My pair of banded snouted cobras sharing a deceased mole snake I was called to remove a couple of months ago. The mole snake was dead on arrival and instead of letting it go to waste I threw it in the freezer for a couple of months to kill off all the parasites that could've been living in the animal and gave it to dumb and dumber.
Cobras are known to eat other snakes, and it's always a good idea to vary your snakes diet!
1.2 snouted Cobra
○Naja annulifera○
Thought I'd share this as an educational post and learning experience.
I got this call out from a fellow snake catcher and mate while I was heading to work. I went there, not knowing the snake was injured, but upon arrival, I could see its spine showing and organs hanging outside of its body. I instantly knew it would have to be put down.
This snake was killed by some workers who were afraid of the snake while cleaning out some thick bush along the mountainside. I stayed for a little bit after the snake was secured just to try and educate the workers about snakes and what to do if they encountered one again.
This post is to show how terrible and long the process is of putting down a snake and to hopefully make some people think twice about trying to kill one. Snakes do not want anything to do with us and will leave us alone if given the space and respect they demand.
If you ever encounter a snake, just take 5 steps back and let it go on its way. Always remember that if you force any interaction with a snake, you are just putting yourself at a very high risk of taking a bite especially if you are untrained or are trying to kill it.
I've been hunting for one of these for close to a year now, and I've finally got my hands on one!!!!
This is a spotted harlequin snake Formely known as the southern dwarf garter snake. They have remarkably stunning colours and are just an absolute gem of a snake!
These snakes are almost like the king cobras of South africa as the feed primarily on other snakes at this size! Their diet also consists of legless skinks and other lizards.
They are a burrowing species spending most of their time underground and usually only emerge after torrential rain.
Not much is known about this species venom or this species as a whole, but they are a front fixed fang elapid with a non-lethal cytotoxic venom. They are in a family of snakes called Atractaspididae, which is a family of burrowing venomous snakes found in Africa and the Middle East. Snakes that are classified in this family are stilletos, mole vipers, and burrowing asps
I am so fascinated with these guys, and I'm super stoked to finally see one in person!!!!
Spotted harlequin snake
●Homoroselaps lacteus●
Awesome female puff adder caught just off the side of noordhoek main road! Also released the puff adder caught last week that was found in someone's horse stable!
Caught by Will De Meyer
These animals are ambush hunters and rely heavily on their camouflage for both hunting and hiding from predators.
They will lay and wait in their "camouflage" mode along animal paths and will not move for weeks, even months! They become almost invisible, only moving to find water, to shed and to find a mate.
They cause the most bites from venomous snakes throughout most of Africa, this is mostly because of how wide their range is and how civilization is encroaching on their habitat, leading to more interaction between humans and animals.
Puff adders have front hinged fangs and have a potent cytotoxic venom, causing severe swelling, pain, blisters, and tissue damage. They also have an element of hemotoxins in their venom, which can cause thrombocytopenia(low blood platelet count), spontaneous bleeding and coagulopathy(is a condition that stops the bodies ability to coagulate,form clots.) In severe envenomations.
Snake:
Puff adder
○Bitis arietans○
Venom:
Potent cytotoxic venom
Causes pain, swelling and necrosis.
Handler:
Will de Meyer-
083 244 3587
Location:
Noordhoek, western cape.
Beautiful puff adder caught inside someone's horse stable!
Had him out for quite awhile instead of just putting him in the tub because it looked like he had a bit of swelling on his head and was moving a bit weirdly.
All is good with him though, I kept him back gave him a meal and I'm just waiting for a storm to pass to release him back where he belongs!
Species:
Puff adder
○Bitis arietans○
Venom:
Potent cytotoxic venom
Which causes pain, swelling and necrosis.
Handler:
Sean
0823110069
Location:
Noordhoek, western cape