Rat hats, Jericho and tortoise trunks. Not for faint hearted! AMA

[FraggleShingleBellRock]

I've been asked to start a thread after a few of my comments totally derailed a thread about a royal python escaping. I've been heavily involved with exotic animals all my life and it seems people want to know more about it all.

I will try and link the Python thread so you can catch up on exactly why you need to see a Chick to a rat, how dangerous a horse penis can be and how an echidna ejaculates.

I hope I don't regret this 😂

Fascinating thread, thanks OP!

In a domestic setting I've seen snakes that would rival Chester zoos retic. I know people that have donated entire rooms to their reptiles and even somebody that covered the entire loft space for their monitor lizards to live in. I know people the rent commercial units and keep their snakes /lizards there as they don't have room at home. I know people with private collections of reptiles and exotics that are worth £150k plus but have been worth much much more in the past. The market fluctuates wildly and with rapid breeders like Burmese pythons and bearded dragons, a new colour or mutation is created and that first lot of babies will be with a lot. The following year not so much. By year 4 they are so common they everywhere.

@ShirleyPhallus

No worries. I know people are often terrified of snakes but they are fascinating creatures. They control rodent populations across the world and we would be in deep doo doo euros them. I love educating people about reptiles and have done lots of world book days in primary schools with my tortoises coming along and me doing readings of Esiotrot. Kids absolutely LOVE reptiles and are fearless.

I missed a question about can you tell if they are happy. A good guide with reptiles is they are happy if they breed. If an animal doesn't breed there is almost always an underlying issue. Tortoises that hibernate in the wild need that break to boost down production and trigger breeding. Sure they can skip hibernation but is it fair to them to deny them that? I try to hibernate mine every year but this year one of them has a small chip on the edge of her shell so I am keeping them awake to make sure they don't get infected.

Some species are mega intelligent and terrify me. They do need enrichment. Cobra's - you can see them watching you and working you out. They can learn routines and are amazing.

The stories of snakes eating people whole, is that largely urban myth, with a few freak occurrences? As in, are there snakes who would genuinely want to stalk, attack and eat people rather than a mouse? And also, what do the really big snakes in the wild actually eat? And the ones in captivity which are huge? Like the one in that photo, what would that be eating? Lots and lots of mice or one big meal of a something?

Oh yes, and are there any snakes that scare you?

@Nikhedonia

There are confirmed cases of snakes eating people. Sadly these tend to be children and small adults and is thankfully rare. Snakes eat their prey head on so that the ribs and legs point downward and it's much less likely for them to be injured by a horn, sharp claw or broken rib. Most pet animals have pointed heads/snouts which make it easier for a snake to swallow. A human's head is round like a bowling ball so more difficult for them to get purchase in. I know they will take cats and dogs and live sick given the chance.

Some species will actively chase people that stumble upon them if its breeding season etc. Black mambas have been documented chasing people, as have cobra's but I wouldn't say any species actively sell out people. It's just unfortunate that as people were produce waste and tend to leave it in the edge of our communities or outside our houses. Rodents come to clean up. Then snakes come to eat the rodents.

A huge retic will eat massive rabbits in captivity and some people will have contacts for farmers that lose any baby/juvenile live stock . In the wild it would be small deer and one meal could last 8-12 months. Cobra's are snake eaters and people in the uk will have contacts that breed snakes and they pass along any deceased hatchlings or adults.

Venomous snakes terrify me. Some more than others. I love that the rattle snake has been so hunted that it's rapidly evolved to Have a quieter rattle and so now is better hidden. King cobra's are the stuff of nightmares. There is also a snake called the stiletto snake. It's fangs can basically rotate and pop out sideways. It's a very bad bite with a poor outcome. Everything Australian- no thanks!

Why are king cobras so scary? I'm not familiar with the different types of snakes, are they particularly large? If yes, so people have these as pets in the UK? And would they allow them out to roam about their houses?

Also, I love tortoises (not scary like snakes) are they good pets to have?

How do you make a tortoise hibernate? Or indeed stop it?

@Nikhedonia

If you watch some you tube videos cobra's then you can see them literally working things out. They are very large at 4-5m and are as thick as a beefy for arm. They are incredibly quick and are volatile when disturbed. Even a newly hatched cobra has enough venom to kill a person.

You can keep venomous snakes in the uk but you need a DWA licence and they can be very difficult to obtain. It depends on the local authority. There is one pet shop that I know of in the uk that keeps venomous like cobra and rattlesnakes on display but they safety is very strict. They also do handling courses for people that want to get a DWA. It's called the house of Venom and is on fb.

To make a tortoise hibernate you let them naturally wind down as the days shorten. Then as the clocks change I bring mine in and put them in an empty paddling pool for easy clean up. They have a heat light that comes on every day for 4 weeks and every day is shortened by a few minutes. They don't get fed at all in this time and are bathed every few days to flush their system out. It takes twenty to twenty six days to clear the digestive tract. They can't hibernate with food in them as it will ferment and poison them. Then they go into a large plastic box with 3-4 inches of sand and soil mixed in and into an old fridge that is set at 3-4c. You put one Tory per box and put them in right away. open the door to refresh the air every two days and then I've ever two weeks give them a quick weigh in to make sure they are alive and not losing too much weight. That's it and much safer than any other method by miles.

We've got a lavender corn snake called Pike. They're probably one of the easiest snakes to look after. He's lovely.

You’re fascinating! Thank you!!

@iklboo

Corns are wonderful pets and they kind of triggered the whole morph phenomenon. I bet yours is a beauty.

@Verrucapepper

It's just a kind of niche area that I have always been fascinated in. Even when I haven't been directly involved in keeping I've always kept my hand in and followed scientific journals etc.

I have also bred African Pygmy hedgehogs, bearded dragons, hairless rodents, and kept our rehabbed all manners of exotics. My favourite have been raccoons and macaws. But while both totally completed me, the attachment was so strong that it almost killed my to move them in when they were ready.

This is a fascinating thread, all this information i never knew!!! My daughter and her boyfriend bought a bearded dragon as their first pet when they moved in together. I thought her boyfriend knew how to look after it so wasn't overly concerned but they were completely clueless and the pet shop took no responsibility for selling her to a couple with no idea what they were doing. There should be rules and regulations against the selling of these reptiles. I'd love a tortoise but even if I hadn't read your comments above i still wouldn't take on an animal I couldn't care for properly. I have an 8 year old dog, he's healthy. I'll stick with him

Here's Pike.

@iklboo

Here's Pike.

Pike actually looks adorable (I wouldn't have said this about a snake 3 days ago). These threads are changing my view of snakes entirely. I'm fascinated.

@Nikhedonia - he's adorable. Corn snakes are temperate climate snakes so feel very cool to the touch. He's very gentle and curious.

@iklboo I still don't think I could have one in my house, but that is possibly the most adorable snake I've ever seen. He looks very sweet.

What does he eat?

I'm fascinated by the concept of snakes that don't eat (which was part of the reason this thread came about!) where's their survival instinct?

He eats mice and occasionally chicks. All bought frozen from the local shop, thawed out & warmed up. Live kills are illegal in the UK as far as I know.

Fascinating thread.

I have no problem with reptiles, I'm not scared of them and I don't dislike them, but I fail to see their appeal as pets...Can you enlighten me?

Standard pets, generally those with fur, I understand - companionship, physical affection, personalities etc But where is the joy in living with snakes and lizards?

I'd love to hear about your reptiles' personalities and characters and how you've enjoyed each other's company (if you have)!

They're fascinating to watch, especially when they're eating & shedding. Pike teases the cats by waving back & forth in his tank and they Pat at the glass with their paws. He's not scared of them & they're more interested in him than anything. It's like Snake TV.

He's very gentle, doesn't squeeze or bite. Very cool to the touch as he's a temperate climate snake and beautifully smooth.

My dad used to tell me that if you wake up with your pet snake lying next to you in bed, it was weighing up if it could eat you!

True or false

Or would it be using you a radiator??

@Bananajam

This is a fascinating thread, all this information i never knew!!! My daughter and her boyfriend bought a bearded dragon as their first pet when they moved in together. I thought her boyfriend knew how to look after it so wasn't overly concerned but they were completely clueless and the pet shop took no responsibility for selling her to a couple with no idea what they were doing. There should be rules and regulations against the selling of these reptiles. I'd love a tortoise but even if I hadn't read your comments above i still wouldn't take on an animal I couldn't care for properly. I have an 8 year old dog, he's healthy. I'll stick with him

My local independent pet shop is the opposite. The woman in Reptiles basically ignored us until DD (10 and an obsessive) started talking to the man next to her about unusual morphs. She hadn't heard of one that DD had. Then she let DD handle and talk about buying. They won't even consider an ignoramus.

Good shop!

Fabulous thread, thank you! Place marking to come back to later.

My dad was well into herpetology and I spent my childhood travelling with him to shows etc. No snakes, though as mum put her foot down on those. Getting rid of his collection when he died was hard.

Thinking of scorpions - and I've had to nc for this as it's a well known family story - my Dad did a lot of travelling in the Middle East for work in the early 80s - mainly Iraq and Afghanistan. The nature of his work meant he was in some very very rural communities for days at a time.

It was commonplace to put the four bed legs into old paint tins filled with water so the water could act as a barrier and prevent scorpions climbing up onto the beds at night

@drinkingwineoutofamug

My dad used to tell me that if you wake up with your pet snake lying next to you in bed, it was weighing up if it could eat you!

True or false

Or would it be using you a radiator??

I think that was an urban myth, wasn't it? That a family with a very large snake, kept waking up with the snake next to them in bed and later they found out that the snake was measuring itself up against them to see if it could eat them