My Venomous Snakes

[Najakeeper]

When I was in Costa Rica a big Guy named Rudy was in charge of the Herps. He gave me some advice which I know pass on to you. He told me if I kept handling hots, which everyone at the field station did, it would not be one of the aggressive snakes that struck at the cage every time someone walked by that got me. It would be one of the tame ones. He pointed to a Velvet viper and said, "Every time that snake needs its water changed, or soils its substrate, your heart will be pounding and your hands will shake and you will use the tongs and scoop to reach into the cage. If the snake needs to come out, you will use a hook, and put it straight into the plastic tub and put the lid on, before you do anything in that cage." As he talked his hand moved past the door and there was a audible thumb as the Bothrops tried to bite him through the glass. Then we walked over to a Micrurus nigrocintus. (If you ever see one of these living jewels, you will forget all about cobras.) This snake sat curled up in its cage, hardly moving. Rudy opened the door and the snake didn't move. He explained, "this snake never strikes at anything bigger than a pinky. It is incredibly docile. I frequently catch students like you holding it. It is a really smart snake. It seems tame. This is the one that scares me most. Someday it is going to have a bad day."

I was there a year and every time I handled a Bothrops, I was scared. The Eyelash vipers could be aggressive or not. That big coral snake was just so sweet. Lots of people would just reach in and pull it out. One of my fellow biologists used to sit at his desk and pet it. I went back state side before it happened, but that coral snake did hit someone. Luckily the bite was dry, but I caution you, "It is the tame one that will get you."

Please be careful.

Thanks for the good advice mate, I totally agree with the content except for the coral snake being prettier than the cobras . With my 10+ years with venomous snakes, I have also learned that complacency is my worst enemy. Yet, I do know my snakes as well so I take "reasonable" risks in very limited contexts.

[Najakeeper]

More leucistic cobra footage:



And a fish eating death adder :

[Albert Clark]

Thank you Najakeeper, for a look into the "hot" side of reptile care. Very interesting and informative pieces. Please be careful and don't forget to donate to USARK so we can overturn "the lacey act". Support the lawsuit against USFWS. Peace.

[Najakeeper]

Thank you Najakeeper, for a look into the "hot" side of reptile care. Very interesting and informative pieces. Please be careful and don't forget to donate to USARK so we can overturn "the lacey act". Support the lawsuit against USFWS. Peace.

I do support USARK but I see the problem as much bigger.



Cheers...

[George1994]

In your latest argument you say to get money out of politics, but I don't see this happening in my lifetime, or ever for that matter. Political parties need money, figures within politics need money, all of it to spread their agendas. Be it good or bad, money will always be a part of government.

Another issue is saying that science needs to rule the minds of the legislation and such put in place by governments. But that is also probably never going to happen. We are FAR to deep down the rabbit hole to make these changes any time soon.

Look at drug laws, weapon laws, Lacey act etc, they all have so much science against them, but no one really cares. In a world were the people are afraid of the governments, these things wont work. In a world where the NSA and GCHQ are collecting all of our data, watching everything we do, monitoring all of our communications, we have already lost most of the battle. Look at the impact of the Snowden release, a few months of 'wow this is awful' and all of a sudden people quiet down and go back to normal life. The people in charge don't really care, nor listen.

I am not arguing with you, there needs to be a massive change, but in the core of the governments. They need to understand they are elected by US, to protect US. Not to rule us, but to be ruled by us. They should be implementing the changes that the public asks for.

I am from the UK, so I don't suffer directly from this act, but I feel for you all. I am fed up with the powers that be, both sides of the pond.

EDIT: By the way I love your videos, keep it up man! Been watching them all day at work!

[Najakeeper]

In your latest argument you say to get money out of politics, but I don't see this happening in my lifetime, or ever for that matter. Political parties need money, figures within politics need money, all of it to spread their agendas. Be it good or bad, money will always be a part of government.


EDIT: By the way I love your videos, keep it up man! Been watching them all day at work!

Taking money out of politics can be rephrased as taking big money out of politics. Limit the contributions to 1k per person, give political parties public access channels for their propaganda. When corporations and special interest groups cannot bribe politicians, voters will start to matter. Check out wolf-pac.com and see what they are trying to do.

Thanks for the comment about the videos, I love making them.

[George1994]

Taking money out of politics can be rephrased as taking big money out of politics. Limit the contributions to 1k per person, give political parties public access channels for their propaganda. When corporations and special interest groups cannot bribe politicians, voters will start to matter. Check out wolf-pac.com and see what they are trying to do.

Thanks for the comment about the videos, I love making them.

We've seen it before, we see it now, they will say one thing and in reality another thing is going on. There needs to be fundamental changes, right down to the roots of governments for the voters to get power back.

I am incredibly pro activism, I adore your desire for this and I feel exactly the same. My personal agenda is more geared towards drug and privacy problems, but we need people like you and I. Keep up what you are doing!

Your videos are great, I am so jealous of what you have set up, it is really incredible! How many snakes do you currently own?

[Najakeeper]

Quick humidity fix:

[Najakeeper]

Here are my glorious cobra pair:









And my Dajarra death adder female:

[Najakeeper]

Northern Floodplains Death Adders are put together again. After last year's failure, I hope it works better this time around: