Creature Feature: Corn Snakes!

Remember when I said I had experience handling reptiles? Well...

These are all my hatchling corn snakes (Pantherophis guttatus; formerly Elaphe guttata). All of the above eggs hatched except for one, which unfortunately could not get out of its shell. They're rather neat little snakes, and one of the more common ones in the pet trade. It's totally worth doing an entry about them, if only because most people won't know what a corn snake is at a glance.

Corn snakes are mid-sized colubrids from the eastern United States, particularly the Carolinas and Florida. Like many snakes, they eat rodents. They are red, orange, and black, with speckled bellies that give corns Despite being called "red rat snakes," they are actually closely related to kingsnakes - one of the most beneficial snakes around, even according to people who hate snakes. They are also quite beautiful, even without a paintjob like my albino hatchies.

BEAUTIFUL normal from Ian's Vivarium!

Hey, speaking of paintjobs, you might notice that the wild-type ("normal") babies I hatched don't quite look like the awesome specimen above. That's because corn snakes exhibit something called "ontogenic color change." In laymen's terms, that means that they change color when they get older. It carries over into other morphs (color phases) too, so one really has to be patient to see what the adults will look like. Those drab normal babies will become bright red and orange in no time; that's part of the fun of corn snakes!

While ball python people have scores of morphs to mess with (the list is terrifying), corn snakes have a plethora of hybrids. "Jungle corns" are used to describe any mix between a corn snake and a kingsnake, and there are a lot of kingsnakes to choose from. One of the most common crosses, however, is with Emoryi's rat snake, leading to what are called "creamsicle" corns. It's almost as if, while insane breeding of ball pythons might narrow the gene pool to the point of being undesirable, the corn snake gene pool is expanding by incorporating other species. Dogs and cats, all over again. I can guarantee that we'll make a blue or green corn snake before a blue ball python, in any case.

That said, however, I still recommend a ball python for the first-time snake owner. There are several reasons for this, and they all come from personal experience. My first corn snake escaped from me and was never found again; likewise, colubrids are generally harder to catch than constrictors, being able to squeeze into a million tiny places. Especially if you have kids who might forget to lock the cage, balls are a better choice. There are millions of unwanted normal males out there for anyone wanting a first snake. Then, color your world with corns.

Creature Feature: African House Snakes.

After being pissed off at a certain statement, I decided that this blog needed to show off more cute scaly things. I just heard today that a ball python was in the news; snakes are getting a worse and worse rap every day. Time to fix that.

"House snake" can refer to any snake in the genus Lamprophis - literally "shiny snake." Unlike the extremely diverse python family, house snakes are all mid-size snakes (a little smaller than a corn snake - another common snake in captivity) native to most of sub-Saharan Africa. They eat rodents and other small land animals.

There is a lot of confusion over who's in what species; house snakes are poorly-researched, leaving much of the work to be done by captive breeders. Even the captive breeding results vary when it comes to hatching hybridized babies. To make matters even stickier, they are frequently mislabeled in the trade; almost everything is Lamprophis fulginosus. Thus, as much as I hate doing this, the whole genus will be covered in one entry.

The aurora house snake is a bit harder to find than other species.

Species classification aside, house snakes have a lot in common. House snakes are not venomous. They come in a lot of colors, often sporting iridescence. They only get around five feet long, if that. A million things eat them. Just about the only thing remotely terrifying about these guys are their slit pupils, which most hobbyists find cool.

African house snakes are the definition of cartoon snake: Green or brown, random markings, slit pupils, and otherwise a generic colubrid.  They're just cute like that, even as adults. I realize some people are ophidiophobes by default, but for those of us with the potential to like snakes, house snakes are as charming as they come.

And the albinos look awesome.

I'm honestly surprised that house snakes aren't more popular in the pet trade. They don't get too big, come in several color patterns and morphs (including albino), and are a great first snake. They can take a high temp range. No extra lighting required; they can breed with normal day sh normal light cycling. Everybody has corns and ball pythons; not many people have house snakes.  The only issue is that some hatchlings need their first few meals lizard-scented. The species thing is another problem entirely; let the pros deal with that one. 

Creature Feature: Blue Garter Snake.

Back in the world of the living, the author of these posts sometimes wonders exactly how people can be afraid of snakes. It's not just her weird definition of 'cute' talking - put simply, exactly how is a bright pink boa terrifying?

Garters are already pretty neat snakes. Along with boas and vipers, they are among the serpents that have live babies. They are the ideal pet snake for someone who hates handling mice; they can eat worms, fish, and other things neither cute nor fuzzy. They have some very mild venom in there, but don't worry about it - it's only toxic to things much smaller than a human.

Oh, and did I mention that they come in electric blue?



There are a number of blue garter snakes, but the most coveted are the Florida bluestripe garters (Thamnophis sirtalis similis). They are native to, go figure, Florida, and are a subspecies of the Common Garter Snake (T. sirtalis). They prefer to eat other aquatic things, e,g. frogs, fish, and worms, as opposed to mice.

Starting with the obvious yet again, no, that snake was not Photoshopped. The bluestripe garter really is electric blue, which is one of the few colors that corn snakes could never manage. They are being selectively bred for more and more blue. Hopefully, the breeders have enough artistic sense that we will eventually end up with electric blue stripes on a velvety black background.


(Not mine. ) 

If you happen to live in Florida, it is possible for you to catch these snakes in your on backyard. It can be found from the Gulf Coast inland. Look for it in pinelands, hammocks, prairies, and marshes - basically, anywhere that isn't urbanized to hell and back. They're not a rare snake at all, and they look awesome.

To a degree, I can understand some people's severe fear of snakes. As a friend of mine aptly pointed out, however, can you really take a snake seriously when it has a bright, multicolored neon display for a color palette? I think bright colors are cool, especially when black is used as contrast. The more ways we herpers have to eliminate the fear of snakes, the better.

Big In Japan: Shirohebi.

Final entry of the week! After sooo many mammals, it's about time we did something at least slightly creepy, no?

Property of www.shirohebi.com.

...What? Some people I know are terrified of snakes. They will not come anywhere near Eros, my snow corn, who looks like she was pulled off of a Valentine's Day card. Color means absolutely nothing to ophidiophobes. Culture, especially Asian culture, would tend to disagree with such people, especially in regard to white snakes.

Even though snakes are usually vilified, there are two that tend to be exceptions to the rule: cobras and pure white snakes. Cobras have the badass hood (and king cobras eat other snakes for breakfast); white animals in general have this sense of holiness attached to them, in part because white animals rarely last more than two seconds in the wild. White snakes are no exception. China and Japan both love them.

The DVD cover for a box set of a TV series retelling the story of "Madame White Snake" - a Taiwanese folktale that evolved from a horror story to epic spirit romance. Not Japan. Still a kickass white snake.

In Japan, white snakes are considered lucky. They are seen as messengers of the goddess of love and fortune, Benzaiten, who was adapted from the Hindu Sarasvati. Depending on who you ask, Benzaiten either has a dragon (read: magic snake) as her consort or slew him (if you follow the Sarasvati tradition). Regardless, the close affinity between her and various serpents led her to be pictured with a white snake on several occasions. Seeing a white snake is almost as good as catching a leprechaun in Japan...only better, because Iwakuni, a small town near Hiroshima, is chock full of them.

Shirohebi are an albino variation of the Japanese rat snake (Elaphe climacophora). The regular E. climacophora, or aodaisho ("blue general") is one of the most common rat snakes in Japan- sort of like their version of the corn snake. (I have, however, seen it mistranslated as 'garter snake.')  Iwakuni is the only place with 'official' Shirohebi, although one can still buy albino climacs from Kunisir Island. Nobody quite knows why the white population has flourished (there are still a LOT of cats there), but having the misty atmosphere from Lord of the Rings is a good start. I call divine intervention.

So, what is one to do with a town full of white snakes? Make it a tourist trap, of course! I have personally been to Iwakuni, the only place in Japan with a wild albino Elaphe climacophora population, and they love their white snakes. The Shirohebi charm I got there still lives on my phone. Businessmen really do go there to pray to the snakes. They even have Shirohebi parades. Snake-lovers, Benzaiten has heard your wishes.

Shirohebi are nationally protected. Like the Iriomote Cat, they are listed as a national treasure. People are not supposed to take the white snakes out of Iwakuni, but they do anyways. This protected population is shrinking (again). There are still some wild Shirohebi, and captive breeders are doing their best, but please do not take anymore out of Iwakuni. Steal from that little island that's not quite Russia instead.

Go to Russia or face Kanako's wrath. (BTW, anyone know who drew this?)

Creature Feature: Tri-Color Milksnakes.

There has not been a snake entry this whole month. Something must be wrong. Time to remedy this!



I swear to gods that snake is not venomous. It does, however, want you to think that it is; tri-color milk snakes (Lampropeltis triangulum, various subspecies) utilize Batesian mimicry, copying the venomous coral snake's banded pattern. The milk snake itself is not venomous; it is a beneficial snake that not only kills rodents, but, like many king snakes, eats other snakes. (If you want to see a California king snake (L. getula) doing what it does best, click this link.) Milk snakes are found in forests and biology books throughout the U.S., parts of Canada, and Central America.


As you can see, this little snake is not venomous. Either that, or the guy holding it is crazy.

It is suspected that, due to the coral snake's fatal venom (thus eliminating any animal stupid enough to touch it), both coral snakes and milk snakes are instead copying a less-venomous species. (This is refuted by the mimicry of other milk snakes to other venomous species; maybe my textbook was outdated and/or wrong. It is, however, supported by the idea that most Batesian mimics copy distasteful/painful species rather than venomous ones. I'm really on the fence, here.) Milk snakes aren't the only ones in on this banded mimicry deal, either; there is one type of caterpillar that bears a striking (...bad pun) resemblance to a coral snake (from Asia, apparently). There are copies of copies of copies of this banded pattern in nature - hint hint, gaming companies.


THIS can kill you.

So, how do you tell the non-toxic snakes from the poisonous ones? If you are from the U.S., you might already know this one: "Red next to yellow will kill a fellow; red next to black is a friend of Jack." There are a few other mnemonic devices, but the basic idea is that red next to black is safe. You can also look at things like band width, but really, it's better to just leave the snake alone. Coral snakes, despite being deadly, are reclusive creatures and prefer not to be disturbed; milk snakes are helpful and should be left to their own devices.



Milk snakes are so called because they are easy to find around barns, and were once thought to suck milk from a cow's udders. Don't try that at home; even though the Greeks and Romans left out offerings of milk for snakes, it really is not good for them and the milk snake cannot suck milk out of cow udders. Plus, what did I say about cows and milk when I did aurochs?

Milk snakes are also popular in the exotic pet trade. Milk snakes can hybridize with corn snakes (a risky venture, given that they even eat their own species), other milk snakes and king snakes for some really trippy combos. More importantly, within milk snakes (especially the Pueblan milk snake), you have albino, tangerine, 'Oreo' and 'Halloween' color morphs.

From Milksnakes.com. I swear I would have self-hosted if Blogger pic hosting was not so slow.

Happy early Halloween, all! I have something even trippier for Halloween Day!

Who's That Pokemon? - #495 Tsutarja.

OK, you all TOTALLY saw this coming. Tsutarja and its serpentine company are my favorites in the new Generation. Snakes are my favorite animals in the world and, to my pleasure, Tsutarja's final form is as close to a naga as Pokemon will feasibly get.


Pokemon: Jaroda "japanese" by ~mark331 on deviantART

I wish I could truly fall in love with this one; it is easily my favorite line of the new generation, but its stats, while GREAT for a snake churned out by Nintendo, disappointed me in the end. They cannot make a single good snake. (Dragonair might count as an imugi, but I would not bet money on it.)

Even though it has the coloration of the North American Grass Snake, Tsutarja resembles a vine snake more than anything else. To be fair, even people in the exotic pet trade can get the two mixed up.


Oxybelis fulgidus. Note the schnoz.

As I said in my old (and crappy) Ahaetulla entry, there are several types of snake called 'vine snakes.' The genera labeled as such include Ahaetulla and Oxybelis. They are Old and New World vine snakes respectively and are native to the rain forest areas of their corresponding continents.


Ahaetulla nasuta - a nose so noticeable that science acknowledges it.

As with green tree pythons and emerald tree boas, there are some common features between New and Old World vine snakes. Both have very slender bodies, mild venom and pointed snouts. Luckily for you, only Ahaetulla has the eyes of Satan (which I totally want contacts of).


Gotta catch 'em- ARCEUS WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!

Most people have cited the Oxybelis vine snakes native to South America as the basis for Tsutarja's pointy snout. Really, both are equally likely, but it's probably the lack of 'eyes of death' that really make people suggest Oxybelis fulgidus as Tsutarja's real-life counterpart. Plus, the coloration comes fairly close:



I also swear that there's some Ahaetulla in Tsutarja's system, especially towards the end of the line. I can't believe that I've developed a favorite vine snake thanks to this little guy! (It's Ahaetulla prasina, BTW.) If this doesn't clinch it, I don't know what does.

BRB, I have real snakes to tend to.