The Reptile Bloke

The Reptile Bloke THE REPTILE BLOKE (Troy Hovenden) is a fully licensed and insured SNAKE CATCHER. Servicing The Blue Please call on: 0404 109 421.
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The Reptile Bloke (Troy Hovenden) is a fully licensed and insured snake catcher servicing The Blue Mountains and Penrith areas. (Fees apply)

Visit me at www.thereptilebloke.com.au

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for any other inquiries you can email: [email protected]

Pythons are AMAZING!They don’t have arms or legs, and they don’t have venom, but they have the ability to grab large pre...
24/08/2024

Pythons are AMAZING!
They don’t have arms or legs, and they don’t have venom, but they have the ability to grab large prey items, subdue them and swallow them completely whole!
This is nothing short of incredible to me!

A Brisbane bayside local has managed to snap an incredible photo of a tree python attempting to ingest a wallaby on a Wynnum street.

Remarkably, the snake was reportedly able to swallow its prey whole in just one hour!

LATEST: https://nine.social/MpT

Check out this awesome photo of an Eastern Brown recently caught by Snake Rescue Sunny Coast. I just love Eastern Brown ...
24/08/2024

Check out this awesome photo of an Eastern Brown recently caught by Snake Rescue Sunny Coast.
I just love Eastern Brown Snakes. They get a bad wrap because of their fiery attitude. They really do get fired up quick and that’s precisely why I love them.
Here’s something to remember though. Even though they get fired up, they only do that if you give them a reason to. The truth is Eastern Brown snakes are really just very frightened of people and react purely out of their fear of us. They aren’t angry, they’re scared.
So what to do if you come across a Brown Snake? Stay calm and give it space first of all. If it has been spooked by you already just stop and remain still until it puts its head back down. If you aren’t moving it won’t see you as a threat and it will carry on its business.
If you’re at a safe distance you can calmly move away from the snake and it won’t come after you.
Most of the time when you see an Eastern Brown you’ll notice that they are actually very peaceful and quiet just minding their own business. As long as you don’t give them a reason to be frightened, they will remain peaceful.

Well this is a great start to the season. What a beast of a Red Belly! This thing was super chunky!! It had been sitting...
21/08/2024

Well this is a great start to the season.
What a beast of a Red Belly! This thing was super chunky!!
It had been sitting by this pond all day and had been going in and out of the water. It came out of the pond and sat in some shrubs while the customer watched it the whole time until I was able to arrive late this afternoon.
By the time I arrived the snake was hiding and I didn’t give myself much hope of finding it but I began searching and next thing it moved in the water and came to the surface of the pond. The customer saw the snake as I had my back to it so I quickly turned around and simply reached down to pull the snake out of the water!
It’s not often I see Red Bellies this size but I’ve removed two from this same property now and both of them were monsters! Clearly eating well around here.

See how I’m not frightening the Brown Snake? - very considerate, very demure. See how the Brown Snake isn’t attacking me...
19/08/2024

See how I’m not frightening the Brown Snake? - very considerate, very demure.
See how the Brown Snake isn’t attacking me? - very demure. 😂😂😂😂

More and more snakes have been becoming active in the last month or so. It’s still drips and drabs as far as calls go bu...
18/08/2024

More and more snakes have been becoming active in the last month or so. It’s still drips and drabs as far as calls go but I feel like the season is about to speed up.
This Diamond Python was warming up on a roof in the lower Mountains today and a few days back I removed a Death Adder which a lady accidentally grabbed with her bare hands as she pulled out a bunch of weeds from her garden. Luckily she wasn’t bitten by the snake which would have been very surprised by being suddenly grabbed. It does go to show just how tolerant snakes can actually be at times and their reluctance to bite unless they are really provoked!

All that to say if you happen to have a snake in or around your home this season, please don’t try to catch it or harm it. Please give me a call to remove the snake safely for you.

The Reptile Bloke
Call: 0404 109 421
www.thereptilebloke.com.au

Happy World Lizard Day - The day dedicated to admiring all our amazing lizard species. Give us a thumbs up if you love l...
13/08/2024

Happy World Lizard Day - The day dedicated to admiring all our amazing lizard species.
Give us a thumbs up if you love lizards as much as I do.

NOT A REPTILE, but this photo was sent to me by a friend. This koala was spotted this morning at Warrimoo hanging out in...
06/08/2024

NOT A REPTILE, but this photo was sent to me by a friend.
This koala was spotted this morning at Warrimoo hanging out in a very small tree right between the road and the railway line.
I’m hoping our little friend here has been able to make it to a safer tree by now but please be aware that koalas as well as all other wildlife may be crossing the road and please drive carefully.

28/07/2024
How beautiful is this harmless Common Tree Snake. Nothing to be afraid of. Have a great weekend.
27/07/2024

How beautiful is this harmless Common Tree Snake. Nothing to be afraid of. Have a great weekend.

100%
25/07/2024

100%

Snakes are some of the best rodent controllers around.
21/07/2024

Snakes are some of the best rodent controllers around.

Rodents are vectors for diseases like the plague, Hantavirus, tularemia, tick-borne encephalitis, Lyme disease, and many others. But snakes help keep rodent populations under control, thereby reducing our exposure to disease.

Meme: The Orianne Society

Happy World Snake Day!In the eyes of many people, snakes are viewed as horrible, evil, slimy or ugly creatures, and beca...
15/07/2024

Happy World Snake Day!

In the eyes of many people, snakes are viewed as horrible, evil, slimy or ugly creatures, and because of this view they are usually feared, misunderstood and mistreated.
It’s a shame that of all the things people are afraid of in this world the fear of snakes is right up there among the top phobias people have.

This World Snake Day I want to take the opportunity to simply say that we don’t need to be afraid of snakes, and with a little bit of a better understanding we can actually begin to appreciate them instead.

Just like most other creatures you might come across in nature, snakes are simply trying to go about their lives peacefully and have no desire to be in conflict with humans.

Probably one of the most common misconceptions people have about snakes is that they are angry and that they are nasty and they will chase you or jump out and bite you for no good reason at all, but of course this couldn’t be further from the truth.
To the contrary , snakes want to hide from us, they shy away from us and they certainly don’t want to bite us.
The only reason snakes will bite is if people first do something to cause the snake to bite. If you hurt the snake or if you scare the snake, of course it’s going to defend itself.

If you happen to come across a snake, all you need to do is remain calm, don’t stomp your feet, don’t throw things at it, don’t try to pick it up or beat it with a stick. Just leave it alone.
If you come across a snake give it space and watch it as it does what it does.
Enjoy the moment and take it in.
Soon you’ll see there’s not so much to be afraid of after all.
Snakes are actually pretty cool creatures.

Hope you have a great World Snake Day!

Picture: Tiger Snake (Notechis scutatus).

What a great weekend with some of Australia’s best snake catchers all coming together in one place at Tony & Brooke Harr...
30/06/2024

What a great weekend with some of Australia’s best snake catchers all coming together in one place at Tony & Brooke Harrison’s house. Had some awesome conversations with many people that I’d only known online up until this weekend. Thanks Tony & Brooke of Harrison's Gold Coast and Brisbane Snake Catcher for organising this weekend. Lifelong memories and friendships were made!

Someone asked me today why I would be interested in venomous snakes. I said because I love them. One of the things that ...
27/06/2024

Someone asked me today why I would be interested in venomous snakes. I said because I love them. One of the things that I love so much about them is their scales. What’s not to love? Look at these beauties from a Red Bellied Black Snake!
Who’s with me??

20/06/2024

Another Red Belly taking advantage of the winter sun.
This one has been coming out and sunning itself in the same spot beside the front steps of this home every day.
Even though it is winter, be aware that snakes can still be seen basking when the sun is out.

17/06/2024

Despite being June I have been getting a number of snake calls still. Most of them have not resulted in actually going out to catch a snake but a few are still being seen around the place.
This Red Bellied Black Snake was moving around this property today and had caught a rat in the compost heap.
The people had trapped the snake under a plastic tub so I came to remove it safely.
I don’t recommend attempting to trap snakes under bins or tubs. While it can make it easier for me to catch it, this can be dangerous and it’s usually not necessary, but occasionally people do this.
Given that the snake was down the back of the yard which backs onto the bush I advised that it’s best to just let snakes be if they are seen down there in future as they generally aren’t going to be a problem in that situation.

Don’t be afraid of snakes. The fear of snakes is a learned fear. We are not born with a fear of snakes. We are taught to...
15/06/2024

Don’t be afraid of snakes.
The fear of snakes is a learned fear.
We are not born with a fear of snakes.
We are taught to fear them, and just as we can learn to fear snakes, we can also overcome that fear.

Ok. So everyone had some great guesses from my previous post. This is the whole snake for you to see. For everyone who s...
29/05/2024

Ok. So everyone had some great guesses from my previous post.
This is the whole snake for you to see.
For everyone who said Death Adder, very good! To be more specific it’s a Top End Death Adder (Acanthophis rugosus).
What a beauty!!

Everyone loves a guessing game. Snake experts: please refrain from answering this one. Who can tell me what species of A...
27/05/2024

Everyone loves a guessing game.
Snake experts: please refrain from answering this one.

Who can tell me what species of Australian snake do these scales belong to?
Have a guess.

I’ll post the answer tomorrow night.

What a special thing! Not a reptile, clearly, but I had to share this photo from Merryl Watkins Photography of the Koala...
20/05/2024

What a special thing! Not a reptile, clearly, but I had to share this photo from Merryl Watkins Photography of the Koala that was seen in Mt Riv yesterday. How special!

Sweet dreams...

A koala was spotted in the Lower Mountains yesterday and caused quite stir. Oblivious to his adoring public, he did what koalas spend a lot of time doing, and slept.

Earlier I posted a video of myself reciting The Man From Snowy River at the iconic Craig’s Hut.That morning I got up at ...
12/05/2024

Earlier I posted a video of myself reciting The Man From Snowy River at the iconic Craig’s Hut.
That morning I got up at 4:00am with my son, Jackson and we drove up the mountain for sunrise. The early start was well worth it as this is the sky that greeted us.

12/05/2024

This week I took a break from catching snakes to do some camping down south in Victoria. While there I visited an iconic location.
Craig’s Hut was built as part of the movie set based on Banjo Paterson’s “The Man From Snowy River”. The hut and the movie have become as iconic as the poem itself, and as I was there, how could I resist reciting Banjo’s legendary poem.
So for something different to my usual snake related posts. Here’s The Man From Snowy River.

23/04/2024

We hear people call snakes "yellow belly black snake" alot.. they are not a species of snake at all though. If anything they are a description of colour.. there are many species of snake that come in black and have a yellow belly. Common tree snakes, tiger snakes, crown snake, an off colour red belly and even eastern browns like this one pictured.

This is a very important message.Click the link below.If you are bitten by a snake, please DO NOT attempt to catch the s...
22/04/2024

This is a very important message.
Click the link below.
If you are bitten by a snake, please DO NOT attempt to catch the snake to bring it to the hospital with you.
This is not only unnecessary but puts yourself and other’s safety at further risk.

The doctors at the hospital do not need to know what kind of snake bit you.

“We can determine if you need anti-venom and if so, what anti venom you need based on clinical signs, blood tests and also the snake venom detection kits that we keep here at the hospital”.

Hospital staff came face-to-face with one of the world's most deadly snakes after a patient brought it to the emergency department in a snap-lock lunch container.

Sun’s out, snakes are out. This one was in Hazo.
06/04/2024

Sun’s out, snakes are out. This one was in Hazo.

Diamond Python from Winmalee. After two days of torrential rain the sun made an appearance this morning and so did the s...
06/04/2024

Diamond Python from Winmalee.
After two days of torrential rain the sun made an appearance this morning and so did the snakes!

Sometimes it can be quite challenging to catch a snake and in some cases I may not catch a snake on the first attempt bu...
03/04/2024

Sometimes it can be quite challenging to catch a snake and in some cases I may not catch a snake on the first attempt but may have to return a second or even a third time!
I have been trying to catch a Red Bellied Black Snake at a medical practice in Lawson since Australia Day!
The snake had been sheltering under a concrete path that leads from the car park to the front door of the surgery and would come out to bask at various times throughout the day but with no regular pattern as to the time it would come out it was impossible to know when it would be out basking.
Both Neville Burns and myself have attempted to catch this snake on multiple occasions but every time we’d get there the snake had gone under the concrete path and could not be extracted.
Well, finally this afternoon I received a phone call to say the snake was out basking in the garden bed, so I went up there as fast as I could and this time the snake was happily resting among some plants and I was able to simply walk up and pick it up and put it straight into the bag, much to the delight of all the staff at the medical practice.
(Photo: Captive Red Bellied Black Snake).

29/03/2024

True words from Neville Burns

Happy Easter from The Reptile Bloke. I hope you get to eat as much chocolate as you can wrap your coils around and stay ...
28/03/2024

Happy Easter from The Reptile Bloke.
I hope you get to eat as much chocolate as you can wrap your coils around and stay safe across this long weekend.

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