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HumphreyBoagart
08-11-04, 01:17 PM
Okay I know you're all going to eat me alive on this one, but whatever, I've been researching forever to no avail. So I'm asking for any help anybody might have. Negative responses are welcome too, I think they're hilarious!

Anyways, I was at the Missassauga Expo last fall and saw the most exotic looking tree snake I've ever seen. I have no clue what kind it was though. The aquarium just had the price of $1200 on it. The person that was running the booth was just watching it for a friend and was no help. The snake was red and it's head looked exactly like an oriental dragon.

If anybody has any idea what species this was please let me know.

Thanks
HeatherRose
08-11-04, 01:20 PM
A baby GTP? One of the red ones? Maaaaaybe?
HumphreyBoagart
08-11-04, 01:24 PM
Nope, it had like little "horns" on the tip of it's snout and head too I believe. It looked exactly like a traditional tattoo of an oriental dragon. It didn't even look real. Thanks for the reply though.
CamHanna
08-11-04, 01:39 PM
What colour was it? Was it very slender? How long?
HumphreyBoagart
08-11-04, 01:43 PM
It was red and it was very slender. I'm not sure how long as it was wrapped around branch. It was still a baby though I know that much. Looked more like red rubbery skin than scaley.
CHRISANDBOIDS14
08-11-04, 01:47 PM
He said it was red. My guess would be some sort of tree viper since it had horns. Is it possible that the "horns" were scales that were drying out and peeling forward? I have seen that in snakes that get too dry. Im thinking if that was the case it could be an amazon tree boa. Good luck in your search!

C.

-Edit: Just remembered the price tag said 1200, so that rules out an amazon tree boa unless the guy is nuts.
HumphreyBoagart
08-11-04, 01:54 PM
Nope wasn't an atb or tree viper either. The "horns" looked "rubbery" too. Definately not a bad shed. It was about the size of a baby atb though. Extremely exotic looking. Thanks for the replies though.
dave68
08-11-04, 02:09 PM
Sounds like an eyelash viper to me.

Dave
CHRISANDBOIDS14
08-11-04, 02:20 PM
Eyelash vipers arent red, thats what I thought at first too, but I checked in a book of mine and they do not have a red phase.

C.
HumphreyBoagart
08-11-04, 02:21 PM
Nope, I've never seen a eyelash viper in real life, but all the pics I've seen of them don't look like this one. The only thing I can think of that it looks like is a cartoon dragon. It was definately a rainforest species of some sort.
dave68
08-11-04, 02:26 PM
Im sorry but you should check again. The latest all venomous issue of Reptiles magazine has an article and lots of pics including red phase. This is a species that I plan to work with one day, and I've done a lot of reading and research on them so I'm not just blowing smoke. Anyways take care and happy herpin!

Dave
HumphreyBoagart
08-11-04, 02:47 PM
I was just looking at many different viper pics including red phase eyelash. It definately wasn't one of those. It has similar snout "horns" to the rhino viper though. But vipers have large, rough scales. This had the smoothest most skinlike texture I've ever seen in a snake before. There was no definition to the scales they were so small. It might be a type of viper, but I'm pretty sure it's not. I appreciate all the input. thanks
Gaelic King
08-11-04, 03:34 PM
What about a Sidewinder? They the those little horns, they have a red tint to their scales.
HumphreyBoagart
08-11-04, 03:59 PM
No this wasn't a sidewinder either. It was solid red and patternless. it was an arboreal (tree) rainforest species of some sort. Sidewinders are desert dwellers.
CamHanna
08-11-04, 04:00 PM
Sidewinders are not aboreal...the discription is a slender red aboreal snake with horns. Where are these horns on the head and how many were there? I can't think of anything that fits the discription. Are we talking really red or just a reddish tint? I don't suppose it had a rounded snout? Was there a pattern ot it or just a flat colour? Was the head wider than the neck?

I can't think of any red treesnake with horns.
mykee
08-11-04, 04:06 PM
Maybe it was a dollar store, rubber snake wrapped around a branch?...
HumphreyBoagart
08-11-04, 04:19 PM
It had two bigger bumps on each side at the end of the snout. Beside those ones (towards eyes) there was ones about half the size. They had a pig-snout looking nose, with big nostrils. the head was bigger than the neck and it had a couple of these "horn" bumps too. Solid red, but not bright red. totally patternless.
HumphreyBoagart
08-11-04, 04:23 PM
We thought it was fake until it moved. Looked like a rubber snake with a dragon head from the dollar store though. But it was at the twelve hundred dollar store!
heebie_geebies
08-11-04, 04:30 PM
no sign of crazy glue?
HumphreyBoagart
08-11-04, 04:50 PM
no it was seamless!
JD@reptiles
08-11-04, 05:23 PM
It was an emerald tree boa. this thread looks like a joke. it probably didn't have horns. venomous is banned at the mississauga expo's, so it was definetly not any sort of viper. the only snake i know of that has horn looking things is cerastes. eyelash vipers have a few scales that stick up over the eye that gives it the name "eyelash" viper. side winders have a scale that stands up over they eye giving the apearience of horns.

your snake was more than likely the emerald tree boa. red, arboreal, wrapped around the branch.

Take care

Jordan
HumphreyBoagart
08-11-04, 05:40 PM
If you say it was an ETB, it must have been an ETB.