Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was checking out the classifieds and saw a false water cobra advertised as the "Diet Coke" of venomous snakes. What does this mean? Is the FWC unusually calm and laid back or does it have a very mild venom (or both)? Also, is it not considered a "real" cobra?

I apologize for sounding like a dummy with this. I'm not very familiar with water cobras, though I've heard that the Congo water cobra is very dangerous.

RP

totally different snakes...cobras are old-world elapids(kraits,mambas,cobras,taipans)...false water cobras(cyclagras gigas) are new world colubrids,and are only 'mildly' venomous,and rear fanged....and to my knowledge,no human fatalities on record to their credit.but i have no exp keeping them....lots of wild caughts in the trade,but they are commonly captive bred,esp. at zoos,etc..in fact i saw some copulating myself at a zoo.

You might want to read entitled "Analysis of the Duvernoy's Gland and Oral Secretions of Hydrodynastes gigas (Dumeril, Bibron, and Dumeril) (Reptilia: Serpentes). This is an excellent paper addressing the venom of the False Waters. It is mentioned that most bites occur from the H.gigas related to a feeding response. They could not find info about H.bicintus bites because of poor feeding habits! Most of the bites from H. gigas produced little symptoms but some have produced considerable pain and swelling. A larger H. gigas can possibly do a lot of damage! The toxicity of these snakes is well within the range of many rattlesnakes!
This book also mentions that H. gigas is capable of reaching lengths of 3 meters!
From some of the websites that I have seen concerning False Waters I have seen and read mis-information. I guess it's true that you cannot believe everything you see or read on the net! Just because someone has a website does not mean that they have done the research.
REMEMBER, Schmidt and Mertens died from a rearfang snakebite!
I have kept and bred them for years. You might want to take this discussion to the rearfang forum.
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Tim Cole
www.Designeratrox.com/
www.AustinReptileService.net
www.AustinReptileExpo.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<
Conservation through Education

Tim's right. The potential is there for a serious bite. They do, in fact, get to a very reasonable length..bigger than most beginners need to deal with. I stopped keeping them (after 13 years) after reading a paper on their venom toxicity. Call me a wuss. I have no problem with snakes I know there is an antivenin for.

No, they are not true cobras, & most adults I have had contact with are pretty mellow. Youngsters get a tad snappish. Calling them the "Diet Coke" of hot snakes, though, could put one in a position to prove how serious the bite can be.

~~Greg~~

Tim and Greg's advice is sound...like any venomous snake, these guys deserve your utmost respect.

I have a pair of babies, and they are very cool snakes. Hope to breed them (isn't very hard) when they mature. My guys prefer to tail whip/thrash more than bite...a very interesting display in comparison to other species...more varanid like than anything, lol. They can be very violent sometimes, but have rarely struck at me, prefering more to whack me (or at least attempt to) with their tails.

The male