# Rare Species



## osouthlondon (Feb 8, 2010)

So my reason for posting here is based on the assumption that most of the DWAL holders have owned many snakes before progressing to venomous, and would have a wide knowledge of various snake species.

I am looking to get some more snakes in the future, but rather than taking the usual Royal/Boa/Carpet etc etc route; I would like to look at some of the rarer or more unusual non DWA snakes. Can anyone offer any advice?

They don't have to fit any kind of criteria other than being non run of the mill, so to speak.

I'm not looking for £20,000 4 of a kind snakes but just something different. In my experience the people with the most diversity end up being the best and most adaptive keepers, as opposed to the breeders/keepers who stick to one or only a few species.

As always thanks for any suggestions.

Also can anyone tell me if hypsiglena chlorophaea is DWA; I have seen it listed as only very midly venomous, but that could be inaccurate as it was an american website.


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## gone fishin (Oct 14, 2009)

your problems not going to be choosing a snake, rarther finding someone to sell you one. at the end of the day your going to have to find a place to buy a "rare" snake and theres the problem they are rare.


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## osouthlondon (Feb 8, 2010)

gone fishin said:


> your problems not going to be choosing a snake, rarther finding someone to sell you one. at the end of the day your going to have to find a place to buy a "rare" snake and theres the problem they are rare.


 
Very true!! 

I like to believe that I am a resourceful chap and part of my everyday job is building business relationships and (I hate this word) networking. So I reckon I could get my hands on what i'm after (when I decide what i'm after).


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

Unfortunately, the chances are that if you are looking for rarely kept species then they will be wild caught, and you will need to do a lot of research into this aspect of reptile keeping.
If you feel that you are up to the challenge then start getting friendly with reptile dealers, asking to see their trade lists.
You can also ask if they deal with Fauna Import as they often bring in unusual species.


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## wildlifewarrior (Jun 26, 2008)

If there is soemthing you want.....and your confident you can keep and treat it...then send me a pm and i'll do my best to get hold of it: victory:


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## osouthlondon (Feb 8, 2010)

ian14 said:


> Unfortunately, the chances are that if you are looking for rarely kept species then they will be wild caught, and you will need to do a lot of research into this aspect of reptile keeping.
> If you feel that you are up to the challenge then start getting friendly with reptile dealers, asking to see their trade lists.
> You can also ask if they deal with Fauna Import as they often bring in unusual species.


Very good point. 

I will obviously have to do a huge amount of research beforehand, but that's half of the fun isn't it?!! 

When you say reptile dealers, how would I go about that? I wouldn't be able differentiate on here unless you just mean shop owners....:blush:


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## osouthlondon (Feb 8, 2010)

wildlifewarrior said:


> If there is soemthing you want.....and your confident you can keep and treat it...then send me a pm and i'll do my best to get hold of it: victory:


Top man, I will definitely keep that in mind and may take you up on that offer someday.

Out of interest, would the fact that it is a rarer species have an impact on a vets ability to treat any problems or even carry out normal checks?

I would assume that it would, and it will be something that I have to look into before taking on any animals....


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## wildlifewarrior (Jun 26, 2008)

osouthlondon said:


> Top man, I will definitely keep that in mind and may take you up on that offer someday.
> 
> Out of interest, would the fact that it is a rarer species have an impact on a vets ability to treat any problems or even carry out normal checks?
> 
> I would assume that it would, and it will be something that I have to look into before taking on any animals....


no no difference at all...provided its not DWA then a reptile vet wont have any issues with parasitic treatment


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## captaincaveman (Nov 6, 2006)

Your probably best to put this in the general snake section too as many wont look in this section, I can see your point about DWA keepers but its a bad assumption as many keepers of rare species wont go down the DWA route, and not all DWA keepers have a wide range of experience with rarer species, same with people who specialise, like myself some people specilize in one species after decades of keeping tens of different species, sometimes one species will get a grip of ya:lol2:

As already mentioned, the majority of rarer species will be either wc or ltc, but it depends on your definition of rare, some rarer species are now avalibale cb too:no1:


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## stuartdouglas (Mar 5, 2008)

wildlifewarrior said:


> If there is soemthing you want.....and your confident you can keep and treat it...then send me a pm and i'll do my best to get hold of it: victory:


Bloody Mangrove snakes!!!! Big adult females!!!!


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## osouthlondon (Feb 8, 2010)

captaincaveman said:


> As already mentioned, the majority of rarer species will be either wc or ltc, but it depends on your definition of rare, some rarer species are now avalibale cb too:no1:


To be honest I wouldn't be averse to captive breeding some species previously only available WC.

I'm not really looking to breed for money, but rather to add a bit more diversity to the hobby and introduce some less popular species.

Oh, and what was the most unusual snake you ever kept/bred? Doesn't have to have been rare, just not widely kept.


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## wildlifewarrior (Jun 26, 2008)

stuartdouglas said:


> Bloody Mangrove snakes!!!! Big adult females!!!!


7ft + females ok for you?











osouthlondon said:


> Oh, and what was the most unusual snake you ever kept/bred? Doesn't have to have been rare, just not widely kept.


I doubt most people will tell you this....i know i most certainly refuse to tell most about most i keep...too many security reasons: victory:


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## osouthlondon (Feb 8, 2010)

wildlifewarrior said:


> 7ft + females ok for you?
> image
> 
> 
> ...


In what sense? Theft?

I suppose it makes sense really, would just like to know for mwn future security :lol2:


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## wildlifewarrior (Jun 26, 2008)

osouthlondon said:


> In what sense? Theft?
> 
> I suppose it makes sense really, would just like to know for mwn future security :lol2:


Theft...jealousy...the list goes on and on...ive had 3 break ins....and on my occasion 2 very rare speices of python were stolen...yet they didnt take others that were worth ALOT more....they knew what they wanted.: victory:


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## osouthlondon (Feb 8, 2010)

wildlifewarrior said:


> Theft...jealousy...the list goes on and on...ive had 3 break ins....and on my occasion 2 very rare speices of python were stolen...yet they didnt take others that were worth ALOT more....they knew what they wanted.: victory:


Christ!

Sounds like i'm gonna have to get the sandbags out and build me some machine gun nests....

I didn't realise that it was like that. 3 break-ins is madness, especially if there are kids in your house.

Well trust me that's good lesson learned today. I won't be telling people where I live or what i've got from now on....


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## skimsa (Sep 28, 2007)

wildlifewarrior said:


> If there is soemthing you want.....and your confident you can keep and treat it...then send me a pm and i'll do my best to get hold of it: victory:


Fatima Whitbread​


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## osouthlondon (Feb 8, 2010)

skimsa said:


> Fatima Whitbread​


 


:roll2::no1:


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## leecb0 (Apr 14, 2009)

Rare in the hobby usually means very hard to breed or very hard to keep and usually both, one of the snakes i would love to keep and they are cheap as chips to by (in the states anyway) is _Diadophis punctatus regalis- regal ring neck _but i have never herd of anyony keeping them for any real length of time so unless they get a gravid female from the wild they dont get bred. if i was you i would just carry on getting experience with a wide veriety of sp then start introducing rarer stuff.

may i also suggest that in if you have any more questions that are non DWA related you place it in the relevent section of the forum, you would proberbly get a better responce to a question like this from there.
You wouldnt want to get known as a "viperlover"


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## osouthlondon (Feb 8, 2010)

leecb0 said:


> Rare in the hobby usually means very hard to breed or very hard to keep and usually both, one of the snakes i would love to keep and they are cheap as chips to by (in the states anyway) is _Diadophis punctatus regalis- regal ring neck _but i have never herd of anyony keeping them for any real length of time so unless they get a gravid female from the wild they dont get bred. if i was you i would just carry on getting experience with a wide veriety of sp then start introducing rarer stuff.
> 
> may i also suggest that in if you have any more questions that are non DWA related you place it in the relevent section of the forum, you would proberbly get a better responce to a question like this from there.
> You wouldnt want to get known as a "viperlover"


Fair enough. Sounds like a plan.

As for posting here, I explained my reasons for doing so in my OP.
Just thought that I would get the benefit from posting here as an interest in DWA animals is an indication of an interest in a wider variety of species; hence a safer bet for a sensible opinion.

My apologies for your inconvenience.


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## wildlifewarrior (Jun 26, 2008)

leecb0 said:


> Rare in the hobby usually means very hard to breed or very hard to keep and usually both, one of the snakes i would love to keep and they are cheap as chips to by (in the states anyway) is _Diadophis punctatus regalis- regal ring neck _but i have never herd of anyony keeping them for any real length of time so unless they get a gravid female from the wild they dont get bred. if i was you i would just carry on getting experience with a wide veriety of sp then start introducing rarer stuff.


you mean like the ones i keep and breed and have done for over 7 years:whistling2:









breeding









eating


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## leecb0 (Apr 14, 2009)

I understand that what you are saying and the reason behind why you posted here but we all proberbly look at the whole forum not just the dwa section and there are a lot of fine and experienced keepers on the forum who proberbly have more experience with rare sp and may not come on to this section so you could be missing some very good advice from well respected keepers. I think it is wrong to assume that people who keep DWAL have all kept rare snakes, a wide veriety maybe but not necesarely rare.


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## leecb0 (Apr 14, 2009)

wildlifewarrior said:


> you mean like the ones i keep and breed and have done for over 7 years:whistling2:
> 
> image
> breeding
> ...


:lol2: wel you f:censor:g would have:lol2:
PM SENT


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## afalbusa (Aug 30, 2009)

Eastern Indigo _Drymarchon couperi are a very nice example, I used to keep these in the mid 80's, but they are now a protected species, in america there are a few breeders in this country and have seen them come up know and again._


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## wildlifewarrior (Jun 26, 2008)

leecb0 said:


> :lol2: wel you f:censor:g would have:lol2:
> PM SENT


when someone tells me a certain speices die in captivity and never breed.....it means i have to go out and get someone just to prove them all wrong:2thumb:


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## osouthlondon (Feb 8, 2010)

leecb0 said:


> I understand that what you are saying and the reason behind why you posted here but we all proberbly look at the whole forum not just the dwa section and there are a lot of fine and experienced keepers on the forum who proberbly have more experience with rare sp and may not come on to this section so you could be missing some very good advice from well respected keepers. I think it is wrong to assume that people who keep DWAL have all kept rare snakes, a wide veriety maybe but not necesarely rare.


That's fine, maybe I came across as being a bit off in that last post. It's not like that, I just meant that I was after a sensible opinion and didn't want anyone chiming in with how their spider royal is the rarest they've kept etc etc ad nauseum.

I see your point about the other non DWAL keepers though so I might just go and whip my post out over there.

Cheers all who have helped so far.


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## osouthlondon (Feb 8, 2010)

afalbusa said:


> Eastern Indigo _Drymarchon couperi are a very nice example, I used to keep these in the mid 80's, but they are now a protected species, in america there are a few breeders in this country and have seen them come up know and again._


I was looking at that snake not 30 minutes ago.

It's beauty and I was thinking it was a possibility until I read that it was protected.


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## wildlifewarrior (Jun 26, 2008)

osouthlondon said:


> That's fine, maybe I came across as being a bit off in that last post. It's not like that, I just meant that I was after a sensible opinion and didn't want anyone chiming in with how their spider royal is the rarest they've kept etc etc ad nauseum.
> 
> I see your point about the other non DWAL keepers though so I might just go and whip my post out over there.
> 
> Cheers all who have helped so far.


Just start a post in the normal snake section.....the DWAL keepers are angry over here, you see there still out for blood from a young boy called james....that actually makes them sound abit pedo-y but there arent....

or ask a mod to move the thread : victory:


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## SiUK (Feb 15, 2007)

I had a mate that was keeping a couple of calliophis species they are not seen that often.


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## trueviper (Jan 13, 2008)

leecb0 said:


> I understand that what you are saying and the reason behind why you posted here but we all proberbly look at the whole forum not just the dwa section and there are a lot of fine and experienced keepers on the forum who proberbly have more experience with rare sp and may not come on to this section so you could be missing some very good advice from well respected keepers. I think it is wrong to assume that people who keep DWAL have all kept rare snakes, a wide veriety maybe but not necesarely rare.


Very true.

As for myself I have only been keeping snakes for 5 years and have had my DWAL for just 4 years.
All the viper species I've kept so far have been the ones most commonly kept, WDB's, Puff Adders, Gabboons, Copperheads, Bush Vipers, Nose-Horned Vipers ect.
But theyre the ones that have interested me.
Before that I had a Kingsnake and a Cornsnake :blush:

Not exactly rare :whistling2:


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## osouthlondon (Feb 8, 2010)

trueviper said:


> Very true.
> 
> As for myself I have only been keeping snakes for 5 years and have had my DWAL for just 4 years.
> All the viper species I've kept so far have been the ones most commonly kept, WDB's, Puff Adders, Gabboons, Copperheads, Bush Vipers, Nose-Horned Vipers ect.
> ...


You're kidding me right??

You went from kingsnake and cornsnake to some of the most dangerous snakes you can own in a year?


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## trueviper (Jan 13, 2008)

osouthlondon said:


> You're kidding me right??
> 
> You went from kingsnake and cornsnake to some of the most dangerous snakes you can own in a year?


 
Well yes but my first viper was about 4 inches long and when armed with the basic behaviour knowledge of these animals it's not terribly difficult to keep them safely. And as they grow and inrease in size, so does youre experience in handling them.

Vipers are sit and wait predators that are happy to remain motionless untill they feel threatened. Also the majority of viper species behave very well whilst being hooked. But before I get slated by a hundred forum members, obviously there are exceptions.

Elapids on the other hand are a different kettle of fish entirely. These are very active predators which to inexperienced handlers could prove to be very dangerous and difficult to work with. Personallythough, keeping them doesn't appeal to me but if they did I would definately spend time working with aggressive non-venomous colubrid species first.


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## osouthlondon (Feb 8, 2010)

trueviper said:


> Well yes but my first viper was about 4 inches long and when armed with the basic behaviour knowledge of these animals it's not terribly difficult to keep them safely. And as they grow and inrease in size, so does youre experience in handling them.
> 
> Vipers are sit and wait predators that are happy to remain motionless untill they feel threatened. Also the majority of viper species behave very well whilst being hooked. But before I get slated by a hundred forum members, obviously there are exceptions.
> 
> Elapids on the other hand are a different kettle of fish entirely. These are very active predators which to inexperienced handlers could prove to be very dangerous and difficult to work with. Personallythough, keeping them doesn't appeal to me but if they did I would definately spend time working with aggressive non-venomous colubrid species first.



So how did you get your DWAL agreed with no experience?


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## trueviper (Jan 13, 2008)

osouthlondon said:


> So how did you get your DWAL agreed with no experience?


 
I had experience with Adders in the wild and that was what I based my application on, and also had a very lengthy conversation about venomous safety with the vetinary surgeon who did my first DWA inspection who was Canadian and had experience with venomous.


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## osouthlondon (Feb 8, 2010)

trueviper said:


> I had experience with Adders in the wild and that was what I based my application on, and also had a very lengthy conversation about venomous safety with the vetinary surgeon who did my first DWA inspection who was Canadian and had experience with venomous.


When you say experience with Adders; do you mean just going out and doing whatever it was with them as an interest or do you mean in a professional capacity?


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## trueviper (Jan 13, 2008)

osouthlondon said:


> When you say experience with Adders; do you mean just going out and doing whatever it was with them as an interest or do you mean in a professional capacity?


No mate not proffesional, purely out of interest. In fact I was doing that years ago before I even found out about DWA, before I even discovered that it was even practical or possible to keep venomous snakes in captivity safely and responsibly.
Thats why I only keep viper species, thats the group of snakes that interest me the most.


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## osouthlondon (Feb 8, 2010)

trueviper said:


> No mate not proffesional, purely out of interest. In fact I was doing that years ago before I even found out about DWA, before I even discovered that it was even practical or possible to keep venomous snakes in captivity safely and responsibly.
> Thats why I only keep viper species, thats the group of snakes that interest me the most.


Sounds cool, I wouldn't mind doing a bit of that one day.


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