My Venomous Snakes

I try to keep schedules quite simple.

Most snakes get one decent size meal per week.

Cobras get multiple food items usually at once but sometimes I would feed them twice in a week.

The king gets fed 2-3 times a week of 2 chicken feet at one feeding.

Here is some nice Monocled Cobra footage. Shows their personality quite accurately in my opinion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsFKVhDWn-A

Taking a small break from the videos for the holidays. Enjoy the festive times, I am clearly doing so:


http://imageshack.com/a/img905/3641/QnAY0n.jpg

Well, I managed to shoot a video and here is the King chowing down on mice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTxBdnNgUJ0

Here is the Crotalus d. unicolor taking down a rat for the first time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgedPuAd1oE

Thank you for the very informative videos, and interesting too!

I fully understand your move to downsize your collection. Afterall, family comes first.

Hope all goes well with your new baby. :)

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Originally Posted by Reinz

Thank you for the very informative videos, and interesting too!

I fully understand your move to downsize your collection. Afterall, family comes first.

Hope all goes well with your new baby. :)

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Thanks for watching mate.

Yeah, I especially needed to sell the Samar Cobras as there is no antivenom for the species.

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Originally Posted by Najakeeper

Thanks for watching mate.

Yeah, I especially needed to sell the Samar Cobras as there is no antivenom for the species.

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Excellent reason indeed!

The king just shed and was in the mood for some food:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zod3c0TXRS0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIcray8Sf1I 

I am very emotional about this but simply put, I have a very healthy month old boy in the house now and after many sleepless nights of deep thinking, I have decided that I cannot keep most of my venomous snakes...


I will get back to this amazing hobby when I can afford to have a separate place just for the animals but in the meantime, I will surely miss my animals.


Life is full of difficult decisions, and this was probably the hardest for me.

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Originally Posted by Najakeeper

I am very emotional about this but simply put, I have a very healthy month old boy in the house now and after many sleepless nights of deep thinking, I have decided that I cannot keep most of my venomous snakes...[/FONT][/COLOR]


I will get back to this amazing hobby when I can afford to have a separate place just for the animals but in the meantime, I will surely miss my animals.


Life is full of difficult decisions, and this was probably the hardest for me.

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This is a completely understandable decision and I respect it 100%. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good. I'm sure this is a very tough decision to make.


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Originally Posted by AlexisFitzy

This is a completely understandable decision and I respect it 100%. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good. I'm sure this is a very tough decision to make.


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One of the toughest I had to make as I do love my animals with passion. I will get back to it when I think I can provide a 100% safe environment but for now, I have to think about other people.

Ooh man thats horrible! Hard pill to swallow for sure!

Aweh, that's so unfortunate. I have really enjoyed lurking through your thread. I hope you can get back to it eventually.

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Originally Posted by slithering_BP

Ooh man thats horrible! Hard pill to swallow for sure!

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Yeah, I am still very emotional about this.

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Originally Posted by Fraido

Aweh, that's so unfortunate. I have really enjoyed lurking through your thread. I hope you can get back to it eventually.

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Thanks. I will have more photos/videos of the non venomous.

That's sad to hear Naja! I haven't posted but just sifted through the whole thread, magnificent animals for sure! Life is so unfair! :(:(

I feel for you but at the same time if you planned to have a child maybe you should have thought of that before acquiring so many venomous snakes. I think you're making the right decision though for your child's safety. Enjoy your precious boy <3

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Originally Posted by Snoopyslim

I feel for you but at the same time if you planned to have a child maybe you should have thought of that before acquiring so many venomous snakes.

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Life does not always go according to plan. Sometimes things (marriage, health emergencies, kids, fill in the blanks) sneak up on you and surprise you, and you find yourself in a position you didn't plan for, and sometimes not even foreseen yourself in. And if you don't have lots of experience with babies, reading/anecdotal information isn't always enough to guarantee you're ready for the reality.

Naja had a tough decision to make. If he had a time machine he maybe he'd go back and do things differently. Do you have one to lend him?


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I have been keeping venomous snakes for almost 15 years now. I was bitten once but never put anyone else in danger. No escapes, no close calls etc. my intention was just keep my protocols as it is and keep moving forward with the hobby even after the baby's arrival. Yet after my baby was born, the tiny chance of an escape, or a toddler opening one of locked cages somehow kept me awake for days. Being a father changes your mentality drastically and you have to think even the highly improbable.

So there wasn't any planning mistake here, everything was according to plan. I just changed after I had my son in my arms...

Look in the bright side; as he grows up, he can have an experienced reptile keeper as a dad to eventually teach him how to keep hots!

Congrats on the new arrival!

I'm sorry Naja, I shouldn't have posted on your thread. My opinion on hots has nothing to do with your emotional journey. I don't doubt in the slightest that you are a very responsible owner,I just worry about the people you sold to. I'm sure you did extensive background checks since you obviously care for your snakes greatly and would only want them to go to a good home. I am not a parent but I can understand. My niece is 7 years old now and I still check in on her to make sure she's breathing when she stays over. I really do wish you and your son a wonderful life and I'm sorry you had to give up your hobby for now. It was totally unnecessary to make my previous comment, please accept my apology.

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Originally Posted by Snoopyslim

I'm sorry Naja, I shouldn't have posted on your thread. My opinion on hots has nothing to do with your emotional journey. I don't doubt in the slightest that you are a very responsible owner,I just worry about the people you sold to. I'm sure you did extensive background checks since you obviously care for your snakes greatly and would only want them to go to a good home. I am not a parent but I can understand. My niece is 7 years old now and I still check in on her to make sure she's breathing when she stays over. I really do wish you and your son a wonderful life and I'm sorry you had to give up your hobby for now. It was totally unnecessary to make my previous comment, please accept my apology.

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Not a problem, thank you for your sincere note.

I have rejected very lucrative offers for my snakes from people, who wouldn't be able to properly care for them. For me the animals' well being is the important factor. I am very happy that some of them actually were sold to reputable zoos. I hope I made the correct choices for the rest.

Sad news indeed but fanily is always priority number 1. i especially love you little king snake, are you keeping any of your hots?

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Originally Posted by M.P.C

Sad news indeed but fanily is always priority number 1. i especially love you little king snake, are you keeping any of your hots?

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Only the Congo Water Cobras as they are quite docile animals.

Here is how the room looks like after most of the venomous are gone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mllPvxXdhE

Thanks for sharing your collection Naja. I enjoyed it. :)

Awe man, balfouri is right up there with metallica as far as old world beauties. I wish you luck in producing some.

Very entertaining video Naja. Thanks.


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What brand/setup is your female green tree python enclosure? The complete transparency looks awesome!

Also, always love watching your collection or feeding videos. :D

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Originally Posted by Reinz

Thanks for sharing your collection Naja. I enjoyed it. :)

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Thanks for watching.

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Originally Posted by John1982

Awe man, balfouri is right up there with metallica as far as old world beauties. I wish you luck in producing some.

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Thank you. I did produce some before, since they are cheaper now my intention is to start a colony in a big tank. That should look real cool.

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Originally Posted by Terminal

Very entertaining video Naja. Thanks.


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Thanks for watching.

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

What brand/setup is your female green tree python enclosure? The complete transparency looks awesome!

Also, always love watching your collection or feeding videos. :D

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Thanks buddy.

In EU, we have these custom made glass enclosures for sale in almost every show. I keep the GTPs in 80cm long terrariums. Keeping the humidity up is a little tricky but careful use of duck-tape is the key ;).

Now that my own hot collection is growing back beyond where it use to be, I cant imagine having to drop them again. Sad to see your venomous has shrunk so much, but always understandable.

Cheers

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Originally Posted by reptileexperts

Now that my own hot collection is growing back beyond where it use to be, I cant imagine having to drop them again. Sad to see your venomous has shrunk so much, but always understandable.

Cheers

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Mate, it really is painful. Most of all, I miss my white cobra. But I gotta say I like my human baby more than the snakes ;).

In the meantime, my water cobras are getting fat for the upcoming breeding season. These are adults now, I raised them from tiny hatchlings and they are still very calm animals...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V79Muh0_XRM

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Originally Posted by Najakeeper

So I had to decide which cobra species to keep due to space restrictions. Aside from the N.kaouthia morphs and the water cobras, which I keep, I choose the Naja samarensis, the Samar Cobra.


These animals come from the Samar Island in the Southern Philippines. Although they are true spitters, adults rarely do so and this is a nice spitter to work with. Also, their colors are so amazing, this just makes them the most beautiful Naja species in my opinion and they stay around 3ft range, less than a meter in most cases. The only problem with them is their 'attitude'. These guys are always angry and they do not take prisoners. Someone I know used to say that if they were 6 ft instead of 3, we would probably be all evolved from them :).


Ok, here is my female, which is a whopping 1.3 meters, very large for this species:

And here is a feeding video:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2vP4QBhiUA

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This may chalk up to be the most intense 10 minutes of my week hahaha

Good Read , King Cobra at #8 Here :)

http://viraltalks.com/11-most-venomous-animal-list-are-full-of-deadly-creatures/p/

I cannot go back to venomous snakes yet, having a super inquisitive toddler, who is already crazy for all the animals he sees. I need 4-5 years at least for a collection like I used to have. But I took the risk to get one Gila Monster baby to satisfy the itch to a degree. I think he is absolutely gorgeous and we love him to bits...


Heloderma suspectum cinctum:
http://imageshack.com/a/img924/7198/cGl8ny.jpg


http://imageshack.com/a/img922/8527/CM1MDZ.jpg


And here is a video:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HATxLq4ALM&amp;t