Venomous Reptiles

Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to keep venomous reptiles in your home in the UK. However, you do need to be experienced in reptile keeping and be over 18 years of age, have suitable mentoring from trained professionals and possess a DWA (dangerous wild animals) license. It is recommened that you live near a hospital in case you get bit.

Keep in mind that these animals are extremely dangerous and one bite can lead to serious injury and even death within a matter of hours. Even the professionals can get bit and it's recommended to exercise caution with these reptiles as one mistake can be fatal.

Venom Types

There are two main types of venom that snakes can retain. One is neurotoxin and the other is cytotoxin. Venom itself is essentially modified saliva which is used as a pre-digestion and highly effective killing method. Cytotoxins attack tissue and muscles while neurotoxins attack mainly the nerves of the victim. 

While venom is mostly dedicated towards certain types of snake such as vipers and elipidae (for example, a cobra), certain colubrids like the hognose possess mild venom that is usually not lethal for humans. Hognoses are allowed to be kept as a pet without the DWA license.

There are places where you can get training to handle such reptiles and from there you can apply for a permit to keep them. Click here for information.

Here are some examples of venomous snakes:

Albino Western diamondback rattlesnake

Monocled Cobra

Black Mamba

Eyelash Viper

African bush viper

Gila monster

Health and Safety

You have an option to defang the reptile. This involves removal of the fangs by a professional, although this is traumatic for the animal and can pose problems when they need to feed. Another option is to remove the actual venom gland and this makes the reptile "Venomoid". This means they still have the fangs but the gland that holds the venom is removed, although if the surgeon did not do a thorough job, some venom can be retained and the animal should still be treated as being "hot". The term "Hot" simply means venomous and is often used in the reptile trade to describe such reptiles.

If you decide to get a hot reptile, in particular snakes, one essential bit of equipment is a snake hook. This is a long metal pole with a U shaped hook at the end that you use to remove the snake from their tank and is a useful aid to keep the animal's head away from your body.

Snake Hook

My Thoughts

I myself would not keep a venomous reptile nor would I recommend it. For me, the risks outweigh the rewards, although if I could keep one, I would keep a rattlesnake as I think they are adorable and they can tell you when they are angry! It would be a good way to keep away unwanted guests.

Hygiene and Infections

Obviously when owning a pet, cleaning is of high priority for keeping your animals healthy. I find that spot checking daily works well. This is where the owner checks the tank for any feces by looking and disturbing the bedding in case the reptile has done it's business beneath the top layer. Furthermore, check the hides and any greenery as they sometimes love being awkward! For this technique to work, you will need to remove some bedding around the spoiled area and this will need replaced. With daily spot checking, the tank will still need to be cleaned thoroughly once per month.

When you clean the tank monthly, remove all bedding and replace with new. You will also need to clean the contents of the tank with either warm soapy water and/or with reptile safe disinfectant. There is a great disinfectant available on the market called F10. Alternatively you can use a bleach solution which is one part bleach to ten parts water and after bleaching, ensure you wash the tank and other items thoroughly in order to remove the bleach.

In the case that the reptile goes to the toilet in their water dish, disinfect using reptile disinfectant and rinse thoroughly. Don't forget that reptiles do require a fresh water source so replace the water daily and clean the water dishes weekly.

Parasites and Infections

Check your reptile for any sign of parasites and infections. The parasites that a reptile can suffer from are ticks and mites as well as internal bugs. Ticks and mites can be treated with mite spray which can be bought from your local reptile store or online. There are seven different types of ticks and 250 types of mites that can harm a reptile. You can spot ticks with your eye and if they appear quite large for an insect it means that they are engorged with blood. Heavy infestations can cause suffocation in monitor lizards. Mites can cause the animal to have a duller appearance and the scales may be pitted or crusty. Mites can also cause ulcers in lizards. Infected reptiles can seem depressed or refuse to eat. They will also rub themselves on rough surfaces and bathe for long periods. Mites and ticks may be first spotted near water sources so check the water dishes.

Ticks

• Never grab a tick with your own fingers, use forceps or tweezers as they carry disease.
• Grab the tick by the head or mouth right where they enter the skin.
• With a steady hand pull firmly outward and do not twist.
• Do not use petroleum jelly, a hot match or alcohol as this will make it worse.
• After you have removed the tick, put it in a jar of alcohol to kill it. Flushing them down the toilet does not kill them.
• Wash your hands after the process thoroughly.
• It is also important not to squash the tick with your fingers.
• If the ticks are in a difficult to remove place, such as nostrils, consult a vet.

Tick on a lizard

 

Mites

• If you are going to use insecticide or pesticide consult your vet before using.

Mite on a snake

You can also soak your reptile in a luke warm bath for around 20 mins as this will drown the mites but will not affect them if they are on the reptile's head. 

Olive oil can be used by rubbing it on the animal's body to smother the parasites but this can be messy.

Another method is using pest strips or dog/cat flea collars. Place the collars/strips on top of the enclosure. Note: these will most likely contain organophosphates which are lethal for reptiles.

Cyfluthrin can be used safely if you own a tortoise and this will eradicate the parasites.

Furthermore, the tank should be cleaned regularly, disinfecting it with a diluted solution of 1-3 ounces of bleach to one quart of water.

Parasites are more common in new reptiles you have purchased and as such, they should be quarantined before being able to come into contact with any other of your pets. Ticks can travel large distances and can enter other rooms and infect other animals.

Please do your research into what chemicals are lethal to your reptile and consult a vet regarding the use of any pesticides/insecticides. 

Other

Other infections include but not limited to: belly rot and respiratory infections. These are usually due to dampness and wet bedding. Ensure ALL wet bedding is removed as soon as possible as the same with soiled bedding. 

Belly rot is highly noticeable and can be diagnosed with discoloured scales and in more extreme cases, crusty scales and possible puss. Respiratory infection (or RI) can be diagnosed with a decreased appetite, extensive yawning, moucus near the mouth, wheezing, swollen/bloated body, and clicking noises. This is treated with medication.

Belly rot

Feeding Guide

When keeping a snake, feeding the right size of prey item is essential for a healthy animal. The first rule of thumb is when selecting a prey item, that it is no bigger than 1.5 times the width of the snake. Due to the elasticity of a snakes skin, it can devour prey larger than itself. Furthermore they can open their mouths 150 degrees to fit their meal in their mouth.

Obviously baby snakes will require a much smaller prey item than an adult, so whenever they grow, their prey will need increased in size. The most important thing to consider is the diameter of the snake in relation to their food. If it is too small they won't get the nutrition that they need and therefore will be hungry. If the item is too large, the snake will regurgitate and this can be harmful to the snake by leading to dehydration. It is better to feed the snake something too small rather than too large.

The day after feeding the snake, have a quick check to see if there is a bulge in the animal's stomach and if there is, then this is a good sign as they have not regurgitated and the meal is substantial. Note: do not handle a snake when it is digesting a meal. This usually lasts 24 hours but can sometimes be longer.

Corn snake feeding chart

 I strongly suggest that researching your animal is vital to ensure that your providing the correct feed. I have found the following websites useful when researching snakes, in regards to feeding. Due to there being a variety of sub-species, I have listed a few useful links below. Hope this helps. If anyone finds any more useful sites for snake feeding, feel free to comment below.

Corn Snakes

Ball Pythons

Reticulated Pythons

Burmese Pythons

Red Tail Boas

I personally find it helpful to keep charts for my animals and each week on feeding day, I record my animals' weight and the date that they ate. This allows me to see my snakes' growth rate.

 

Shedding Part Two with Video

This is a follow up post regarding shedding as my pet snake Crimson recently went through this amazing process. She is now much brighter and more active.

In shed

After shed

As you can see in the pictures, she looks like a different snake entirely. Don't be surprised that snakes sometimes defecate in the shed skin or near it. It's important to remove the skin from the vivarium as you will need to check that it is complete and intact. If the shed is really fresh, it will feel sticky but otherwise it feels like dry tissue paper. Also ensure that the snake has not retained any scales, especially the eye caps and tail tip, as this cuts of blood flow and can lead to a very ill animal. Have a look at my previous shedding post for more details.

As I have had a request about if a snake shed is coloured, the answer is no. The shedding appears to be white but is slightly transparent. It also feels like paper and is generally up to 40% larger than the snake so measuring the shed is not an easy way to measure the snake believe me I have tried! Don't forget to have a look at my previous post on shedding for more information.

Crimson's complete shed

Recently I was lucky to catch a few moments of my corn snake Snowy shedding on camera. Sorry for the poor quality but the room was dark. Shedding is an amazing process to witness and few owners are lucky to see their snakes shedding.

Paint Jobs

As reptiles are becoming more popular to have as pets, breeders are finding ways to make them look more colourful and appealing, so they are creating designer morphs. In this blog I am going to try and explain how morphs work and a little about reptile genetics in a way that is easy to understand.

First of all, let's start by looking at the gene types. I'll start with recessive, co-dominant and dominant genes. 

Recessive

The recessive gene will only be visible if paired with another recessive gene snake. So breeding an albino royal to another albino will create more albinos but the gene will be visible. If you bred an albino to a normal, the albino gene will not be as visible but will be referred to as het albino.

Albino Royal

Co-Dom

This gene type is more dominant than the recessive gene. Pairing two co-dominant animals together may produce a 'super' form, meaning that, two pastel morph royals will produce a super pastel royal. If you breed a pastel to a normal, half will be normal and half pastel.

Pastel Royal

Dom

The dominant gene is what it says on the tin. If you pair 2 dominant animals together, you will duplicate the morph. For example, the spider morph gene is dominant so breeding a spider to a spider will produce mainly spiders but with some others as well, depending on what genes they carry. Breeding a spider to normal will produce half normal and half spider royal.

Spider Royal

This is just a rough guide to the three different terms. A great site to check out is World of Ball Pythons and also check out their Genetics Wizard to see more information. In this post I have only mentioned royal python morphs, but the same principles apply to other snakes such as reticulated pythons and corn snakes.

Reticulated Python

Corn Snake

Heating

I do not mean to be patronising when I say that heating is an essential and extremely important part to keeping a reptile.  As we all know, reptiles are cold blooded so therefore cannot produce any body heat or regulate their temperatures accordingly.

There are many different ways to heat a tank but whether opting for a ceramic bulb, basking bulb or heat mat, a thermometer is essential to ensure that the temperature is correct. I would also recommend researching what housing and heating methods is best suited for an animal. I sadly do not own any lizards but understand that they need a UV bulb (in order for lizard’s growth and to strengthen their bones by emitting vitamin D) and basking light so they have different needs than snakes.

Heat mats are placed in one side of the tank under the bedding to provide the snake with a hot spot or basking spot. Depending on your tank type, it can be important to position the heat mat on the outside of the tank to prevent the animal from burning itself if the mat becomes too warm. This is common for plastic and glass vivs but for a wooden viv, the heat mat needs to be inside the tank but protected by perspex or similar material as wood is not a good heat conductor. It is also a good idea to use a thermostat or rheostat to gain a correct temperature reading. The thermostat should be placed above the heat mat in order to correctly read the hot spot temperature.

Heat mat

Radiant heat panels are similar to heat mats but give off more heat as they come in higher wattage. Instead of placing them on the floor of a vivarium they have been designed to fit at the back wall. They make a good choice for snakes as they are for non-basking animals and are suited to maintain high humidity and should be controlled through a thermostat. Therefore could be fitted to the back of a rack system.

Heat panel

Bulbs are often used to provide a hot spot for some breeds of reptile and should be kept on a timer for 8-12 hours since they can dry out the humidity in a cage therefore this type of heating will need to be in use in conjunction with a heat mat when the bulb is turned OFF. Although ceramic bulbs are better for snakes than basking bulbs because they do not have to be on a timer and do not admit daylight they have been designed to be more effective than most other reptile heat lamps and do not take away any humidity. Like heat mats, bulbs need to be positioned on one side of the tank so the animal has both a cold and warm side. Bulbs also needed to be fitted with a safe guard, to ensure that the animal does not burn itself on the direct bulb. Generally speaking, a heat mat is preferred for light body snakes like corn snakes and a ceramic bulb is preferred for heavier bodied snakes such as pythons and boas.

Ceramic bulb

I myself heat my snake tanks using a heat mat with microclimate. Blaze’s tank is heated to 33◦C and the corn snakes to 32◦C. inside their tanks, I have placed a digital thermometer with a humidity reader to ensure everything is as it should be. I have had problems with my snakes shedding due to low humidity so I ensure that I increase this when the snakes are in shed.

Thermostat

I can’t stress enough for everyone to conduct research into what needs their reptiles have. It is vital to have the temperature correct. Leopard geckos for example need a temperature that does not exceed 38◦C. Also ensure that you are getting the correct housing and equipment as some reptile may need a UV tube light on a timing system, this is common with lizards. The Internet is a good source for research as are books, reptile forums and pet shops.

Leopard gecko