats the world coming too...? I think thats twice you and I have agreed on something.....
Unfortunately, Ignorant people (inexperienced buyers) don't know that they are ignorant of a certain subject.
However, Immorral dealers know they are immorral!
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It's what you learn AFTER you know it all that counts!

Terry Phillip
Curator of Reptiles
Black Hills Reptile Gardens
Rapid City, SD.

www.reptilegardens.com

>>I think thats twice you and I have agreed on something.....

LOL!! I always say whats on my mind at the time, and alot of people don't like it. You will never hear any sugar-coated replies coming out of my mouth. I wish all these anti-venomous laws would just go away, but I don't see it ( too many $$ hungry people).

Take care,
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Chad Bachman