Jade looking good!

[Will0W783]

Well, it was soaking night for my two Wagler's gals yesterday. I thought I'd get a few photos and some video of the younger Sulawesi, Jade. I managed to actually get two really good head shots of her, along with a bit of video of her swimming around in the tub and trying to get out. The exercise stimulates them to pass waste. Usually when they don't do well for people, it's because they aren't getting enough hydration, and long soaks seem to help them out.

Here she is, my little green mean machine! (she was quite well-behaved last night, although she is a good bit more nervous than my big girl).

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/Will0W783/01d1b3fe.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/Will0W783/e2ad5904.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/Will0W783/36bad0ca.jpg

[Will0W783]

Here is a video of her swimming around,
http://s254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/Will0W783/?action=view&current=7faee9a3.mp4

[JustBitten]

Wow, that head is unreal. She looks like something out of a CGI movie! Gorgeous!

[Will0W783]

Well embedding the video didn't work that time. Let's try this again:

Tropidolaemus wagleri getting a bathtub soak - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9PfhpcZmEE&context=C3b591bdADOEgsToPDskKqVOFj9gJgRPQMiXEQAIOV )

[BarelyBreathing]

She's a brilliant green! Thanks for sharing!

[youngster]

Here you go;

L9PfhpcZmEE&

[alessia55]

Nice pics :D

[Will0W783]

Thanks guys! Wagler's are incredible snakes. I'm massively in love with them, lol.

[Will0W783]

Oh lol.....I sound like an idiot narrating. I was tired at the end of the day and just rambling. Durrrr!

[Trent]

Very sweet pics!

[Swany]

Love it when she decides to pop out the bath lol

[marvelfreak]

Oh lol.....I sound like an idiot narrating. I was tired at the end of the day and just rambling. Durrrr!
Beautiful snake! I rather listen to some one narrate or talk about the snake during the video than listen to them blare music. You sound just like any of the rest of us. Like a crazy person talking to snakes. lol:D

[alessia55]

lol just rewatched with sound...

[Hillsberry]

:yes:Wow!!!! That green is tremendous! She's gorgeous!

[jaleely]

Beautiful snake! I rather listen to some one narrate or talk about the snake during the video than listen to them blare music. You sound just like any of the rest of us. Like a crazy person talking to snakes. lol:D

Yup, sounds like my house *lol*

And gah what a beautiful snake. I love the look of a lot of different hots, sooo much!

[Rogue628]

Wow! Such a vibrant green!

[Will0W783]

Originally quoted by Swany:Love it when she decides to pop out the bath lol

Yikes, she startled me good with that leap- just goes to show that you have to expect the unexpected with hots. Jade is not what I would call an "aggressive" snake, but I do not trust her not to take a swipe at me- she has before. So I jumped back pretty darned quickly when her head came flying up out of the tub, lol.

[MoreliAddict]

How do you get/hook your arboreal vipers out of their enclosures? (sorry if you've answered this)

[Will0W783]

The procedure is a bit different depending on the size of the animal in question. For adult vipers of a foot or more in length, I reach in with a short hook (2-foot long hook) and hook a few inches behind the head, with the hook angled so that the solid end is facing me- the snake can't easily whip around this way. I then gently unhook the tail from the perch and support it with the hand not holding the hook. The viper is then quickly and smoothly transferred to a holding container. I am wearing my needlestick-resistant gloves during all of this. This is a very easy procedure for the Wagler's vipers, as they are hesitant to bite or threaten.

For my smaller vipers- the two young eyelashes and the bush viper, all of which are less than a foot in length, I simply hook the body about 1/3 of the way down to about midpoint, and swiftly but gently move the animal to its holding container. I use a second hook to help coax the tail off its perch. I do not attempt to tail tiny tree vipers, as there is not enough room to keep my hands out of the strike range while maintaining the animal on a hook.

Terrestrial snakes are a whole other story- you have to be really good with tailing as well as hooking and working a hook swiftly. Arboreal vipers will tend to cling onto the hook and stay there, while ground snakes will try to flee. My cobra and the rattlesnake are not nearly as cooperative on a hook as the tree snakes are. The rattler I do not hook at all- she gets coaxed into a trap box and locked in securely. The whole box can then be removed from the cage with her inside. She is far too defensive to safely work with any other way.

[MoreliAddict]

Thanks for all the details!

beautiful snake

[Will0W783]

No problem. Wagler's are one of my absolute favorite snake species, and I also really enjoy other arboreal pitvipers. I don't mind sharing information about them at all. :)

[Rogue628]

Wow. I thought you used two hooks with the hots. It's cool that you use only one hook for some. :)

Are you speaking of Miss Buzztail? She's an adult isn't she? I know baby rattlers are pretty defensive/aggressive but the adults I've seen around here in the wild seem to be alot more mellow than babies. Babies strike at anything that moves while the adults appear to size up the situation before striking or slithering off.

Which reminds me of one time I was standing under a friend's carport talking to him (he lived in the country). I kept hearing and feeling a little thump on my shoe. I look down and a baby rattler was striking at my shoe! Don't know exactly how it got there or where it came from, but the little thing was really pissed off for some reason. I got my friend to get me a an old paint bucket with a lid and a long stick while I stood there (he didn't want to come anywhere near me though lol). I had him place the bucket on it's side while I poked and prodded the baby as gently as I could until I got him in the bucket....he was striking the stick the whole time. Slammed the lid on it (boy was he hissy!), made sure it was secure, put it in my car and took it out in the woods where I hoped it would be safer (my friend wanted to kill it) from humans and dogs. It was determined to stand it's ground though. When I managed to get him out of the bucket, he started striking the bucket so hard he was literally launching himself to it like he was a spring. lol Silly snake. He finally gave up to where I could get the bucket back and I slowly backed away so I could watch him. He just stayed there, giving me the evil eye. lol

[alessia55]

@Rogue I'm certainly glad you weren't wearing flip flops or open-toed shoes that day!!!!

[alessia55]

A photo I got today of Jade when I visited Kim's house:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/alessia55/IMG_0814.jpg

[Skumbo]

Well embedding the video didn't work that time. Let's try this again:

Tropidolaemus wagleri getting a bathtub soak - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9PfhpcZmEE&context=C3b591bdADOEgsToPDskKqVOFj9gJgRPQMiXEQAIOV )

Ill give you a hint, only keep the part in red:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9PfhpcZmEE

thats what you need between the youtube /youtube things, otherwise it will just be a white box with the rest of the url there

the red is the video ID for youtube

L9PfhpcZmEE