false water cobras

Does any one here know about them. Im thinking about geting one but I know very little information on them. Also, the one I might get is $130 pluse shipping. Is this good. Any information would be greatly apprecieated.
Thanks

Are you experienced in handling and keeping HOTS?;)

If you do not think they are venomous, I would suggest reading this abstract:
http://www.mib.ch/toxi/lit/p38738.html

There venom is comparable to that of a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake in lab tests. However, the snake is rear fanged and delivers a smaller amount of venom. Alot of people see FWCs as a steping stone when learning how to handle venomous snakes because they are generally docile. I actually looked into getting one at a time because i had read of their wicked feeding responce, but was completely turned off by the 'venom' part.

There is alot of information out there.....a quick search will get you tons.

Darnet, that sucks. Well whats the chances of me geting bit? Because I thought these were really cool snakes and the reason I was thinking about it was because I wanted to do somthing with hots in the FAR future after I get on the Phoenix Fire Department and start some type of program with removing hots from housing areas as a part time job.

They are fast - very fast.



Because they are rear-fanged the chance of receiving a lethal dose of venom is remote. Nonetheless they are not to be handled without adequeate precautions.

Ok, so im thinking im gonna get one after a few more weeks of research, or until I know what im doing. Thats sounded a bit better. Thanks for the help.

Ok, so they normaly reach in size from 6 to 7 feet with records hiting up around 10 feet. What do I need for a 7 foot long snake??? All they told me was that what ever its in, it doesnt have to be tall since its in its bowl most of the time. Thanks for reading and this I guess would be a basic snake question.

about 4 feet by 1 and a half foot cages is what they keep them in at our local serpentarium. and yeah, everytime im there almost all of them are in the waterbowls, lol.

Ok, thank you sooo much and thank you for telling me there always in the water bowls. The guys over on another forum told me to check up on my skills with them and that I was praticaly an idiot for thinking that. I would say the name but I believe the forum rules say not to. But yeah

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Originally Posted by PJ FF

Ok, thank you sooo much and thank you for telling me there always in the water bowls. The guys over on another forum told me to check up on my skills with them and that I was praticaly an idiot for thinking that. I would say the name but I believe the forum rules say not to. But yeah

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The people you are referring to have significantly more experiences with herps than you do.

They were concerened with your lack of experience handling hots and the fact that you are only 14 years old.

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Originally Posted by Shelby

A false water cobra is NOT a hot. PJ FF is doing his job gathering info before his purchase.

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Yes - it is a HOT.

lol you are right. Serves me right for not reading the thread first. :P

I had lumped them together with hognoses (as far as minimal toxicity rear fanged colubrids) in my head for some reason. I never was interested in them, so didn't do any research.

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Originally Posted by Shelby

lol you are right. Serves me right for not reading the thread first. :P

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That's what edit is for.

I have no problem with someone gathering information, and the folks "on the other forum" gave him excellent advice - it just wasn't what he wanted to hear.

In the other thread he actually asked what the medical treatment is for a bite.

Not a bad question in itself, but it doesn't exactly instill confidence that he has significant handling experience with aggressive species.

I never saw the other thread so can't comment on it really.

Anyway.. it's not a snake I'd want. I read that article daniel posted, and that bite doesn't sound fun.

WHy don't you get a coach whip or a racer? So if you can handle them without getting bit then your are more than likely ready to take the next step. Good hook training haha:P

haha.. now there's an idea. Coachwhips are nasty buggers.. I've got a kingsnake that's not all that far off though.

There are alot better aggressive snakes to start off with if someone is looking into getting some handling experience.

I love eastern coachwhips...if i can ever find some that are CBB, I will buy a pair in a heartbeat. I have read of people keeping 'tame' coachwhips (mainly westerns).....but I love their feeding responce and their mechanics of biting. Coachwhip bite can be very nasty because when they strike defensively they tend to bite and pull back causing cuts instead of little puncture wounds...ha ha....

Shavemycoinpurse- im clarifying this with you and the others from this thread. I also sent you a pm about it. When I said "people on the other forum" i was NOT refearing to the guys on faunaclassifieds.com. It was toward the guys on ****s.com because when I told them they spend alot of time in there water bowl, they stated going off on me saying I need to lear more, chech up on my husbandry and stuff like that. When I said that thing from the post on this site, it was on 2-11-06 or 2-12-06, the one on the other site that your referring to was on 3-13-06 sorry for the confusion. Any ways, thanks for all the help and like i said at the other site, will take every1s post into concederation.

"In other states (Arizona and California, for example) you can keep only indigenous venomous species of non-protected types."-petplace.com

So, basically anything out of the area and anything on the protected list is not allowed. Also, I doubt if a minor will be allowed to keep a hot. Its really wonderful that you have such aspirations, but you should consider getting some experience under your belt before you move on to the hots. The Coachwhip is a wonderful start if you ask me. Fast little boogers and are known to inflict multiple bites :D

Just my :twocents:

hmm.. now i'm confused. i always considered these snakes hots and not a snake i'd like to own. however, at the last reptile show i went to, there way a guy selling them there. they had a subtle beauty that was strangely intriguing... he let me handle an adult and when i explained that i thought they were venemous he laughed and said, "nope".
now, it would seem he was just being dishonest, but the organizers of the event are very strict in keeping with their rules and the main rule is you cannot sell venemous animals. what's up with this guy selling them then??
anyway, just thought i'd share that the poster isn't the only confused one... then again, there was that post a couple weeks ago about the hognose breeder that was saying they aren't for beginners because they're venemous. that said, a coachwhip or bullsnake would probably be a better choice if you're looking for a larger, aggressive snake.

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Originally Posted by PJ FF

Shavemycoinpurse- im clarifying this with you and the others from this thread. I also sent you a pm about it. When I said "people on the other forum" i was NOT refearing to the guys on faunaclassifieds.com. It was toward the guys on ****s.com because when I told them they spend alot of time in there water bowl, they stated going off on me saying I need to lear more, chech up on my husbandry and stuff like that. When I said that thing from the post on this site, it was on 2-11-06 or 2-12-06, the one on the other site that your referring to was on 3-13-06 sorry for the confusion. Any ways, thanks for all the help and like i said at the other site, will take every1s post into concederation.

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Thanks for clarifying.

Don't rush into the FWC's - like others have suggested, find a non-hot that presents a handling challenege. Then work your way into the FWC's - you have plenty of time ahead of you to acquire many interesting species.

I have a friend who keeps FWC's - I can put you in touch with her if you like.

Just let me know.

-Scott