Incoming Cobras!!! (1.1 Naja kaouthia)

Najakeeper

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Hello all,

Cobras always fascinated me the most among snakes, I think even more than Death Adders (Acanthophis), which are my current favorite venomous snakes. I have kept several cobras in the course of my venomous snake keeping. I actually got into venomous snakes with an albino Naja kaouthia (monocled cobra) (bad decision), then I had Naja nigricollis (black necked spitting cobra), Naja pallida (red spitting cobra), Naja haje legionis (Moroccan cobra) and Naja nigricincta (zebra spitting cobra). I have kept these wonderful snakes within a 10 year period but I haven't had a cobra for over 2 years since I sold the Naja nigricincta I had.

Recently, I saw some snakes that were for sale. As a geneticist by training, mutations have always fascinated me and these snakes are very interesting on that count. Also, they are not inbred hybrids like most Naja kaouthia mutants available in the market.

So the male is called a "Highlite", the genetics are bit unclear but the father is a wild caught Granite Pastel het for T- Albino and the mother is a first generation captive bred carries a gene associated with creating extra orange in Orange Pastels.

Here he is:








He will get to be more orange with each shed but will display some melanin as well with a clearly defined Monocle and banding.

The female is the superform of the Orange Pastel mutation and she probably carries the extra gene mentioned above as well. The father to this female is a wild caught Orange Pastel and the mother is a first generation Orange Pastel with the extra gene. So both snakes have mothers, which are sisters but unrelated wild caught fathers and they all originate from Thailand so they are not hybrids of Farmosa cobras etc.

Here she is:






The snakes are bought and paid for but I will bring them home in October 2013. My breeder friend in the Netherlands will take care of them until I secure the proper Antivenom and get my snake room properly organized for them etc.

I already love these specimens and only god knows what will come out if I manage to breed them in a few years.

I will of course have much better pictures and HD videos when I have the snakes in my snake room/photo studio :).

Cheers
 

The Snark

Dumpster Fire of the Gods
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Wow. Just don't turn them loose over here. I have enough trouble IDing the normal factory painted models without the custom showroom colors.
 

Stirmi

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Wow that's cool cobras have always fascinated me also but I don't keep hot snakes yet and don't plan on it haha good luck!
 

JZC

Arachnobaron
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Those snakes are absolutely gorgeous. I love the look of cobras!
 

Boatman

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Gorgeous snakes!

Why was keeping a Naja kaouthia (monocled cobra) as your first a "bad decision"?
 

Najakeeper

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Why was keeping a Naja kaouthia (monocled cobra) as your first a "bad decision"?
I can not name any venomous animal as a true starter hot but I can easily say that Monocled Cobras are not. They are large elapids with very potent venom and they are agile/fast snakes. They also tend to not to calm down easily. On top of all this, albinos have poor vision so they may be more defensive. I was chased out of my snake room by that snake, it wasn't one of my proudest moments to tell you the truth.

---------- Post added 05-17-2013 at 11:49 PM ----------

Wow. Just don't turn them loose over here. I have enough trouble IDing the normal factory painted models without the custom showroom colors.
Don't worry, these babies hate Thai food :-D.

Joking aside, people pay decent cash to Thai snake catchers if they can find cobras with weird mutations like these. Of course, by captive breeding, initial mutant genes are combined and exaggerated to create for example the white female I have. You know better than me, that snake could not survive in a wild setting. Would stick out immediately and got eaten.
 

cantthinkofone

Arachnodemon
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I love hots and have ALWAYS wanted one. I was thinking of getting a baby copperhead as I'm in an area were the antivenin is in all the hospitals. I also practice extreme caution which is always needed.
 

Najakeeper

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I love hots and have ALWAYS wanted one. I was thinking of getting a baby copperhead as I'm in an area were the antivenin is in all the hospitals. I also practice extreme caution which is always needed.
Copperhead seems like a reasonable choice on the Americas side. Still, my advice is try to work with a mentor before getting into venomous snake keeping. Also, antivenom against crotalids is very expensive so be sure that your insurance covers you.
 

cantthinkofone

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Yeah I have heard the mentor thing and the people I plan on buying from are friends with me and breed lots of hots so I could possibly ask for help. What do you know about gaboon vipers? I love them but I do have a healthy dose of fear of their venom. Thanks
 

Najakeeper

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Yeah I have heard the mentor thing and the people I plan on buying from are friends with me and breed lots of hots so I could possibly ask for help. What do you know about gaboon vipers? I love them but I do have a healthy dose of fear of their venom. Thanks
I have kept one for a while. Beautiful but very dangerous, definitely not a starter snake. If you get bit, it is highly likely that you are done for.

I would not start with any large Bitis. But there are small Bitis like B.cornuta out there. They are expensive but can be considered.
 

The Snark

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Perfect time for me to vent and extoll unwanted wisdom. I managed to hook and rescue a rat snake off the road today and only got tagged 6 times. (After getting it to the canal and only getting zapped twice in my pants leg I thought it was a piece of cake. Little monster then got my wrist, my shirt and twice more on my pants before I got a good fling.
The moral being, for anyone thinking about getting a starter hot snake, get a Ptyas or equivalent bite happy as a starter. If you can go for a reasonable period of time without a tag, move on to something with venom. I'm also told they will calm down after a while and make good pets. So you get a double bonus.
 

Najakeeper

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Perfect time for me to vent and extoll unwanted wisdom. I managed to hook and rescue a rat snake off the road today and only got tagged 6 times. (After getting it to the canal and only getting zapped twice in my pants leg I thought it was a piece of cake. Little monster then got my wrist, my shirt and twice more on my pants before I got a good fling.
The moral being, for anyone thinking about getting a starter hot snake, get a Ptyas or equivalent bite happy as a starter. If you can go for a reasonable period of time without a tag, move on to something with venom. I'm also told they will calm down after a while and make good pets. So you get a double bonus.
I totally agree, this is a good way to get into hots and to test yourself. A lot of snakes in the Boiga genus are also good gateway snakes.

I think this guy agrees as well:

 
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cantthinkofone

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I've been looking at Boiga for awhile and can't find one available :( and yes this talk of me trying hots wont happen for about a year as I plan on taking on a challenging snake. Cute little buddy though :)
 

The Snark

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I totally agree, this is a good way to get into hots and to test yourself. A lot of snakes in the Boiga genus are also good gateway snakes.

I think this guy agrees as well:

I love that picture. So typical of a cobra. Appears to be looking up at you with the anime eyes while it is really ready to wham you on the legs.
 

Najakeeper

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I love that picture. So typical of a cobra. Appears to be looking up at you with the anime eyes while it is really ready to wham you on the legs.
Way too cute to be harmless, eh? :D

With another species, I have experienced venom flying up to my eyes right after that cute unblinking stare ;).
 

The Snark

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Way too cute to be harmless, eh? :D

With another species, I have experienced venom flying up to my eyes right after that cute unblinking stare ;).
That's always my concern on my wanders. Juvenile Kaouthai, young king or Siamensis? Would you mind turning around or showing me your tummy? I forgot my glasses.
 

Najakeeper

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That's always my concern on my wanders. Juvenile Kaouthai, young king or Siamensis? Would you mind turning around or showing me your tummy? I forgot my glasses.
Yeah, I am going to Bali and Komodo for holiday this year. I was planning to take my goggles with me in case I see a Naja sputatrix while checking the jungle out. I am going to take my decent camera with me and I am very excited.
 

cantthinkofone

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what elegant animals. its crazy how nature takes something so deadly and dresses it as elegant.
 
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