"False King Cobra"?

[valhalha30]

I was at a reptile show about a month ago, and I've been meaning to ask about this snake.

I saw a very tiny snake, maybe 10 inches long, it looked like a baby black rat snake, it was for sale for very cheap... I think maybe 25 dollars. But the tubs they were in were not labeled. So I asked the vendor, what are these young snakes and he said that they are False King Cobras. He went on telling me that these are hatchlings and that they can grow up to 11 feet long and they're indeed ratsnakes and they can hood sideways like a False water cobra. And that the babies he had were the only captive born False Kings in the world, because they are rare and they have awful personalities when found in the wild. He said his buddy owned the mating pair that produced the young, and that the parents were wild caught and very "pissy" as he put it. He also said that when they are older, they look exactly like a King Cobra. I think I recall myself giving a sceptical look.
But he reassured me that the snakes he had were indeed False king cobras.
But if they were a large, rare, colubrid, wouldn't they be more money? Especially for hatchlings? That's not my point really.... my point, or rather, question, is whether or not these snakes are real. Is there a such thing as a False King Cobra?

[bfirecat]

I would be highly skeptical... I have never heard of False King Cobras (although that doesn't mean much ).
I would assume that those are probably False Water Cobras....

[Annarose15]

Found this through Google: http://board.reptilechannel.com/Topi....aspx#bm176172

[valhalha30]

I looked on the JHReptiles site.....
I don't even know where to begin.... lol. It's rather sad that there are people spreading lies about reptiles... and making people who own and care for reptiles look like bumbling idoits. The prices for some of their snakes are either grossly over-priced or amazingly under-priced. This person clearly has no idea about reptiles and should not EVER have the right to sell them. He's probably a flipper, and a VERY uneducated one at that!
Ironically.... I believe that is the vendor I was talking to... but I may be wrong... they had no venomous species for sale... except for some rear-fanged colubrids.
UGH this has me all worked up... I can't even think straight or make a valid sentance lol

[valhalha30]

Hmm...
now that I took a closer look........
this may be not only the vendor I talked to, but the same one I bought my Indonesian Garter snake from...... (not from online, but from the show we were both at)
But honestly, it's only a hunch...

[Annarose15]

Ironically.... I believe that is the vendor I was talking to... but I may be wrong... they had no venomous species for sale... except for some rear-fanged colubrids.

No venomous, but plenty of "venemous" species! Depending on the show, venomous might not have been permitted, or the vendor might just have chosen not to bring them. Not definitive, just saying it doesn't rule out them being the same person.

[valhalha30]

No, the show I was at had plenty of venomous er... venemous species. They're allowedt there... which I like, since I like looking at hots.
I'd buy a "weak" venomed snake, or a rear-fanged colubrid...
Anyways....
The list of species is very similar... but I can't be all that certain since there isn't a picture of the guy I saw at the show on thier page.
DANG, I wish I would've grabbed a buisness card from him.

[valhalha30]

If this IS indeed the guy I was dealing with and bought a snake from, I must at least say that all his animals (that were at the show) are healthy.
They are all well fed and well kept, and he's a pretty kind person. I've heard him talk to other buyers in person, and he's fairly knowledgable and accurate about his animals. I don't have any complaints about the guy.... but... I may be talking about a completely different person, and not the person in question (the website person).
Either way, there are too many coincidences, and I don't believe in coincidences... so... I'm not going to let this off easy.
Next time I'm at that show, I'll see if it is that guy, and if he's the same guy as the one in the website, I'll give him a "report card" on here...
Still, the guy at the show I was at HAD "False King Cobras"... he called them something else too though... maybe Indonesian Ratsnakes, or something like that... but for the life of me I can't remember.

[mackynz]

If anyone tried to sell me a "rare" snake for $25 I would probably run.

[eatgoodfood]

If anyone tried to sell me a false king cobra id probably run..... Someone needs to change this crap with common names, especially at conventions and we need to start using scientific names, this would help eliminate some confusion...