Welcome our Coral Cobra

[reptileexperts]

Well it was 6 months ago I spoke that my wife probably would never want to start working with Elapids, but as it turns out she was partial to one of my favorite species when I brought it up, Aspidelaps lubricus cowlesi.

Four years ago in a friends shop in tomball, I saw this beautiful snake that I had admired in textbooks for years, the coral cobra. He offered to sell it to me, but I passed knowing that my time with Elapids was minimal and I was not in a place for adding one. . . Well time went on and this species hit the venomous boards fairly local to me and I had to ask where it came from. Turns out it was the same snake! I brought it to my wife along with a bite protocol and LD50 reports and let her decide if it was ok to add to the hots. She agreed and the deal was made!

Cape Coral Cobra, also called shield-nosed snakes and African Coral Snakes, are members of the Elapid family and neurotoxic. They are a small growing coral snake that is a mock cobra in some senses but very closely related in others. Unlike Naja, however, these snakes have an extremely low bite rate and are not considered a lethal bite. The downside is there is no anti-venom available for the species so systemic treatment is the only thing that can be done. Like other neuros it's bite progresses from sweats to swelling, from swelling to paralysis. The largest issue is if the paralysis makes it to the lungs which can kill a person quite fast. Fortunately, people who have been bit are typically released in 12-24 hours with no long term effects. Risks are still there though, and everyone reacts differently.

Remember, there really is no such thing as a beginner hot. It does not matter if it's a copperhead, a monocled cobra, or a rattlesnake, the most dangerous snake to keep is the venomous one that just bit you.

Better images to come.




A very bad pic. But the only good hood up shot I have so far.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk