Re: Opinions vary

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Posted by cf on November 20, 2002 at 23:28:57:

In Reply to: Re: Opinions vary posted by Chance on November 17, 2002 at 15:53:20:

I'm looking forward to working with spilotes, as I find them very intrigueing. I was taken by some large adults at a show some time ago, their bodies have that keeled pyramid shape thats very different from most snakes. Maybe some day I'll come across some captive bred Mangroves and I'll get involved with them too!

Nice talking to you, and thanx for the info!

Freight

::Thank you very much! I'll make an attempt to contact BGC to see if he has more details, but I really appreciate getting a bit of enlightenment on this species. They are truely beautiful snakes, and I was surprised to see them listed on the colubrid classifieds not too long ago! Due to the regulations in my area, and the fact that I'm not really up for taking the chance of a toxic bite, I think I'll go for Spilotes in the future, which at least can look a little bit similar to the Mangrove!

:I'm glad I could be of a little help. BGF may just see this thread and be able to add a little insight here, but if not you can just open one of his posts, click his name, and send him a message through that way. Mangroves are beautiful snakes, and can reach rather impressive proportions for an arboreal colubrid (I've heard of them reaching 8 to 9' and being very thick). These snakes are advertised in a variety of places under a variety of conditions, i.e. some people consider them venomous and will only ship through Delta, others consider them relatively harmless and will ship them through a ground carrier. There are only a couple of rear-fangs that have made it to the presitigious "definitely dangerous" group, the boomslangs and twig snakes. Other rear-fangs have caused some pretty bad bites, and I believe some have even caused fatalities, but these two are generally considered the only life-threatening rear-fangs, and for good reason! But anyway, Spilotes would probably be a good choice to get the similar experience to keeping a mangrove without the risk of a dangerous bite (though I've heard that sometimes those snakes can be rather pissy...lol). I've thought about keeping them before, and probably will at some point. They are very nice snakes that can be excellent for displays, and are known to reach very impressive sizes. Good luck with your new snake though! And also good luck with learning more about the mangroves and their venom.

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