Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Greetings, some of you may be interested in a post @

http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=848284,849481

....as often is the case theres fact & fiction...& I wont type much of what little Ive learned now & here....but... I posted a regal eating a caliking awhile back but that king was actually envenomated & killed by another rearfanged snake [Clelia], I have done that distateful experiment 3x now & have determined getulus will succumb to Clelia venom. I have heard getulus are vulnerable to elapid venoms such as cobras..which are very similar @ the molecular level to the rearfang venoms.

When one considers a king can take a full hit from a mojave w/ little or no effect & then the comparatively miniscule amount of venom that gets chewed in via mastication from a rearfang...dies in x minutes/hours....that venom must be very hot indeed.

Heres the kicker tho...regal ringnecks kill their ophidian prey including mtn kingsnakes, in an incredible [~48X ] the speed w/ which the Mussurana does! Thus I would be derelict not to advise a young herper to consider them as hot as any krait & one should not allow them to chew, should they bite. The good news is I've never heard of one attempting to bite & in captivity they dont seem to snap at the hand that feeds them

Saludos....RxR

The first post by Ameron was inspired by me. He saw pics of your regal-f/t cali king feeding on my site and contacted me. Where I gave him information... leading to his post.

There is no question that ringneck snake venom, atleast regalis, affects lampropeltis specimens(I have also heard of the SMALL prairie rings regurgitating similar sized kings down in Kentucky!). Gerold Merker, a photographer and snake breeder, who has bred plenty of mountain kings... stumbled upon a scene in the mountains one day, where a 20" female D.p.pulchellus, coral bellied ringneck, was swallowing a juvenile, 14" or so mountain king. He prodded at the king, which didn't react, was not moving. The pictures taken at the scene of the feeding, and the condition of the king made me think there was infact a struggle(prolapsed cloaca), until the king died/was paralized from the ringneck venom.

Interesting indeed. There is also the countless amount of stories of herpers throwing a regal in with a bigger king, only to arrive some time later and find a big fat ringneck. I've seen plenty of kings eat other snakes, it's hard for me to imagine them losing a battle. But.. I guess it happens.

Too bad the "die-hard kingsnake fans" don't take to ringneck snakes eating kings too fondly.

Scientifically, no one can question if or if not the regal ringneck snake possesses a potent venom. I have dozens of feeding trials and timings with regalis, which clearly show the effects of a regal bite can leave a prey snake damaged in a small amount of time. I don't know if you've ever had a regal refuse a meal after it killed the prey, but I have. On a few occasions I examined the dead prey snake after it was left in the enclosure uneaten for a few hours... the area where the bite occured, and around that proximity tends to swell greatly.

Regalis vs. Lampropetlis will get to go another round in a few months... I'll have some neonate 5" eastern milks, live, for some trials. Guess we'll see what happens then.

Mike

Michael's Place

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