# King Cobra Sanctuary



## atrox1 (Feb 8, 2009)

Hi all, i'm sure you are aware of the king cobra sanctuary and i hope you have found some interesting reading on our website www.kingcobrasanctuary.com 

We have recieved some great support from the reptile world and we have now been working hard to open a limited number of open days. I am currently taking bookings for places still left in April. They will be held only on the weekends through April. 

Please feel free to mail me on [email protected] for more details and to book your place to come see our king cobras up close and personnally plus learn about our captive breeding, the research we do and our in-situ conservation work in North India. 

Hope to hear from you soon

King Cobra Sanctuary


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## skimsa (Sep 28, 2007)

Heres a question for you.

Why is a King Cobra's latin _Ophiophagus _and not_ Naja

_P.S i really want to come to the sanctuary


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## atrox1 (Feb 8, 2009)

Hi there, _Ophiophagus _means snake eater, king cobras have an almost exclusive snake diet, they are also a complete different genus to typical cobras of the genus _Naja_. If you like _Naja _are "true" cobras whereas_ Ophiophagus _are not but as they have the ability to hood and stand like cobras they commonly come under the title "cobra". I hope this helps


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## Khaos (Jul 9, 2007)

I'd encourage everyone to read the fascinating research and stories on the King Cobra Sanctuary website. I was so taken by Luke and the Sanctuary's work that I'm in talks to write a number of features about them in order to spread the word. Look out for some big things real soon... But the heroes of the piece are the people who help with the care, funding, conservation and research. Top work everyone.


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## atrox1 (Feb 8, 2009)

Thank you, infact any advertising about what we are doing and especially the open days would be a great help as the open days will hopefuly fund more work and projects. Thanks again


KCS


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## Richpie (Mar 31, 2010)

I would also recommend visiting. Absolutely brilliant day. Probably one of the most amazing animals I've ever seen.


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## PESKY (May 25, 2010)

Richpie said:


> I would also recommend visiting. Absolutely brilliant day. Probably one of the most amazing animals I've ever seen.


 
il second this, i went to the first open day and i was absoloutley fascinated at the pure size and intelligence of them. mark luke and his daughter ( sorry 4got her name ) are really nice people with a lot of knowledge and i thoroughly recommend it to everyone hot keepers or not


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## ConstrictorsCymru (May 13, 2011)

Going in a few weeks cant wait! website looks awsome.
Loving the free handling videos


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## Spencer95 (Feb 20, 2010)

is it only open on particular days, and do you have to book in advance?


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## terciopelo_dave (Jun 1, 2007)

Spencer95 said:


> is it only open on particular days, and do you have to book in advance?


They're open at weekends mate. If you call the number on this site:
Visit the King Cobra Sanctuary
you can book in for a visit.


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

One small bit of advice, coming from a web design sort of person... could you please put the address on the website, so that people who want to visit can look up the postcode and tap it into the GPS?


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

Could I ask why you have limited the number of open days? Surely you could boost the centres income if you held regular open days. Perhaps regular weekends and just don't take bookings for days you have to do other things?
Could I ask how your centre makes money to support your work? (I'm guessing sales of baby kings and open days)

Thanks


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## atrox1 (Feb 8, 2009)

Hi guys, first off thanks and we are working on putting the address back up on the site. When we updated the Visit the sanctuary page somehow the address got removed. We have to have selected open days at first as we have a pending Zoo licence so we are limited until this process is complete. 

As for funding the sanctuary, Luke has been running it as a hobby project for the last 6 years where it has been a huge financial drain. He now wanted to make sure his work carries on after he goes, if something is a financial drain then their good work normally dies along with them. Opening our doors means that the work can carry on and even better expand!! The sale of baby kings will ofcourse generate more funds, but more importantly we want to stop the wild trade in King Cobras by selling CB rodent feeding young to the US and into Europe for low prices so people will stop ordering large groups of wild adults that 99% will die. 

Regards Mark


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## terciopelo_dave (Jun 1, 2007)

Ssthisto said:


> One small bit of advice, coming from a web design sort of person... could you please put the address on the website, so that people who want to visit can look up the postcode and tap it into the GPS?


The address and directions are on there dude. From the home page click "visit the sanctuary" then on that page the first option is "directions to the king cobra sanctuary". On there you have the address and postcode, written directions, and a map.
Edit: to get to the directions page, click the "visit the sanctuary" link, not the "visit the king cobra sanctuary" link that has the picture. Both have the contact details but only the first has the link to the address.


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

Ah, right - didn't see that. I expect that sort of thing to be on the "contact" page


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## Spencer95 (Feb 20, 2010)

do you have to be a certain age to be aloud to go?


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## atrox1 (Feb 8, 2009)

We have no age restrictions, children (13 or under) are half price at £5. Adults are £10. We do ask that children must be accompanied by an adult.


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## GJUK (Feb 13, 2010)

Anyone ever been bitten on site!? It looks quite 'hands on'.


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## atrox1 (Feb 8, 2009)

We have never been bitten by our Kings. Over the years we have found that handling with hooks, grabs etc actually annoys the snakes and they behave a hell of a lot worse when we do. therefore getting to know the kings individually and handling with just the gloves as protection seems to keep the kings much calmer and therefore the job is easier for us and less stressfull for them. Remember the king cobra has an amazing array of defensive postures and facial expressions to warn us of how they are feeling, even after the warnings they will do everything they can to avoid biting anybody. You could say that us and our snakes have come to a handling compromise which suits us both well. 

Mark


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## peterparker (Nov 11, 2010)

Gotta say hat's off to you Luke :notworthy::notworthy::notworthy: Livin' the dream.
Hope all goes well and it takes off, I imagine you have a unique offering there and that will draw people from all over. Try contacting some local tour operators and see if you can't get on the tourist run, they'll be busing them in in their droves, GL to you all and one day I'll hopefully get to visit.


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## greggyboy134 (Mar 28, 2010)

Wow i cant believe this is on my doorstep i think i might have to visit tomorrow


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## berbers (May 29, 2010)

we visited the sanctaury last night and it was an amazing experience. the sheer size and power of the cobras was incredible. it was an absolute privalage to be up so close to these animals and can only praise luke & mark for the excellent work they are doing.

already looking forward to our next visit!!


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