Snakes?

[UTTransplant]

We used to play with garter snakes when I was a kid. We mispronounced it as “garden snake” since they were generally found near the garden. My grandpa taught us early the difference between garter snakes and rattlesnakes that also lived in the area. And I once dated a guy who had lots of reptiles, especially snakes. He worked in a biochemistry lab where they milked venomous snakes for research. I did NOT stay over at his place. There was something bothersome about a venomous snake in the house!

 

[tlmgcamp]

I just back from deployment and was going to get a ball python fron one of the guys at work, but I'm second guessing it since it seems pretty uncommon

Florida will pay $10-$15/hr to hunt pythons. Anything over 4' will get you an additional $50, plus $25/ft over 4'. They concentrate on Burmese but I would think that any variant would not be welcomed

 

[DonTom]

Hahahaha that's how I feel about pet tarantulas.

I used to have a fear of spiders, many years ago.

I got totally over that fear when I found a large male desert tarantula crossing a road in the southern CA desert. I kept it for a pet for more than a year and leaned much about them. They are kinda interesting. And are they fast when they see a cricket nearby, otherwise they are very slow.

Usually when a large male desert tarantula is found in late summer, it has less than a year to live but mine lived for almost two years. In the last year (or so) that are looking for a mate and are commonly seen. The males live for just a few years or so, the females (rarely seen except after a big summer rain) can live for 25 years and are a little smaller.

I got to watch mine shed.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[DonTom]

My pets are in the edge of my yard

Eastern Kingsnake. They look a little different out here in the west:

 

[Great Horned Owl]

If you are in the eastern part of the country, a Black Rat snake would be a good choice. They are native to the whole area except Florida and New England.

They tend to be gentle, and make good pets. Many years ago, my wife used to keep ours in her kindergarten class room, where the kids used to wrap it around their necks, and pretend it was strangling them. The moms were less thrilled.

 

[Ray-IN]

I know you were thinking of the coral snakes. The one in the photo breaks the rule that works for the USA:

Red to Black=Venom lack.

Red to Yellow will kill a fellow.

Or the stop light:

Yellow=caution
When red comes next, Stop!

But that only works in the USA. The snake in the photo was the venomous Amazon Corral Snake, yet red touches black, not yellow (or white, in some cases).

However, this dangerously venomous snake, just as the AZ Coral snake has not yet knowingly killed anybody by its bite. But you still do not want to get bit by either.

-Don- Reno, NV

Actually that rhyme does not hold true all the time.
reference: Fact Checker: Is the Coral Snake Poem Accurate?

 

[DonTom]

Actually that rhyme does not hold true all the time.

Exactly what I was saying. Usually It works in the USA, but not in many other countries.

One exception can be the Organ-pipe Shovel nose snake. But the odds of finding that one is very low.

There are countless mimics of the coral snake in the USA, but most of them are red-black. And not all of them are kingsnakes (but most are):

For the non-kingsnake mimics:

Organ-Pipe Shovelnose Snake:



Long nose snake:



Scarlet snake:



-Don- Reno, NV