False Water Cobra??

The guy I baught our red tail from has false water cobra's for sale. I have never heard of these and wonder how hard they are to take care of and even if they are really "hots" or not.

rear fanged, not much known about toxicity, I believe their scientific name is Hydronastes gigas.

If your asking these questions then your probably not ready for one. Just ask your self if your ready to deal with something that could put you in the hospital everyday for the next 15 years. Just so you can have something to look at.

I don't plan on getting one actually. I was just courise as to if they are actual cobras in being venamous or not and how hard they are to care for. I see alot of people going in there and just saying oh its so cute I want it. I'm no where near thinking of hots.

The are venomous, but not related to cobras. There seems to be a lot more captive breeding lately, so I'm guessing they're probably like rainbow boas in care. I do know they are fast and temperamental.

they're colubrids, so keep like colubrids with high humidity.

They are not difficult to care for at all you just need to keep decent humidity and provide a big enough space for them.

They are not agressive in general specificly if you get a young animal and handle it a lot as a baby. The venom is very similar to Atrox (Diamond Back Rattler) but they only carry about 10% of what is required to kill a human. Their delivery is also not very good at all. They are not considered a "venomous snake" under most law and no permits are required in most areas, etc.

If one is worried about envenomation cloth gloves and long sleeves are all that is needed for protection. They have no true fangs just enlarged rear teeth that make a wound that venom flows into. Hence with gloves and/or sleeves any venom will be absorbed by the material and not make it into the wound.

I have one and I handle him bare handed all but in the times I need to do work on his viv when he is in shed. He gets a bit testy when in blue but so do many snakes.

So yes the venom is potent but the volume is very small and the delivery is not sufficient to be very dangerous. I would not try to talk anyone with a bit of experience and an understanding of the space and basic caution needed not to get one. They are great snakes and most (not all) have great attitudes. They are very active during the day and don't hide much so that makes them great display animals too,

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Originally Posted by jjspirko

They are not difficult to care for at all you just need to keep decent humidity and provide a big enough space for them.

They are not agressive in general specificly if you get a young animal and handle it a lot as a baby. The venom is very similar to Atrox (Diamond Back Rattler) but they only carry about 10% of what is required to kill a human. Their delivery is also not very good at all. They are not considered a "venomous snake" under most law and no permits are required in most areas, etc.

If one is worried about envenomation cloth gloves and long sleeves are all that is needed for protection. They have no true fangs just enlarged rear teeth that make a wound that venom flows into. Hence with gloves and/or sleeves any venom will be absorbed by the material and not make it into the wound.

I have one and I handle him bare handed all but in the times I need to do work on his viv when he is in shed. He gets a bit testy when in blue but so do many snakes.

So yes the venom is potent but the volume is very small and the delivery is not sufficient to be very dangerous. I would not try to talk anyone with a bit of experience and an understanding of the space and basic caution needed not to get one. They are great snakes and most (not all) have great attitudes. They are very active during the day and don't hide much so that makes them great display animals too,

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Wow dude. Sick post thanks!

I was wondering some of this stuff and you hit everything on the dot. :carrot:

Yeah, they're pretty docile, my friend had a pair for a while and I was able to hold them no problem. He got bitten once, but nothing happen. we were told its about 2x a beesting, he's gotten worse reactions from a hognose

A real big "pioneer" in FWC is Mr. Wes Pollock from Fauna, also look into http://www.snakemuseum.com/cobra.htm They really know there stuff over there on so many rear fanged as well as a lot of New World Colubrids and some Old World Stuff.