Ophiophagus-hannah

[Ophiophagus-hannah]

I finally got my friend to agree to let me post some photos of his beautiful animal. She is 5ft plus and still feeding on snakes. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img] Very calm demeanor, always looks like she's sizing us up everytime we stare at her. He wants to know is there any way he can switch her over to rodents? She has a beautiful iridescence that I couldn't capture with my cheap camera.
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[Ravnos]

I've not talked to many people who have had alot of luck switching them over to rodents... but your best bet is scenting. I do it for my hognose... take toad guts and smear them on a rat and he'll take them every time. You could do the same thing with snake guts... and just slowly use less and less snake scenting over a period of time - and with luck, she'll eventually take an unscented rodent. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] Of course... at 5' its one thing to get her on rats... but when she's larger, you're going to have to look for larger rodents unless you're just going to use alot of rats... which is still less of a pain than finding her young retics and burms to eat. =)

Rav


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[Ophiophagus-hannah]

Thanks Rav! I'll let him know about that scenting trick. My other friend had a King that was gigantic but died of some sort of infection in the lungs. Very beautiful animals, but demand the respect they deserve.
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[JuliusSqueezer]

I have also heard of gutting ball pythons and stuffing them with rats to switch them... I know this works....not sure I agree with the method...but anyway...
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[Ophiophagus-hannah]

Thanks Jules, that's a rough one!
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[biff]

I've also heard of people using sheds to scent rats...

if I had a king I would try it.

good luck,

Steve
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[cb76]

maybe stuff the shed with rats!


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[telefrag]

hmmmm,,

switching a king cobra over to rats,
well is that what they would eat in the wild?

their bodies are not designed to eat and digest rodents.

That is something that people really need to keep in mind before they purchase such an animal.

In my opinion those are animals left to institutions that can provide for them.

Another problem is people collecting native snakes species (bulls/rats/racers/etc) to feed them, and not even those are close to their natural diet.

But people are still going to do it anyway, even well meaning people.


anyway,
good luck to him.
[img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img]
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[biff]

Actually they do quite well eating rats...approximately 2 months ago I had the pleasure of seeing 1.1 a local keeper had. They looked very healthy and to my knowledge had never had any health problems. I've heard of "professional" institutions switching them over to rats also. The only reason I don't get them is it's a pain in the butt to scent stuff. And they are a real pain when they are babies.

Steve
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	1.1 One Male and One Female

[telefrag]

Well, im not saying they wont survive (underline that word) on rats, but I know it does not make for a normally functioning animal. Yes many institutions do have some switched over to rodents, but I would be curious to find out what the longest stay in captivity one has had on such a diet, and if anyone ever actually was able to get them to reproduce and have viable offspring. (a pretty decent indicator of proper health IMHO)
If so, that is great, I highly doubt that it happens often, since they are not exactly a easy snake to maintain aside from their feeding preferences.

All I have to say is the normal life span of a captive O.h on a natural diet is probably more than double that of a rodent eating specimen.

If you want to dispute that, go ahead, but its been documented in many journals and even some of the more mainstream books.

[img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
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[Jack_Daniels]

How would you go about finding a supply of "feeder snakes"? What species are they? Whats the average price per feeder?

btw, that snake is awesome.. I was just 'stared down' by a picture, I bet he's pretty intimidating in the flesh. He's lookin' mighty alert of his surroundings..



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I am you, searching to be free...

In the wild they eat asian ratsnakes mostly, P. mucosus and P. Korros, or common ratsnake and Indo-chinese rat snake respectively. As far as non-snake prey, they eat monitor lizards...still, strictly cold-blooded prey. Nothing but snakes and monitors found it wild caught animals.

Interestingly enough, a king cobra has been found in the coils of a retic. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]
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[kogoz]

Thats a snake I would actualy fear. I've never said that before but it's true [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_cry.gif[/img] I thought I would never be afraid of any snake but I've found it *snifle* [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_cry.gif[/img]
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