Snakes

Admin what does the site where the puff adder bit you look like now? I have seen a couple of people who has been bitten by one and got treatment but the site still really looks bad. Big pieces of flesh gone!

ABC01 wrote: Admin what does the site where the puff adder bit you look like now? I have seen a couple of people who has been bitten by one and got treatment but the site still really looks bad. Big pieces of flesh gone!

I was bitten in the tip of my finger and lost the bottom part where the fingerprint is. Basically there is no flesh covering the bone, only skin with a really messed up fingerprint. Almost lost the nail, but managed to safe that.

Lol, 5 minutes after my last reply I went outside to my pet meerkats and they were fighting with this Puff adder, so I caught it and will release it tonight.


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Woe se hulle - praat van die duiwel dan trap jy op sy stert!

Admin you a zoologist? I'd never have the balls to be within 5m of a poisonous snake, pythons and boas I can handle but noway in hell will I ever touch a puff adder

Deadgoat wrote: Admin you a zoologist? I'd never have the balls to be within 5m of a poisonous snake, pythons and boas I can handle but noway in hell will I ever touch a puff adder

Hehe, no bud... I just like exotic animals. I have a Gaboon Viper in the living room in a nice display cage. I used to make thousands a couple of years ago when I had breeding pairs of rare reptiles.

Gaboon Viper hey? You must not like having company over at your place, I take it the Mrs lives in the granny flat at the back?

Admin, I dont know you personally and I think you are one crazy motherducker.

haha keep up the good work.

Snakes are almost the only thing i am scared of!!!!
Dont know where you live Admin or how you live there with "puff adders right outside your front door"!!!!!

admin wrote: .... to my pet meerkats....

'Man i have to get me some of those! Do they run around freely on the farm?

lol... we are sooo off topic here!

I split the original topic into two, because we went completely off topic...

jackrabbit1 wrote:

admin wrote: .... to my pet meerkats....

'Man i have to get me some of those! Do they run around freely on the farm?

They used to run around outside, but they go very far and the neighboring farm's workers killed some because their minds are too primitive to understand the difference between pets and food.

So I decided to build a cage instead... hopefully they will bread this year.

admin wrote:

jackrabbit1 wrote:

admin wrote: .... to my pet meerkats....

their minds are too primitive to understand the difference between pets and food.

:laugh:

Deadgoat wrote:

admin wrote:

jackrabbit1 wrote:

admin wrote: .... to my pet meerkats....

their minds are too primitive to understand the difference between pets and food.

:laugh:

hulle eet selfs bobejane! :huh:

I would so like to build a nice big (3m x 3m) enclosure to keep a West African Gaboon viper breeding pair but you need a permit and its fairly impossible when living in a complex.

Gaboon vipers are probably one of the most beautiful animals on God's green earth.

Admin, what would a fairly nice snake enclosure (perspex box type) and a Gaboon viper setup cost? You'll probably need some form of temperature and humidity control in there?

I'm referring to the East African Gaboon viper in this case.

vega5 wrote: I would so like to build a nice big (3m x 3m) enclosure to keep a West African Gaboon viper breeding pair but you need a permit and its fairly impossible when living in a complex.

Gaboon vipers are probably one of the most beautiful animals on God's green earth.

Admin, what would a fairly nice snake enclosure (perspex box type) and a Gaboon viper setup cost? You'll probably need some form of temperature and humidity control in there?

The west african one becomes pretty big and I think the largest recorded were just over 2m. However they will choose a spot with loose leaves and burry themselves underneath it and stay there for months. The problem is that they are used to allot of rain and high humidity so some like mine will not bother to go look for water and will rather wait for it to come to them. This sounds funny, but they will dehydrate and might even become constipated and die from that.
So you will see that allot of WA Gaboon owners putting the snakes in a water bath and then that will encourage them to drink and shit ect.
My enclosure is temperature controlled and I have a humidity meter in it as well, but manually spray the cage with water to keep humidity above 50%. You get automatic foggers and they are cheap... good ones are about R400.

The east african one is the highly endangered one. You get them here in the St Lucia area and in Zimbabwe. They are much smaller in size and also have smaller horns on the nose, but the best way to tell the two species apart is by looking at the dark lines that go down from the eyes. The WA species only has one thick stripe where the EA one has two like a puff adder. The EA one is easier to keep, because they can survive in our climate easier, but you will need a permit for them and getting them in the first place is a pain. I've only seen one EA gaboon before and that is on the N2 outside Mosselbay.

The WA gaboons are relatively easy to get for those of us that live in Gauteng or North West, but the guys from the Cape will have some issues. Most WA gaboons sell for about R2500-R3000 when young.

My West African Gaboon - A couple of months ago, so its much bigger now:

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Meerkat:

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That meerkat is one cute little fella...

Those meerkats are cute! My uncle use to have a few tamed ones on the farm. They are like children in the house. Gets quit agressive though when you try and cuddle them. Can give a nasty nibble

That snake is so beautiful. Admin, you said that you only handle them with thongs, right?

How often does their enclosures need to be cleaned? I'm not sure how much a snake actually pee and poo.

I've read that because they live I the thick foliage they get in a lot of leaves and stuff when they eat then they also get congested from that.

If I get one I want to make it a seriously proper enclosure so I will have heating pads and lamps for winter + a humidifier and the necessary temp. and humidity meters.

vega5 wrote: That snake is so beautiful. Admin, you said that you only handle them with thongs, right?

How often does their enclosures need to be cleaned? I'm not sure how much a snake actually pee and poo.

I've read that because they live I the thick foliage they get in a lot of leaves and stuff when they eat then they also get congested from that.

If I get one I want to make it a seriously proper enclosure so I will have heating pads and lamps for winter + a humidifier and the necessary temp. and humidity meters.

Yes, the Gaboons are by far the most beautiful snake for me. I've never touched this snake with my hands and only use hooks and thongs. I only handle the Gaboon with hooks, but you will need two, because it's very heavy... if you use two it's very easy to pickup, because it's not a very active snake like a cobra or mamba that will slide off or climb up and bite you in the face.

The Gaboon is a very good "showcase" snake because they never climb onto things and only lay still in their spot, so for that reason you can even use live plants in the cage since the snake will not break them apart like a cobra would. Most snakes will do anything to hide away by squeezing into the smallest crack or hole... a Gaboon on the other hand will look for a patch of leaves and wiggle in between them and wait there for prey. It's also only one of a few snake species that can move their eyes... when they sleep the pupil disappears, but when they wakeup it's like someone pushed a button and their pupil reappears instantly and when you walk past the cage you only notice the eye following you.

You don't have to clean the cage often at all as they don't make a mess like anaconda's for example. I had two yellow anacondas and it's the worst snake species I've ever kept. They need allot of water and what they do is climb in there and shit the water until its green like swamp and you only see the eyes on the top of their head looking at you. Every time I got near to clean that stinking water bath they launch out like a crocodile and bite the crap out of you. What made it even worse is they launch with so much force that half of the shit water is splashed onto you.

You are correct about them getting congested by swallowing leaves, however nature already found a way around this. When they strike their prey they hold on and immediately lift their heads out of the ground ect in an attempt to avoid getting stuff in their mouth. Sometimes they do get a small stick or something stuck in their mouth and they do this weird shake to try and get it out. I always stay close when I feed it and when something gets caught in there I use one of those feeding tweezers to remove it slowly so that it doesn't notice.

I have a video of it catching a rat, but it's not too good, so I'll try and make a better video tomorrow or wednesday when I feed it again.

Thanks for all the info! I first wanted a box jelly fish in a cylindrical tank but that's one seriously expensive hobby. The jelly is about 15k if you can find it and you need some serious permits and plenty other special filters and sea water chlorinators and I can't even remember what else.

So I decided on the next best exotic animal that I really love.

The only thing that I'm VERY nervous about is the fact that I've never touched a snake in my life let alone a poisonous one but like all things in life you have to start somewhere.

[quote="admin" post=52186....... Every time I got near to clean that stinking water bath they launch out like a crocodile and bite the crap out of you. What made it even worse is they launch with so much force that half of the shit water is splashed onto you......[/quote]

Hahahahaha... i would love to see that show!