Two New Snakes!

[pitbulllady]

After years of searching websites, I finally got lucky and found a pair of pink-phase(also known as red-phase)Western Coachwhips(Masticophis flagellum testaceus) at the South Carolina Exotic Animal and Reptile Show today in Columbia! These snakes are really rare in captivity, as are most Coachwhips, owing to a bad and undeserved reputation that strikes fear into even venomous snake keepers. In some parts of the southern United States, there is a widely-believed wives' tale that these snakes will chase a person down, wrap around him, and beat him to death with their tails, and a LOT of folks believe that! Even people who know better still can't help but feeling a bit of fear when faced with one of these snakes, who also have a reputation(again, not deserved)for being nasty-tempered and difficult to care for in captivity. Only recently has there been any interest in keeping and breeding these non-venomous snakes, which can exceed 8 feet in length. Western Coachwhips normally are light tan in color, but sometimes can be pink or even red. The female, who is about six feet long, is in the first pic, and she's actually the more colorful of the two. The male, who is not as pink as she is, is in the second picture. He has a horrible and deep scar on top of his head, which shows up nearly black, and probably was from an encounter with a hungry bird, like a crow, which attacks snakes by stabbing at their heads with its beak. The darker brown snake at the top of the pic with the pink male is a male Eastern Coachwhip, but he's in shed and looks pretty rough, so I will have to get pics of him after he sheds his skin.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/pitbulllady/Snake%20Photos/DSCF4997.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/pitbulllady/Snake%20Photos/DSCF4992.jpg

I also picked up two new tarantulas at the show, and will post pics of them later when one of them settles down. She's a HUGE Avicularia braunshauseni, large enough to cover a CD, and right now she's got a bit of an attitude problem, but considering that she was in a 3x3inch plastic cup when I bought her, I can't say I really blame her, either.

pitbulllady

[Sparky]

Aw, poor speeder. :P

Are you going to breed these guys?

[Partymember]

beautiful snakes, PBL.

wonder if the male grabbed the crow and scarfed him down. That would be pretty righteous.

[Crash-N-Cortex]

Cool snakes! :D

[xxxClaire]

Awesome snakes! :bloogrin: They're really cool!

[Imaginary Light]

They're beautiful:bloogrin:

[pitbulllady]

beautiful snakes, PBL.

wonder if the male grabbed the crow and scarfed him down. That would be pretty righteous.


Coachwhips aren't big enough to eat anything near the size of a crow; even a large one can barely manage a big mouse! They do not have venom, and they aren't constrictors, so they do not have any means of killing large or potentially dangerous prey(and crows are large birds, and powerful predator/scavengers in their own right), so they have to be content with small rodents, lizards and the occasional small bird, like a cactus wren or sparrow. Coachwhips are long, but very thin snakes, built for speed rather than power. I guess that's why most adult Coachwhips in the wild are a mess of scars, since other than running away(or crawling, actually)they really have no defense against predators and often get chewed up by their own prey while attempting to eat it!

pitbulllady

[Invader Bloo]

They're cool looking,but I could never touch them. To quote a famous movie line:

Snakes why'd it have to be snakes.

I can look at them & not be scared, even if they're in a cage. But when they're out...I'll back off.

[pitbulllady]

They're cool looking,but I could never touch them. To quote a famous movie line:

Snakes why'd it have to be snakes.

I can look at them & not be scared, even if they're in a cage. But when they're out...I'll back off.

Why is that? Have you ever actually TOUCHED a snake? Most people think that the snake will feel cold and slimy and gross, but that's not the case at all.

pitbulllady

[Partymember]

Why is that? Have you ever actually TOUCHED a snake? Most people think that the snake will feel cold and slimy and gross, but that's not the case at all.

pitbulllady

oooh, they're warm and have the greatest texture to them!

the little baby ones are so cute, too!:D

[koosie]

Why is that? Have you ever actually TOUCHED a snake? Most people think that the snake will feel cold and slimy and gross, but that's not the case at all.

pitbulllady

That is true. I remember holding an African Rock Python when I was a little kid and it was one of those revelation moments when something I was expecting to be horrid turned out to be actually pretty nice. The snake was well used to people so perfectly friendly but it just felt so smooth and nice. Probably quite therapeutic too.

It's different when you come across them in the wild of course and feel that animal sense of danger but as long as you possess some rationality or the snake's very big and very hungry that perception of danger is mostly false but is probably why more people don't like them.

Those are 2 very beautiful snakes btw, PBL. The female in the first pic has a really great look on it's face and that colour is something else. Do those black eyeballs move independently?

[pitbulllady]

That is true. I remember holding an African Rock Python when I was a little kid and it was one of those revelation moments when something I was expecting to be horrid turned out to be actually pretty nice. The snake was well used to people so perfectly friendly but it just felt so smooth and nice. Probably quite therapeutic too.

It's different when you come across them in the wild of course and feel that animal sense of danger but as long as you possess some rationality or the snake's very big and very hungry that perception of danger is mostly false but is probably why more people don't like them.

Those are 2 very beautiful snakes btw, PBL. The female in the first pic has a really great look on it's face and that colour is something else. Do those black eyeballs move independently?

Actually, holding or touching a snake HAS been proven to have theraputic properties, reducing blood pressure and increasing the release of the "pleasure" hormone Dopamine in people, even those who are not "snake people". Their skin is very pleasant to touch, as you found out, and the fact that most snakes are actually calm and have such graceful movement probably helps.

Coachwhips can move their eyes a bit independent of each other. They are among the very few snake species that have really good eyesight, but they have few light-sensing cells in their retinas, so they are very diurnal snakes. When it gets dark, they can't see, so they just go to sleep like chickens! Only the pupils are black, though; the iris of their eyes is a gold or orange color, which unfortunately gives them that rather menacing, raptor-like stare that reinforces their bad reputation. They remind me a lot of a bird of prey, not just in their eyes, but the way they move.

pitbulllady

[Invader Bloo]

Why is that? Have you ever actually TOUCHED a snake? Most people think that the snake will feel cold and slimy and gross, but that's not the case at all.

pitbulllady

Yeah, I know they aren't slimy. Definately not cold. But snakes aren't like regular pets. They haven't been breed for centuries, to not be wild. Snakes still have that wild instinct in them.

[pitbulllady]

Yeah, I know they aren't slimy. Definately not cold. But snakes aren't like regular pets. They haven't been breed for centuries, to not be wild. Snakes still have that wild instinct in them.

Don't let ANYONE tell you that cats and dogs don't have plenty of wild instincts! I KNOW better! Cats have NOT been bred for centuries as pets; for a long time, they were kept around only to kill vermin. Only the Egyptians actually made pets of them, and when that civilization fell, cats were for the most part thought of as agents of Satan. Even up until MY lifetime, people in rural areas would have never thought of petting or touching a cat and would have told you that doing so would give you ringworm, scabies and all sorts of horrible diseases, and that cats would steal the breath of newborn babies. The notion of breeding cats as pets is a fairly recent trend. Many species of snakes ARE selectively bred, and have been now for over half a century, for specific traits and characteristics. There are registeries and stud books for Corn Snakes, Ball Pythons, Boa Constrictors and Reticulated Pythons just as there are for dogs and cats, and there are also conformation competition shows, with different "breed" or variety categories. The only reason that snakes are not thought of as "regular pets" is due to the same sort of misinformation and wives' tales that kept cats relegated to the barnyard, IF they were tolerated at all. I've had to handle many an injured cat, dog and snake, and a SNAKE is FAR less likely to freak out and bite you than a dog or cat in that circumstance. All domesticated animals are derived from wild animals, and again, don't let anyone tell you that dogs and cats do not have plenty of wild instincts. I've had real wild cats-cougars, bobcats, leopard, African Jungle cats, even a Scottish Wildcat, and they are not that different from my regular old cats, just bigger. I've also had full-blooded wolves, foxes and Dingoes, and they have the exact same instincts that my Catahoulas, Pit Bulls, and Akitas, and even my Standard Poodle, have. They bark, they pee on trees, they dig holes in the yard, and do everything that domesticated dogs do. The only difference is that domesticated breeds have been developed to do one or two things really well, like retrieving, catching and holding dangerous animals, guarding property, etc., while wild dogs have all of those traits but to lesser degrees. The idea that snakes cannot be pets or cannot be trustworthy as pets because they haven't been kept as such for as long as some other animals just doesn't hold water. Cattle have been around as domesticated animals far longer than cats have, or rabbits, or hamsters, but given a choice between reaching in a cage with a 3-foot albino Corn snake, and going into the pasture with a 2,500-lb. Santa Gertrudis bull, I know which MY choice would be!

pitbulllady

[Partymember]

Don't let ANYONE tell you that cats and dogs don't have plenty of wild instincts! I KNOW better! Cats have NOT been bred for centuries as pets; for a long time, they were kept around only to kill vermin. Only the Egyptians actually made pets of them, and when that civilization fell, cats were for the most part thought of as agents of Satan. Even up until MY lifetime, people in rural areas would have never thought of petting or touching a cat and would have told you that doing so would give you ringworm, scabies and all sorts of horrible diseases, and that cats would steal the breath of newborn babies. The notion of breeding cats as pets is a fairly recent trend. Many species of snakes ARE selectively bred, and have been now for over half a century, for specific traits and characteristics. There are registeries and stud books for Corn Snakes, Ball Pythons, Boa Constrictors and Reticulated Pythons just as there are for dogs and cats, and there are also conformation competition shows, with different "breed" or variety categories. The only reason that snakes are not thought of as "regular pets" is due to the same sort of misinformation and wives' tales that kept cats relegated to the barnyard, IF they were tolerated at all. I've had to handle many an injured cat, dog and snake, and a SNAKE is FAR less likely to freak out and bite you than a dog or cat in that circumstance. All domesticated animals are derived from wild animals, and again, don't let anyone tell you that dogs and cats do not have plenty of wild instincts. I've had real wild cats-cougars, bobcats, leopard, African Jungle cats, even a Scottish Wildcat, and they are not that different from my regular old cats, just bigger. I've also had full-blooded wolves, foxes and Dingoes, and they have the exact same instincts that my Catahoulas, Pit Bulls, and Akitas, and even my Standard Poodle, have. They bark, they pee on trees, they dig holes in the yard, and do everything that domesticated dogs do. The only difference is that domesticated breeds have been developed to do one or two things really well, like retrieving, catching and holding dangerous animals, guarding property, etc., while wild dogs have all of those traits but to lesser degrees. The idea that snakes cannot be pets or cannot be trustworthy as pets because they haven't been kept as such for as long as some other animals just doesn't hold water. Cattle have been around as domesticated animals far longer than cats have, or rabbits, or hamsters, but given a choice between reaching in a cage with a 3-foot albino Corn snake, and going into the pasture with a 2,500-lb. Santa Gertrudis bull, I know which MY choice would be!

pitbulllady

get a timberwolf is on my list of things to do. Uncle Jim had one. Crazy dude. Had it stuffed when it died 8D