Rhinoceros ratsnake - a Rhynchophis boulengeri bite

Hello. If anyone knows more about these snakes I would be grateful for a few tips. Month ago I got a pair of young ones under my care. I read all I could find about husbandry but little I could find about their toxin and possible bite. My boss scares me that im too crazy relaxed with them and if they bite me I would have to go to a hospital and that it hurts like hell.
Is that true?
I had some problems with blood coagulation years ago so im a tiny bit concerned.
I don't get them out of the enclosure jet and they are a handfull when feeding so I have to be there until they finish swallowing food at the same time cause they might hurt eachother otherwise. One time the one finished first and rolled around the other one which was still eating, suffocating her.. I immediately sprayed her with water and she let go. Damn! So greedy.
Guy who sold it to us said they can be together as a pair, Femaile and male.

I want to separate them while feeding to avoid possible injury to them and by doing so Need to know what a bite can cause.

Im not alergic to anything if that helps and not afraid of bites in general.

They are two curious cuties and I wish to know more.
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I've got one of these beauties :)

Mines a few years old and around 3' long but he's as soft as any Royal Python , very slow moving and gentle and NEVER tried to bite or strike or anything , he takes warmed up mice off tongs and that's the only time he opens his mouth :)

They're nonvenomous anyway and not even rear- fanged either as many seem to think so I wouldn't worry at all .

The only problem I can see is the one you've highlighted , feeding two snakes in the same Viv .

Makes sense to get one out ( the calmest most sedate one ) and feed it in a separate tub . Leave them apart for an hour or so to let the feeding instinct subside .




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I'd start with researching Philodryas baroni, the species you pictured.. I did a quick google search and snagged you a couple links to get started. Note, I haven't read these, just picked a couple that looked like they'd interest me if I happened to find myself keeping these critters with no former experience.

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forum...as-baroni.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23800999

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Originally Posted by Pitonica

Hello. If anyone knows more about these snakes I would be grateful for a few tips. Month ago I got a pair of young ones under my care. I read all I could find about husbandry but little I could find about their toxin and possible bite. My boss scares me that im too crazy relaxed with them and if they bite me I would have to go to a hospital and that it hurts like hell.
Is that true?
I had some problems with blood coagulation years ago so im a tiny bit concerned.
I don't get them out of the enclosure jet and they are a handfull when feeding so I have to be there until they finish swallowing food at the same time cause they might hurt eachother otherwise. One time the one finished first and rolled around the other one which was still eating, suffocating her.. I immediately sprayed her with water and she let go. Damn! So greedy.
Guy who sold it to us said they can be together as a pair, Femaile and male.

I want to separate them while feeding to avoid possible injury to them and by doing so Need to know what a bite can cause.

Im not alergic to anything if that helps and not afraid of bites in general.

They are two curious cuties and I wish to know more.
Thanks! https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b064933edf.jpg

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

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Personally I would separate them ASAP. They will mature and go into breeding mode too early and without the proper body condition. I did that with some Arizona Mountain King snakes, I thought my female was going to die because she was so thin and wouldn't' eat because she went into breeding mode. If I were you I'd only put them together when they are fully mature and when they have a decent body weight. And with most snakes if they have eggs too young it can kill them, or so I've heard.

Those are some beautiful snakes by the way! Apparently the babies have a tough time feeding and will sometimes only take small fish! I've never heard anything about these being venomous, not even rear fanged.

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

I've got one of these beauties :)

Mines a few years old and around 3' long but he's as soft as any Royal Python , very slow moving and gentle and NEVER tried to bite or strike or anything , he takes warmed up mice off tongs and that's the only time he opens his mouth :)

They're nonvenomous anyway and not even rear- fanged either as many seem to think so I wouldn't worry at all .

The only problem I can see is the one you've highlighted , feeding two snakes in the same Viv .

Makes sense to get one out ( the calmest most sedate one ) and feed it in a separate tub . Leave them apart for an hour or so to let the feeding instinct subside .




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Thanks, will seperate them for sure. They look so cute indeed. Yours has nice long nose.. And the bright colour.. Beautiful display animal as they spend most of the time out on the branches looking what im doing [emoji7]

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Originally Posted by John1982

I'd start with researching Philodryas baroni, the species you pictured.. I did a quick google search and snagged you a couple links to get started. Note, I haven't read these, just picked a couple that looked like they'd interest me if I happened to find myself keeping these critters with no former experience.

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forum...as-baroni.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23800999

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Thank you, will read the links you attached, realised later I wrote the wrong name from google. In my country we call them (plural) - Barunke [emoji3]

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Originally Posted by Pitonica

Thanks, will seperate them for sure. They look so cute indeed. Yours has nice long nose.. And the bright colour.. Beautiful display animal as they spend most of the time out on the branches looking what im doing [emoji7]

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Mine is always alert as well 24/7 !

Stunning looking , great to handle as its so gentle and slow moving and isn't too large . The odd thing is if he likes a soak most days and if it's feeding time when he's in the bowl he gets the mouse and eats it under water !!

How cool !


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Also if yours is a Philodryas baroni then I'm fairly certain they're rear-fanged and as such they are classed as mildly venomous !!

I was all set on getting one myself until I learnt that fact and being hyper-sensitive I couldn't risk getting bitten . Luckily I was able to source a Rhino Rat snake which are very , very similar but with cute little nose and are not rear fanged ..


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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Also if yours is a Philodryas baroni then I'm fairly certain they're rear-fanged and as such they are classed as mildly venomous !!

I was all set on getting one myself until I learnt that fact and being hyper-sensitive I couldn't risk getting bitten . Luckily I was able to source a Rhino Rat snake which are very , very similar but with cute little nose and are not rear fanged ..


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Damn.. Than I have to be carefull... if someone here from the forum was bitten by baroni snake would be great if he or she shared the experience [emoji12]


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Originally Posted by Pitonica

Damn.. Than I have to be carefull... if someone here from the forum was bitten by baroni snake would be great if he or she shared the experience [emoji12]


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I'd Google them and their bites to be honest . I'm sure there will be loads of experiences and photos .

One guy from a UK forum was bitten by a Hognose snake which are very common here in the UK and they are also rear-fanged and thus mildly venomous and he was taken to accident & emergency and was kept in for a short while .. He posted photos and kept us updated . Pretty sure he was nipped on a finger but the swelling and bruising spread up to his upper arm area plus he was off work for a while - guess it's like anything and every individual will react differently though . That said most Hognose keepers don't seem to mention the risks when they're selling on their Hoggies or the hatchlings which kinda irritates me to be honest ...

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

also rear-fanged and thus mildly venomous

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This association could land you in pretty hot water.

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

I'd Google them and their bites to be honest . I'm sure there will be loads of experiences and photos .

One guy from a UK forum was bitten by a Hognose snake which are very common here in the UK and they are also rear-fanged and thus mildly venomous and he was taken to accident & emergency and was kept in for a short while .. He posted photos and kept us updated . Pretty sure he was nipped on a finger but the swelling and bruising spread up to his upper arm area plus he was off work for a while - guess it's like anything and every individual will react differently though . That said most Hognose keepers don't seem to mention the risks when they're selling on their Hoggies or the hatchlings which kinda irritates me to be honest ...

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That is the thing, haven't found much about the baroni bite on google.
At work there is a lot of snakes and reptiles... a part of my job is to take care of all of them cause they said im really good at it so. ..
Baroni bite situations I read today from the links John sent me here on the forum left me really worried.. I don't mind handling hognose i have, a bunch of ball phytons, rat snake water dragons and other reptiles but this is something else, the more I read about the bite situations the more I don't know how will I change the water and clean the poor snakes from now on.. I knew they are not a joke but I kept telling myself it will be nothing seriois even if a bite happens. My boss mentioned just pain and edema.. Bit looks like it can get much more worse than that.
I do care about them and I feel like I am failing them now [emoji20]

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Originally Posted by John1982

This association could land you in pretty hot water.

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Everything I've read on rear-fanged snakes ( due to my hypersensitivity to more or less everything ) suggests they are all classed as mildly venomous - if you have some evidence to the contrary I'd love to see it and if you know of any rear-fanged that are proven to be not mildly venomous I'd probably be very interested in owning one .

This is the type of thing you see if you type in rear- fanged snakes ..... :- excuse the copy and paste ..

" The term “rear fanged” is applied to a variety of unrelated snakes that possess a venom-producing gland and 1-3 enlarged, grooved maxillary teeth in the rear of the mouth. We do not yet know how many species possess these venom-conducting teeth (“rear fangs”), but evidence indicates that snake venom evolved some 60 million years ago – before non-venomous snakes came into being. Therefore, all present day species may have evolved from venomous ancestors, and may possess at least the traces of venom glands - Quite often rear-fanged snakebites result in only mild reactions. Some rear-fanged species, however, have caused fatalities as there are at least two very “famous” fatalities ."


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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Everything I've read on rear-fanged snakes ( due to my hypersensitivity to more or less everything ) suggests they are all classed as mildly venomous -

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Not all species in these genera are deadly but there are some nasty enough that florida wildlife requires a colubridae specific venomous permit to possess them. You should research these to broaden your ideas on rear-fanged serpents. One that'll likely jump out at you early on is the boomslang, Dispholidus, a rear fanged snake that will surely put a world of hurt on you with or without hypersensitivity.

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all reptiles in the family Colubridae belonging to the genera: Rhabdophis, Boiga, Dispholidus, Thelatornis, and Atractapsis

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Quote from FWC license page: http://myfwc.com/license/captive-wildlife/

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Originally Posted by John1982

Not all species in these genera are deadly but there are some nasty enough that florida wildlife requires a colubridae specific venomous permit to possess them. You should research these to broaden your ideas on rear-fanged serpents. One that'll likely jump out at you early on is the boomslang, Dispholidus, a rear fanged snake that will surely put a world of hurt on you with or without hypersensitivity.

Quote from FWC license page: http://myfwc.com/license/captive-wildlife/

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So you seemed to be an informed keeper - what's your take on rear-fanged snakes ?

Are they ALL classed as mildly venomous as I was led to believe or are you aware of any rear-fanged that are not at all venomous ??


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Originally Posted by Zincubus

So you seemed to be an informed keeper - what's your take on rear-fanged snakes ?

Are they ALL classed as mildly venomous as I was led to believe or are you aware of any rear-fanged that are not at all venomous ??


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I'm no expert!
I'm pretty sure the boomslang has killed a few folks that didn't seek treatment, it's a rearranged colubrid, I may be wrong but I think the same can be said for the banded mangrove, but I'm not so sure there are recorded deaths from it.
I feel sure there's others as I'm so inexperienced.