My Venomous Snakes

Hello All,


I wanted to share with you guys my small venomous snake collection.


Here is the list:


1.1 Acanthophis sp. "Northern Floodplains" (2009/2011)


These snakes come from Northern Australia. The classification is a bit problematic as with most Death Adders. They have been called Acanthophis praelongus, Acanthophis cummingi and Acanthophis hawkei. Acanthophis praelongus is way too general for all Northern adders and does not work for this species. Acanthophis cummingi is a Hoser classification and is not accepted by most taxonomist. Acanthophis hawkei is used due to their genetics, apparently they are almost identical to their cousins from Barkly Tableland so they will probably be called Acanthophis hawkei at the end.


These snakes get to be around 80cm, the overall color is grey but they have beautiful orange/red and yellow bands. My pair will probably breed this coming spring.


Male:


http://imageshack.us/a/img844/6821/jxkd.jpg


http://imageshack.us/a/img850/756/ah...ultmaleeye.jpg




Female:


http://imageshack.us/a/img850/7325/4kxq.jpg


http://imageshack.us/a/img27/341/seaofcolor.jpg


1.1 Acanthophis sp. "Dajarra" (2012/2011)


These snakes come from the Dajarra desert in Australia and they are also a part of a classification debate. Again they are labeled as Acanthophis woolfi by Hoser but they are put into the Acanthophis rugosus group by Wuster. They are desert adapted adder species and have a beautiful coloration, which matches to their environment. Mine will probably breed in 2014.


Male:


http://imageshack.us/a/img703/6691/o1fn.jpg


http://imageshack.us/a/img213/7261/scales.jpg


1.1 Acanthophis antarcticus "Sydney Red" (2013)


Probably the pride and joy of my Death Adder collection, these come from Southeastern Australia, around Sydney area. They grow up to be impressive meter long adders and end up being light red with dark red bands. Adults look spectacular and even hatchlings like mine show a lot of color.


http://imageshack.us/a/img9/6485/6dj5.jpg


http://imageshack.us/a/img34/4283/3lfq.jpg


1.1 Naja (Boulengerina) sp. "Congo Water Cobra" (2013)


One of the rarest captive bred snakes. Only one breeder exists in Europe and he produces only three babies a year if it is a good year. These are probably the smallest cobras available, max out at around 60cm and are quite docile for a cobra when they are captive bred. The live in Congo near a lake and eat fish. Unfortunately, they are under risk of extinction due to gill nets in the lake that they hunt. I was told that switching them to mice is very difficult but took me 10 minutes to do so with my special scenting recipe .


http://imageshack.us/a/img534/4025/7n9m.jpg


http://imageshack.us/a/img577/6106/2yl9.jpg




0.1 Crotalus d. unicolor (2013)


Pitvipers are not my thing. I do not like venomous snakes with additional arsenal but I couldn't refuse this species. Critically endangered in the wild, these rattlesnakes are quite common in Europe. However, the ones available are very dark in color with clear markings. The wild ones are very light, with very faint pattern so I assume the stock in Europe is either hybridized or originated from a very dark pair. The baby girl I got on the other hand is very faint and will surely turn out to be exactly like they are in the wild with a lot of blue and pink. She may be the prettiest snake I have seen with my own eyes.


http://imageshack.us/a/img94/4318/4efj.jpg




Here is my Youtube channel, where I upload regular videos about these beautiful snakes. I also have videos from my previous venomous snakes, my Gila Monsters and my non-venomous reptiles. Enjoy and thanks for watching:


http://www.youtube.com/user/Najakeeper

Very cool collection!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

Very beautiful animals. It is quite a lovely collection.
Stay safe. :)

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Very beautiful animals!

All very nice specimens. That unicolor is awesome. It's a shame you don't have a male for her.

Very nice collection!

So how does one get close enough to the hot snake to determine its male or female

Thanks for the comments guys.

I can get a male for the C.d.unicolor next year, I don't have much space left so I might get into a breeding arrangement with another keeper, no problems there.

As for sexing, usually it is a two people job. One can restrain the snake with a tube, while the other probes it. But most of my snakes, especially the death adders, can be sexed just by looking at the tails.

Here is the Crotalus d. unicolor striking a dead pinky:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAOp7Ycqv-E


Very hard to catch him eating though...

Here is an update on the unnamed species of water cobra, Naja (Boulengerina) sp. "Congo".

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

And here are some pictures:

Naja (Boulengerina) sp. "Congo" male:

http://imageshack.us/a/img12/980/t543.jpg

Acanthophis hawkei female:

http://imageshack.us/a/img594/1106/c64d.jpg

Acanthophis sp. "Dajarra Desert" male:

http://imageshack.us/a/img707/8418/9w5c.jpg