Some Mussuranas

[hogleyripper]

I thought these were glass artwork at first look. This is the first time i have ever seen one of these colubrids. Thanks for sharing very cool snakes.

[DananaPants]

Bioteacher I saw a classified ad a few months ago in faunaclassifieds that said you need a Permit for them! i didn't think their venom was that toxic! Can you help clear this up for me?

[Skiploder]

Bioteacher I saw a classified ad a few months ago in faunaclassifieds that said you need a Permit for them! i didn't think their venom was that toxic! Can you help clear this up for me?

Some localities have restrictions on various rear-fanged snake species. While I have never seen one for a clelia or boiruna, that doesn't mean one doesn't exist somewhere.

I've been hit in feeding strikes and wrapped and chewed on for some time by my boiruna and have had no issues. While their venom may have some toxicity, they have relatively small rear fangs and just don't produce or effectively deliver enough venom in a bite to pose a threat to a human.

[TheWinWizard]

Absolutely breathtaking. I'd love a pair of them.

[bioteacher]

Thanks All! They really are amazing! I'll get more photos of them up when the male sheds out (blue right now).

Skiploder nailed it. State regulations will determine what you can and cannot keep. For instance, these are fine here, but I can't get any Boiga species. both rarely pose any threat due to venom - unless you have an allergic reaction of course.

[Skiploder]

Thanks All! They really are amazing! I'll get more photos of them up when the male sheds out (blue right now).

Skiploder nailed it. State regulations will determine what you can and cannot keep. For instance, these are fine here, but I can't get any Boiga species. both rarely pose any threat due to venom - unless you have an allergic reaction of course.

Allergic reactions to colubrid venoms are just about non-existant. There are several reasons for this - the main one is that they don't produce enough for people to get significantly exposed to it and allergic reactions to venom are by-products of exposure.

I've taken hits from boiga (blandingii and dendrophilia) and they were not good experiences. While I didn't have any neuro effects the bitten areas ballooned up and oozed for several days.

I know an employee at a well known exotic reptile store in our area that got tagged by one and actually had neuro effects. That account came from one of the owners of that store.

Some colubrid venoms are drop for drop just as toxic as those from elapids - the delivery system and the amounts produced are just not good enough to give us medically significant doses.

Some boiga, telescopus, trimorphodon, rhamphiophis etc. all pack venom on par with that of a death adder. The analogy that is often used is that both are packing .45 caliber ammunition, the difference lies in that the elapids shoot that ammo from a gun while most colubrids throw it at you - underhand.

Rhamphiophis are often kept in this hobby and are docile snakes that are very disinclined to bite. However there have been papers published on their venom and it's comparative toxicity to several elapid species.

Mussaranas are awesome snakes. They are very much like a cribo on valium. The only downside to them is their often insane feeding responses and the fact that if you handle something else in your collection, you better get that snakey scent off of you before you try to handle your mussie!

[Alexandra V]

Dear god, these are amazing. I'm really not into colubrids, but these are ridiculous! I may just have to get me one (or two). What's the care like (or can you link me to a good care sheet?)

[bioteacher]

Thanks for the explanation skiploder - very thorough!

Alexandra - thank you, they are quite amazing and I'm not big into colubrids either.
The best care info would be in HerpNation's Nov 7th Issue: http://www.herpnation.com/category/issues/

Here is the author's (John Michels) site: http://web.mac.com/michelsj/Black_Pe...iles/Home.html

Here is a quick blurb on them on my site:
http://nyexotics.blogspot.com/2012/0...rana-love.html

I do plan to write up a quick care sheet for them, similar to other I have here:
http://nyexotics.blogspot.com/p/tear-care.html