The Shelby Thread :)

[Will0W783]

Since my friend Alessia (alessia55) has come to visit a few times and taken some really awesome pictures of my little guy, I figured I'd start a thread on him. Shelby was born in April of 2011, and is a CBB albino monocled cobra (Naja kaouthia).
He was bred by my venomous mentor, and I brought him home after my mentor told me he felt I was ready. I'd been working with his cobras, and was comfortable with their movements, had stopped being startled by the loud hissing, and could anticipate when a lunge was coming.

I found the cobras very similar in behavior, movements and attitude to my tiger rat snake, Spilotes pullatus. The cobras were louder, but actually bluffed more and were easier on the hook than the rat snake. They don't hold still for a second though, but they are fun to work with.

Shelby has been a delight to own. He's quite laid-back for a cobra, but is just now experimenting with his hood (like a little boy discovering his you-know-what) so I expect that I'll be seeing that pretty flare more often as time goes on. He eats like a PIG...cobras have very fast metabolic rates for snakes, and they poop a lot. I thought corn snakes were bad- I clean Shelby's cage about 2-3 times a week. He is fed once every 5-7 days on a small mouse fuzzy. Cobras do better being fed smaller prey items more often, as they don't have quite the swallowing capacity of pythons and boas.

Anyway, enough babbling. Without further ado, here is my little hooder:

[Will0W783]

And some more pictures:

[Gungirl]

Love the Target on the back of his hood. Its super cute.

[alessia55]

Yayy Shelby has his own thread! He moves a lot but he's fun to photograph, even if it's just through the glass

[jarich]

Beautiful snake! Im curious, with hots do you work with them often in the hopes of getting them used to you? It seems logical but Im not at all sure of the protocol with hots.

[youngster]

Great thread!
Love it, he's so cute! ya know, in a deadly kind of way.

[Will0W783]

It depends on the species. Some species, like those in the genus Atheris (the bush vipers) are known for being aggressive, nervous animals. I have an Usumbara mountain horned bush viper, and I work with her as little as possible. She spazzes and bites herself, the hook, the branches in her cage, the air...everything. She's only about a foot long, so it's fairly simple to stay out of her range, but I do not like upsetting her. Generally most arboreal vipers will not change much no matter how much you work with them. My temple viper is very laid-back and has not struck at me once, even though she is handled only a few times a month to get soaks and/or her cage cleaned. She was tame when I got her, and I see no reason why she wouldnt' remain that way, as the species is known for being docile. I still use hooks, gloves and proper technique, but she's an easy hot to work with.

Other species, like cobras, do benefit from frequent work. They tend to be quite placid as babies, go through a "teenage" aggressive phase, and then go into their adult personality. That being said, there are cobras that will relax into very placid, docile snakes, and there are others that will be holy terrors their entire lives. I have a good friend who had a monocled cobra that became more and more aggressive with each passing week he had it, until the moment he walked into the snake room it was hooded up, hissing, and smashing off the glass of its cage. My mentor has one 6-foot female that was horrendous to work with. She struck at me, whipped around on me, musked me, pooped on me, and twisted her body around like a whip while on the hook. It took me ten minutes to get her moved from one cage to another. On the other hand, he had another female who handled like a cornsnake on the hook and was perfectly pleasant.
Shelby is good with the hook. He can be hooded up and hissing, but as soon as I touch him gently with the hook, he relaxes and can be moved. I use thick bite-resistant gloves in addition to hooking and tailing. They are NOT a substitute for good handling techniques but I like having the extra level of protection.

[Kayla90]

He's so freaking adorable.. I just want to eat him up.. hehe.. Good thing he's not poisonous :P

[Will0W783]

Haha, I know what you mean, youngster. Baby cobras are ridiculously cute. Shelby is a very curious, full of personality snake. Every time I enter the room, he pops his head out of his tank hide to look at what I'm doing, and when he's made a mess he cruises and squirms against the cage walls until I clean his cage. If I'm cleaning another cage or handling another snake, he watches and flicks his tongue rapidly. If I go to the freezer where the food is kept, he goes nuts and bounces all over. He makes me laugh on an almost daily basis, but I know he could end my existence in one moment of bad temper. It's an interesting dichotomy- a cute, endearing little snake that can actually kill a full-grown man very easily. He keeps me on my toes and I never forget his capabilities, but I love him nonetheless and enjoy his antics.

[stephanbakir]

Shes a stunner, shame you had to throw the lid at her... shame..........

[stephanbakir]

Originally Posted by Will0W783

It depends on the species. Some species, like those in the genus Atheris (the bush vipers) are known for being aggressive, nervous animals. I have an Usumbara mountain horned bush viper, and I work with her as little as possible. She spazzes and bites herself, the hook, the branches in her cage, the air...everything. She's only about a foot long, so it's fairly simple to stay out of her range, but I do not like upsetting her. Generally most arboreal vipers will not change much no matter how much you work with them. My temple viper is very laid-back and has not struck at me once, even though she is handled only a few times a month to get soaks and/or her cage cleaned. She was tame when I got her, and I see no reason why she wouldnt' remain that way, as the species is known for being docile. I still use hooks, gloves and proper technique, but she's an easy hot to work with.

Other species, like cobras, do benefit from frequent work. They tend to be quite placid as babies, go through a "teenage" aggressive phase, and then go into their adult personality. That being said, there are cobras that will relax into very placid, docile snakes, and there are others that will be holy terrors their entire lives. I have a good friend who had a monocled cobra that became more and more aggressive with each passing week he had it, until the moment he walked into the snake room it was hooded up, hissing, and smashing off the glass of its cage. My mentor has one 6-foot female that was horrendous to work with. She struck at me, whipped around on me, musked me, pooped on me, and twisted her body around like a whip while on the hook. It took me ten minutes to get her moved from one cage to another. On the other hand, he had another female who handled like a cornsnake on the hook and was perfectly pleasant.
Shelby is good with the hook. He can be hooded up and hissing, but as soon as I touch him gently with the hook, he relaxes and can be moved. I use thick bite-resistant gloves in addition to hooking and tailing. They are NOT a substitute for good handling techniques but I like having the extra level of protection.

And thats an aggressive mono, cape cobras are all like that and worse. Elapids are not for the novice keeper!

[Will0W783]

Lol. Yeah that was not the world's best feeding video. :-/

Shelby is a male, by the way. I know he's very pretty, but he is a boy.

[stephanbakir]

Hes one sexy boy, must be one of those pretty model types :P

[Will0W783]

Definitely ANY elapid is NOT for a novice. They can be very unpredictable and quick on a hook. I think that the only reason I took to working with them as easily as I did is that I have years of experience keeping aggressive wild-caught ratsnakes. Those things are crazy and behave similarly on a hook. And the rat snakes will give you a good hearty chomp if they get a chance, so I learned to dance them on a hook to keep the head away from me. It's much the same motions with the cobras.

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND ANYONE GET A COBRA WITHOUT YEARS OF EXPERIENCE WITH NON-VENOMOUS SPECIES AND A GOOD HONEST VENOMOUS MENTOR. THEY ARE NOT TO BE UNDERESTIMATED AND ONE TINY MISTAKE IS ALL IT WOULD TAKE FOR YOUR LIFE TO BE OVER, OR FOREVER CHANGED.

I don't want to preach at anyone...I would hope that people here will be responsible enough to undesrtand that as much as I enjoy keeping my cobra, it is not for everyone and nothing to be taken lightly. Just because I have had mostly good experiences with them and my particular specimen is well-behaved does not mean it would be the same for anyone else. Cobras are highly intelligent, quick-learning, fast moving spastic nuts. They do bluff a lot and give you warning in most cases, but they can get you without you even seeing it coming if you don't know what to look out for.

[Will0W783]

Hes one sexy boy, must be one of those pretty model types :P

BAhaahahaahaa! He's too sexy for his hood, too sexy for his hood, so sexy it's not good. :-P