Back after a long time

[skin78]

Well I wonder if any of the people here remember me at all but I was here a couple of years ago but due to a turbulant life I lost track of this forum.. But now I have found it again and so here I am hehehehe.. I keep hots for a couple of years now and am into Elapids .. I keep a small collection cause I work much hours in the week so that the hobby doesn´t suffer from that.

here are a couple of snakes I have at the moment

http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t326/skindeep1978/HPIM5306-border.jpg

http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t326/skindeep1978/HPIM5298-border.jpg

http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t326/skindeep1978/HPIM6189.jpg

http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t326/skindeep1978/2008_01090012.jpg


well that´s all for the moment..

Cheers Niek

[Ultraviolet]

Welcome back! What an amazing collection you have... Great pics :Wow:

[skin78]

Welcome back! What an amazing collection you have... Great pics :Wow:

Thanx, here some other pics



http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t326/skindeep1978/2008_01090004.jpg

http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t326/skindeep1978/2008_01090043.jpg

cheers niek

[johnrandle]

awesome pics.
whats the third snake...?? standing up in the pic

[skin78]

awesome pics.
whats the third snake...?? standing up in the pic

That´s an Naja melanoleuca also known as forest cobra.. large "smart" species of cobra ..they follow you arround when you are working in the room :S

[Aaron_S]

The green one, is it a boomslang or a green mamba? Or I am way off with both guesses?

[Boots]

I have to agree. Very nice collection. Welcome back.

Jason

[skin78]

The green one, is it a boomslang or a green mamba? Or I am way off with both guesses?

well it is a green mamba indeed :) great species to keep

[Aaron_S]

It's only a great species to keep to those who have the nuts to deal with hots!

[skin78]

It's only a great species to keep to those who have the nuts to deal with hots!



LOL..well that is one way to put it.. but I am a bit different then allot of hot keepers.. I have in all cages hideboxes that I can close so I almost never have to thouch my snakes.. Only if they would have something that really needs handling I take them out. otherwise I never come near them. cleaning the cage is done with proper tools and as long as you leave them alone they leave you alone hehehhehe.. but still I have to agree that mamba´s are no snakes to deal with when you just start keeping snakes or hots..you have to feel comfi with them otherwise you get bitten.

[Aaron_S]

So you use a trap box then? I thought most people used them? Am I mistaken, because I am only going off what information I gather off forums, that venomous snake keepers tend to hook the snake out of the enclosure and place it in another one for cleaning?

[skin78]

So you use a trap box then? I thought most people used them? Am I mistaken, because I am only going off what information I gather off forums, that venomous snake keepers tend to hook the snake out of the enclosure and place it in another one for cleaning?


well let me put it this way.. I know that there are allot of keepers of hots that regulary handle their snakes by taking them out the cages with a hook etc. What they do is their way of keeping them. I just have another look on keeping animals . They aren´t for picking up, for handling for fun , I´m also talking about non venomous animals.. I just leave my animals alone and this has kept me alive for the past couple of years so I must be doing something right hahahah.I indeed have for most animals here an trapbox...this is for the smaller species just a birds nestingbox with a sliding door on them that I can close with a hook. The species that are bigger and need it cause they are not that easy going on a hook have self made hideboxes that I can close. I in fact never thouch my animals ..this would only be done if there is a reason for it like meds that have to be injected..and still then I´ll go and tube them..

Some people react on my kind of keeping that I have a kind of fear for my animals..well if they want to think I do I´ll let them think that.. I don´t fear any of my animals; I respect them and just don´t want to die by getting tagged cause I have to prove that I can handle them with hooks etc ...:)

cheers niek

[Aaron_S]

True enough. I wouldn't care if someone said I was afraid of my animals. When they are being rushed to the hospital due to their 'no fear' handling I'll hang my head for them.

[jparker1167]

very nice collection, but to say someone hooks and tails or doesnt use trapboxes means they are doing it for fun or to be cool is wrong, i hook and tail stuff too nothing cool about it, it works for me so i do it that way, i have rack systems for smaller hots which i cant have a trap box in. how big is the forest cobra

[skin78]

hi,

I did not say that all people who do this do it just for fun.. I tried to make clear that I have another kind of view on working with animals that are kind of dangerous. I just don´t see why I should take the risk of getting bitten by an error that could happen when the handling is done by taling etc. when there are so many different ways to do it with out even having to tail or hook your snakes. that´s all I tried to tell..:) everybody should do what they feel like doing I don´t care :).

well I have 3 forest cobra´s .. 2 are about the same age and size and they are between 140cm ( about 4.6 feet) and 160 cm ( 5.3 ft)
Then the other animal is between 200 cm and 220 cm ( 6 ft and 7ft)

[Aaron_S]

So how do you get them into the trapbox or do you just wait for them to be in there and then do your cleaning?

Also, I think you need an egyptian cobra.

[skin78]

lol You think I need an Naja haje ! LOL well I tell you my friend that I am in fact selling some animals cause of time problems to get everything cleaned etc due to work hahaha so more snakes are not an option for me unfortunatlly... But maybe in the near future who knows :)..

then for the top part of your post.. I asume you know that snakes are animals that like to hide so that they don´t feel scared to be attacked.. So knowing this :) tells us keepers that when you provide them with a hiding space where they feel save in they will use this frequentlly.. In fact when you make this hidebox ( or other hiding place) in a part of the terrarium that is perfect for them , like perfect temp etc, they will use it allmost allways... Sure you won´t see them that much as when you have nothing in the cage for them to hide in but I see my animals enough. And I like them to behave like they would in the wild as much as I can let them so I give them these boxes to hide in. So when I enter the room most of the snakes will go into the hidebox to hide from me and so I can close it and clean the cage.