New addition - Kato

[jwsporty]

We'll I couldn't resist picking up this guy/girl for some excitement. Let me introduce "Kato" my new Taiwanese Beauty. Feisty to say the least. If you want to condition yourself for bites, get yourself one of these. Thanks Kelvin the snake hook is gonna come in handy...;)

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/114905-09-03-Kato-01.jpg

and here is the new home, beside me in the den

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/114905-09-03-Kato-tank-02.jpg

and a few more, taken just before he/she nailed me

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/114906-09-03-Kato-in-hand-02.jpg

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/114906-09-03-Kato-in-hand-01.jpg

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/114906-09-03-Kato-in-hand-03.jpg

Thanks for looking
Jim

[jay76]

Great Beauty Jim! Um, are all Taiwans that feisty, or are you just lucky? :)

[liltattyprinces]

OOOOHHH LA LA jim it's georgeous yet another you have to worry about me sneaking over to "borrow"

[ANACONDASAURUS]

Very cool!

[Simon R. Sansom]

Hi, Jim. Nice animal.

I don't know if it's just me, or the lighting or what, but your animal looks to me rather like a Vietnamese Blue Beauty Snake.

Where did you get it?

Simon

[Colonel SB]

Ohh pretty :)

[Invictus]

Must be your eyes, Simon. That looks very much like a taiwanese to me. :) The first pic definitely looks like a VBB, but the last ones, you can really see the yellow coloring of the Taiwan.

Right on Jim! Beauty snakes are great to uh.... look at. :D

[Clownfishie]

Very nice! :) Congrats on the new addition...

[sapphire_moon]

Wow.......I somehow keep finding more and more to add to my little "wishlist"......lol

[ohh_kristina]

ooh, she's lovely.

[jwsporty]

Thanks folks,

I was pretty happy with the whole deal.

Simon: it probably is just the lighting being influenced by the blue background in the tank. but it is definitely a Vietnamese Beauty. I picked her up from a local petstore whe I went to get a pile of rats.

Invictus: I always wanted one of these just needed some more "bite experience ;)" under my belt first. It is definitely a blast to handle. It wasn't too happy when I took him/her out of the tank to show Brian (Classic) last night. Tail was vibrating like a mad dog. You could tell it was looking for the right opportunity to teach me a lesson and show who was boss..;) Look at or play with them, fun either way....definitely different from the kings.

sapphire moon: that "short" list must be getting pretty long. ;)

liltattyprinces: put the coffee on, dawn the leather gloves, and I will bring it over..this ain't no cornsnake girl..;)

Jay76: Well I have never been lucky winning lotteries so I guess that they are all like that..;)

But all and all I love the little B****h. Kinda reminds me of my ex mother-in-law ( she was pretty snappy too..)

[Bartman]

great setup and congrats on the new addition. Good luck with it :)

[Scales Zoo]

Jw, I'm not sure if you just made a freudian slip, but you just said it is definitely Vietnamese Beauty.

I agree with Simon, I don't think it is a taiwanese. They have much different patterns than the snake you posted.

It's tough to go by the color in the pictures, but to me, it looks like a good candidate for either Vietnamese, Elaphe taeniura taeniura, or Elaphe taeniura yunnanensis

From my experience, pet stores get the names wrong more often than they get them right.

There are a few links about beauty snakes on the net, here is one to start you off.

http://www.herper.com/snakearticles/beauty.html.

Ryan

[Scales Zoo]

Also, to my knowledge, true taiwans have not been imported for a few years.

Beauty snakes are not CITES animals, and are often imported as simply "beauty snakes", usually being chinese beauties.

Ryan

[jwsporty]

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/114907-09-03-Kato-01.jpg

Hey Ryan,

Thanks for pointing that out. I won't dispute the Freudian slip, not enough coffee in me at the time..;) and yes pet stores are notorious for mislabeling. Thanks for the link, from what I can tell I think it might be this:




E. t. mocquardi - this subspecies is found in southern China and northern Vietnam. The dorsal pattern shows 2 rows of thin blotches, which may be connected to each other (in the same row) with thin lines.


What do you think? I didn't what to disturb her as she just ate.


Jim

[Scales Zoo]

I think it is a blue beauty.

[Katt]

Mocquard's beauty snakes define yellow in beauties. That snake is not yellow. It is without a doubt a blue beauty.

Please refer to http://www.cunninghamselaphe.com/oldworld.html to compare Mocquard's, taiwanese and blues.

[jwsporty]

Thanks Katt and Ryan for your help..;)

[honduranfreekk]

Hey not a prob my friend I thought you could use it more than I lol Brigitte loves her hook Thank,s 2 Sheila at scales zoo :)

[TheRedDragon]

Great looking Taiwanese Jim! As Invictus said, they're great snakes to look at. (I'm kinda scared of our male VBB due to him CHASING me around the room after drawing blood off of my hand *LOL*).

[Scales Zoo]

I see RedDragon also made a freudian slip, as that snake is a blue beauty, and not a taiwanese beauty.

Orthriophis taeniurus grabowskyi, most internet documents and other literature still refers to them Elaphe taeniura ssp.

Ryan

[Invictus]

She must have typed that before she read the rest of the posts. Oh well. :) The coloring is WAY different from our VBBs, but the pattern is pretty much identical. Too bad they are such miserable little b*stards when they are young. :)

[Simon R. Sansom]

I KNEW I couldn't see any yellow on that animal, lol!

Cheers!

Simon

[Linds]

Yeah I definitely have to agree with everyone... Congrats on the Blue Beauty! The are beautiful snakes! :D

[jwsporty]

Actually Simon there is a substantial amount of yellow in the animal, take a closer look at the last pic I posted. So now I'm confused

[Katt]

There's no reason to be confused. Blue beauties can be a bit yellow in places, and taiwanese can be a bit greenish in places, but look at the pattern. Your snake does not have the cross over bar pattern or patterned neck, like a taiwan. By looking at pattern alone, you can see it is a blue. Especially in the patternless neck part. Look at the pics in the link I sent you, and it's very clear.

[jwsporty]

Thanks Katt,

the only other VBB I've seen has a lot of green in the colour and little yellow, now I'm not confused..;)