When It Rains...It Pours!

Scubadiver59 · 08-22-17, 06:13 PM

There's the one thread about the Woma I'm trying to get...

Well, I found three more I'm definitely getting this weekend:

A female Hogg Island Boa (BC imperator/2015)...some pink highlights
A male D'Alberts Python (Leiopython albertisii/2017)...one of my "have to haves" and it's from S. Papua NG
A male Gray Banded Kingsnake (Lampropeltis alterna/unk age)...love the darker gray

When will the insanity end!!??

Scubadiver59 · 08-22-17, 06:21 PM

And I almost forgot, the seller of the Hogg Island, D'Alberts, and Gray-Banded King also has a pair of Green Baron's Racers (Philodryas baroni) that he's going to sell for a friend...I'm waiting on pictures and prices.

EDIT: Hmmm...loved reading this article...not!

"... When injected intramuscularly into the gastrocnemius of mice, the venom induced local effects such as hemorrhage, myonecrosis, edema, and leucocyte infiltration. Due to its venom toxicity shown herein, P. baroni should be considered dangerous to humans and any medically significant bite should be promptly reviewed by a qualified health professional."

I might change my mind, but then again I have the Hognose and False Water Cobra! What's next? Ringed Water Cobra? A true hot? Nah...I'm not going down that path!

**Minkness** · 08-22-17, 06:26 PM

Snake explosion! There is no end....Inhave looked and have yet to find it.... x.x

**EL Ziggy** · 08-22-17, 08:13 PM

Wow Scuba, you're on a major roll!! The hits just keep on comin with you! Those are all gorgeous critters but the WLP has me drooling

dannybgoode · 08-23-17, 12:15 AM

Nice alterna. They have one in my favourite store that I'm seriously tempted by. Really nice snakes and becoming uncommon in the hobby.

The white lip it's nice as well - I agree - something that would compliment any collection.

TRD · 08-23-17, 09:50 AM

P. baroni is considerably more toxic than a hognose or FWC.. they aren't to handle, they aren't for kids to be around (if any, should be locked).

Philodryas has some family members than will seriously hurt you, and the olfersii actually has a few human death attributed to it's venom.

baroni is not as toxic as the olfersii, but still you need to take care. Great snakes though, I should get a bunch of them by end of this year.

I'm looking for such alterna for so long time... Do you know the locality of it? I'm dying to find a dark phase from the Black Gap Road locality, eventually.

Scubadiver59 · 08-23-17, 09:57 AM

The seller of the three I'm buying says his friends snakes are a breeding pair and I've see the difference in size for the males and females (images on the web) and the females are quite a bit bigger than the males.

I'll have to think about the P. baroni ... I don't have any children, wife, or other distractions, so there's just me to worry about. I'm not scared off by any means, thinking about the toxicity of the venom, but I'm wondering if I should just stick with the Hognose and FWC for now.

Hmm...

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRD

P. baroni is considerably more toxic than a hognose or FWC.. they aren't to handle, they aren't for kids to be around (if any, should be locked).

Philodryas has some family members than will seriously hurt you, and the olfersii actually has a few human death attributed to it's venom.

baroni is not as toxic as the olfersii, but still you need to take care. Great snakes though, I should get a bunch of them by end of this year.

TRD · 08-23-17, 10:26 AM

baroni is not going to kill you unless you're allergic.. You just need to be sensible around them (hook, not grab/hold), and if they do manage to bite you for some reason - not let them chew because it's "funny" like what some people do with a hognose. Their venom delivery system may not be that great, but if they do manage to get sufficient into you, it's going to hurt, swell, bruise from finger to shoulder.

Females are a LOT bigger than males (especially in girth).. nice is that you can cohab them, but if you stick males and females together they will breed without doing anything special. During feeding they'll have to be separated. Also they need quite a bit of room (vertical + horizontal). Otherwise, they are easy to keep, active, diurnal snakes.

There's a flickr stream of someone photographing his experiences being bitten by olfersii. olfersii has a better delivery system for the venom, and is a more potent. You can find it here in case you're curious: https://www.flickr.com/photos/djp_ph...n/photostream/

Scubadiver59 · 08-23-17, 11:00 AM

Lovely pictures...all yellow and red! It looks like it got him on the inside of his elbow and that's why the coloration went up and down so much, but it looks like it stopped short of the shoulder.

I supposed it's not quite as bad as getting bit by a brown recluse, which has a more volatile necrotic venom that can get really nasty if your immune system is depressed; and as I've heard, there can be recurring necrosis episodes. Not that I've been bitten by one of these, just the pictures you can view on the web

Getting bit by one would make for a few good stories at the local...not that I need to get bit by one to tell a few stories after quaffing a few!

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRD

baroni is not going to kill you unless you're allergic.. You just need to be sensible around them (hook, not grab/hold), and if they do manage to bite you for some reason - not let them chew because it's "funny" like what some people do with a hognose. Their venom delivery system may not be that great, but if they do manage to get sufficient into you, it's going to hurt, swell, bruise from finger to shoulder.

Females are a LOT bigger than males (especially in girth).. nice is that you can cohab them, but if you stick males and females together they will breed without doing anything special. During feeding they'll have to be separated. Also they need quite a bit of room (vertical + horizontal). Otherwise, they are easy to keep, active, diurnal snakes.

There's a flickr stream of someone photographing his experiences being bitten by olfersii. olfersii has a better delivery system for the venom, and is a more potent. You can find it here in case you're curious: https://www.flickr.com/photos/djp_ph...n/photostream/

TRD · 08-23-17, 11:39 AM

When dealing with anything venomous your goal should be not being bit at all, you never know how your body is going to react. This is not a hognose.. these snakes can cause human envenomation, it's a whole other level.

The reason the bruising went up all the way over his shoulder is not because of being bit around the elbow area. It's because it was a single bite with no chewing. This guy LET himself be bit by one to "test it out". Also he was hospitalized for 5 days and sent home with his arm still black and blue. It's too bad he didn't keep a record of how he felt, but it much of hurt a mother.

Here is a study that compares the Philodryas venom effects with Bothrops (Lancehead snake), perhaps this will explain you more what potential these snakes carry: Experimental ophitoxemia produced by the opisthoglyphous lora snake (Philodryas olfersii) venom

I'm not trying to scare you off, but if you are considering these snakes, you need to understand what you get yourself into. Also, no, they won't kill you, but a serious bite will not be a comfortable experience and likely observation is required...

Scubadiver59 · 08-23-17, 12:18 PM

Yeah...I think I'll pass. This 58yr old doesn't need the kind of drama that the Baron's Racers could provide should my mind wander...as it often does. If I was younger, I probably would've given it a go.

If anyone else is interested in the Baron's, let me know and I'll pass it on to the seller of the other snakes I'm purchasing. He's just north of Greensboro (NC).

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRD

When dealing with anything venomous your goal should be not being bit at all, you never know how your body is going to react. This is not a hognose.. these snakes can cause human envenomation, it's a whole other level.

The reason the bruising went up all the way over his shoulder is not because of being bit around the elbow area. It's because it was a single bite with no chewing. This guy LET himself be bit by one to "test it out". Also he was hospitalized for 5 days and sent home with his arm still black and blue. It's too bad he didn't keep a record of how he felt, but it much of hurt a mother.

Here is a study that compares the Philodryas venom effects with Bothrops (Lancehead snake), perhaps this will explain you more what potential these snakes carry: Experimental ophitoxemia produced by the opisthoglyphous lora snake (Philodryas olfersii) venom

I'm not trying to scare you off, but if you are considering these snakes, you need to understand what you get yourself into. Also, no, they won't kill you, but a serious bite will not be a comfortable experience and likely observation is required...

SnoopySnake · 08-23-17, 02:23 PM

Send those barons my way

Nice new additions, really like the white lip of course

jjhill001 · 08-23-17, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannybgoode

Nice alterna. They have one in my favourite store that I'm seriously tempted by. Really nice snakes and becoming uncommon in the hobby.

The white lip it's nice as well - I agree - something that would compliment any collection.

I remember when the Blairs and Alterna were hugely popular, they even have their own category on kingsnake. I wonder what happened? Ball Pythons? Lack of Morph or perhaps a taxonomy thing or muddled bloodlines?

Anyone have any idea?

dannybgoode · 08-24-17, 01:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjhill001

I remember when the Blairs and Alterna were hugely popular, they even have their own category on kingsnake. I wonder what happened? Ball Pythons? Lack of Morph or perhaps a taxonomy thing or muddled bloodlines?

Anyone have any idea?

There's so many interesting snakes - particularly in the rat / king / milk families - that are rarely seen now. I put it down to morph chasing and the money just dropped out of a lot of things.

Nice thing is they're slowly having a resurgence as I think enough people are now looking beyond the ' normal' stuff and want something a bit different.

May go and have a proper look at the alterna in the local store - that and the Trans Pesco

**Andy_G** · 08-24-17, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjhill001

I remember when the Blairs and Alterna were hugely popular, they even have their own category on kingsnake. I wonder what happened? Ball Pythons? Lack of Morph or perhaps a taxonomy thing or muddled bloodlines?

Anyone have any idea?

The morph craze in general. Things in the hobby do go in cycles however and it's only a matter of time before resurgence.