PLEASE tell me this isn't a Coral Snake!

[SerpentLust]

I, personally, ADORE Coral Snakes and enjoy looking at their pics and reading up on them. I'm unsure if I'll ever have a lifestyle that would allow me to own one however I do enjoy reading about them.

I came across this:
http://www.reptibid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.pl?category=b_snake_kings&item=1084466221

I looked at the picture and nearly fell out of my chair. Is this or is this NOT a Coral Snake!? And if it is, then this idiot is representing it as a Kingsnake and the auction will close in 10 days with a very surprised new owner.

Jenn

[Stockwell]

Um Yeah, I'd say thats a coral snake alright

[SerpentLust]

I do believe it is a Joke...it's a stupid idiotic evil joke, but by looking at his username and the info he gave, I'm hoping it's a joke...

[jwsporty]

I would agree

http://www.wf.net/~snake/coral.htm

[672]

that's a coral snake alright,,,, red on yellow kills a fellow.

[chappy]

"Beautiful Kingsnake




This is a beautiful kingsnake i found last week in my back yard. I figured people liked kingsnakes so I put it up for sale. The picture is of the actual snake.He has never tried to bite meand doesnt seem to mind being held. He is 3 feet long and I have fed him small mice from a pet storeevery week. I dont know enough about snakes to keep him alive very long so someone take him off my hands please."

He's been feeding it mice every week but he found it last week lol

I hope this is a joke too!!!

[SerpentLust]

And if it's NOT a joke, the Snake at least knows enough about him to not keep HIM alive for very long

[Lrptls]

wow i sure hope that is a joke, i really hope that guy doesn't have the snake at all. if people are bidding i hope they know there bidding on a coral and thats what they really want.

[Vanan]

Doubt someone would be able to get a coral eating mice that easily. I call his bluff.

[damzookeeper]

Bill Nye (sp) the Scienc guy says... " If red touches yellow, your a dead fellow, if red touches black, your O.K. Jack." That has always stuck with me and I'm not sure why. lol.

[Simon]

looks like a coral to me~~

[Lrptls]

i always say "red on black friend of jack, red on yellow kills a fellow" i either got that from corwin or urwin

[BoidKeeper]

So he is trying to sell a snake he caught in his back yard. Well the good news is he won't live long enough to sell it and or breed(and I'm not talking about the snake). I see a Darwin award coming on here.
Trevor

[cantil]

If he got it feeding mice straight out of the wild I want to know his secret.

[SerpentLust]

Hahaha Trevor :) I love the Darwin awards! lmao

[Crotalus75]

Just a side note: Red touch yellow kill a fellow - Red touch black...youre ok Jack

This only works with certainty in North America....the South and Central American corals can have many different color combos.

[Andy_G]

Yeah it's a coral...and as Crotalus said...that rhyme only works with NA species... some SA corals don't even have bands...:)

[spidergecko]

What I don't understand is, even if it's not a joke, why wouldn't he just let the snake go? It's like me finding a baby squirrel in the yard and catching it then selling it on ebay - "I know people like fuzzy squirrel babies so I'm offering one here".

Does he think it's a pet snake that got loose? I would think he'd want to put FOUND signs up if that was the case.

But I am totally naive.

[Matt]

whether he is joking or not, he's an idiot, hope nobody gets hurt if its a real auction.

[cobraman]

Here is a copy of the e-mail I sent to the seller.


"Joke or not, You should be removed from this site for your VERY POOR TASTE in posting a Coral Snake for sale as a Kingsnake. If you think that is funny, than you are one sick person. If you honestly believed it was a Kingsnake, you should be forced to learn a bit about what you have to sell before being allowed to post. Sorry, but either way you look at it, you are wrong!
Ray Hunter"

[anacondaman]

i wonder what his corn snakes look like?

[Mustangrde1]

That is a Texas Coral Snake. As this person lives in TX and from the high peppering in the saddles i would guess its no joke as that is a traight of that ssp.

[BoidKeeper]

I emailed the webmaster bringing it to their attention. Hopefully they'll either correct him or pull the add.
Can you imagine someone who doesn't know any better buying it thinking they're getting some kind of king. If someone buys it and get's bit there is going to be trouble all around for the seller, the site for allowing someone to post the add and our hobby in general will get a black eye. I can see the newspaper head line now, "Man dies from King bite"
Cheers,
Trevor

[M_surinamensis]

The rhymes are a piss poor way of identifying ANYTHING...

In addition to central and south americal corals that frequently violate the "rule" (Some by being, as was stated a nearly solid color, some are the exact reverse and some it would be accurate for) there are dozens of harmless snakes which, according to the rhyme, would be dangerously toxic. There are a good number of rear fanged colubridines that aren't capable of a really signifigant envenomation (painful but nowhere near deadly) that would fall under that blasted rhyme as being corals... And then there are totally harmless north american colubrids that are just abberently patterned and end up whacked in half by some brainless twit who watched Irwin (I really hate that guy) and decided that their family was in immediate danger from this tri color variable kingsnake or smudge patterened scarlet milk.

It'd really be better if people stopped trying to use catchy but inaccurate phrases and started espousing the position of "If you aren't sure what it is, leave it alone." Of course this doesn't rhyme so it'll never catch on, no matter how much sense it makes.

[YummyCdnMale]

LOL... he held it and played with it a few times!!!! is he talking about the snake?<<<<<< or something else.... imagine what he calls a Cobra!!!

[psilocybe]

I REALLY hope this is a joke, because the add is still up, and there are a lot of bids on it...Hopefully if someone does win it, they'll know they bid on a coral, but somehow i doubt that will happen...

AP

[psilocybe]

come to think of it, the fact that he says he's feeding it mice (if he can get a coral to eat a rodent straight out of the wild, then he's a herp god)...that makes it sound a little fishy to me...

AP

[TheRedDragon]

Oh man, what a doofus. :mad:

[Mustangrde1]

As to the rhyme I agree with Seamus if you need to know a better way think of a stop sign YELLOW IS CAUTION RED IS STOP if the two touch dont pick it up. Or better yet if you dont know what any snake is leave it alone. As for this yo yo I think him being in TX the smart move if the webmaster is not going to remove the add is contat TX DNR and let them know there is a potential problem and let them make the calls needed to insure public safety. Oh ya and call his local hospital to make sure they have AV my little voice says they will be seeing this person.

[ReneeB]

The add has been closed.. I'm guessing someone spoke up.. or the idiot died

[MsTT]

The ad was a joke. The "seller" says as much in the comments area. Pretty funny joke actually, since no one would have gotten hurt. The snake didn't actually exist in his possession for sale. He says he got the pics off of an educational web site.

In bad taste maybe, but a good way to raise public awareness that you had better know how to identify it before you pick it up.

[anacondaman]

way to look at it in a positive way
adam

[cobraman]

In bad taste maybe, but a good way to raise public awareness that you had better know how to identify it before you pick it up.

Very true Tanneth, however as most everyone on this site knows, I get a bit of grief over the pics of me handling cobras (etc) because some psycho kid might see the picture and rush right out and purchase a 14 foot king cobra and copy me. well, ok.... what about the well meaning kid that comes onto this ad and assumes the ad is not a joke, then goes out and picks up a coral snake thinking it is a kingsnake??? At least I am truthfull about the identity of the snake I am holding, and warn against doing the same. It's not like I post a pic of myself holding a 13 foot King Cobra and say that it is a hognose.

Ok, I'm gonna go dry my eyes and change my diaper.
Ray


p.s.- Check out the picture (below) of the baby black racer I found. I am putting it up for sale on ReptiBid :)

[Mustangrde1]

Awe it such a cute African Black Racer. is it related to the not so cuddly Black Mamba? lol

[MsTT]

That is a good point Ray, but the expected plethora of posts screaming, "You idiot, that is a coral snake!" should have served as a sufficient disclaimer. :)

To continue our usual debate, I think that freehandling pics are likely to set a poor example of safety standards to the public. I guess they're kind of like porno - some people are mature enough to appreciate them, but inexperienced people with innocent unformed minds might get warped. LOL

[cobraman]

I believe that if someone is stupid enough to copy every dangerous thing they see on tv or the internet, they are already far beyond "warped"!

[Yness]

Um..."I saw it on TV" has never been an excuse for me. Even as a kid I was able to separate the dangerous things that people did on tv and in magazines from what was actually safe to do...Thats not to say I didn't do stupid things but I have never touched an animal that I wasn't familiar with.

[Yness]

Addendum: or in the presence of an experienced person.

[MsTT]

Ray, this is basically what I posted on another forum regarding my beliefs on the issue of setting good safety standards in public.

I think that every experienced keeper should give thought and consideration to setting good safety standards in public. There is already too much grossly irresponsible behavior and too many stupid snake tricks on television for people to imitate. We need better role models than that.

I think it is important for venomous keepers to set an example of safety and professionalism, especially if they are well experienced and respected and thus in a a good position to send a positive safety message to the community. If we can work together and help each other accomplish this, so much the better for all of us. That's my opinion anyhow.

[BWSmith]

Ray just posts those to raise my blood pressure ;)

[Mustangrde1]

Brian go read this thread to calm your blood pressure. http://novogate.com/exco/thread.php?forumid=4503&threadid=57173

[cobraman]

Tanneth, you're not wrong.

[psilocybe]

Originally posted by cobraman
Very true Tanneth, however as most everyone on this site knows, I get a bit of grief over the pics of me handling cobras (etc) because some psycho kid might see the picture and rush right out and purchase a 14 foot king cobra and copy me. well, ok.... what about the well meaning kid that comes onto this ad and assumes the ad is not a joke, then goes out and picks up a coral snake thinking it is a kingsnake??? At least I am truthfull about the identity of the snake I am holding, and warn against doing the same. It's not like I post a pic of myself holding a 13 foot King Cobra and say that it is a hognose.

Ok, I'm gonna go dry my eyes and change my diaper.
Ray


p.s.- Check out the picture (below) of the baby black racer I found. I am putting it up for sale on ReptiBid :)

LOL, I am one of those people who has given you grief on your photos, Ray, and if I remember correctly, it was the one of you and your "black racer" :rolleyes:

In all honesty, though I do still disagree with your handling tactics, self-innoculation or not, in the end, it's just an opinion. I respect you and the work you do. You are not one of the plethora of idiots who freehandle venomous snakes with no respect or understanding of what they can, and will eventually, do. However (and I'm not trying to chastise you again! :) ), I don't think it would be far fetched to reason that some of those idiots have been inspired by yours (and other peoples') photos.

I do have to agree with you though that we cannot babysit the world...a responsible adult should be able to reason (and read your disclaimer) that the techniques depicted in your photos SHOULD NOT be tried by anyone. And the parents of the kid who sees such a photo should be responsible enough NOT to let him get that 14 ft. king cobra :) Unfortunately, there are those people who cannot (or rather do not) read disclaimers or heed the rational advice given to them. Again, I agree with you that it's not your job to babysit them, and there are indeed far worse examples of dangerous behavior on the net and on TV.

Again, not trying to give you grief again, just clarifying my position!

Take Care,

Abhishek Prasad (AP)

[M_surinamensis]

There are instructions on a box of toothpicks.

Those who have read Douglas Adams know what this means and why I'm adding it.

[EmeraldEyes]

Originally posted by M_surinamensis
There are instructions on a box of toothpicks.

Those who have read Douglas Adams know what this means and why I'm adding it. ROFLMBO!!!!!!

[cobraman]

Abhishek Prasad:
Very well put. I continue to respect you and BW Smith, and Tanneth and any one who feels this way.
Blessings
Ray

[psilocybe]

Ray,

The respect is mutual.

AP