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Edisto Serpentarium

Spurticus

Spurticus

New member
There's an Island about 45 minutes south of Charleston SC that is a very good vacation spot. Edisto Island SC and My wife and I spend a week there every May. The Island is very quiet with some nice beaches. Not very commercial yet they do have some nice attractions. They built a Serpentarium there a few years ago, and with my facination with snakes, I make it a point to go there a couple of times while we're in Edisto.
They have a very nice indoor exhibit, but the outside area is fantastic. Two large natural exhibits (one for venomous and the other for non-venomous) snakes, a Croc area, and another for Turtles. They also have a small ampitheater for doing snake fact shows for tourists and school groups.
The reptiles are all caught locally and are released back into the wild after the season. (open May to October). Of course my favorites are the Corn snakes, and they said this past May, they are noticing a big increase in the Okeetee Corns they're catching down in the lowcountry SC. Thought I'd post a few pictures of the exhibits. These are the new ones, I have tons more from the past 3 years.

serpentariumiiso2.jpg


serpentariumiiilw9.jpg


serpentariumivoq2.jpg
 
Wow, interesting pictures!!
I would love to have that picture number 4 on right side, to be in
the middle of my house. It's a beautiful view!
 
JoshnJJ said:
Wow, interesting pictures!!
I would love to have that picture number 4 on right side, to be in
the middle of my house. It's a beautiful view!
Click to expand...

yeah, I like that too.
They have that set up on the inside in the middle of the displays for the various snakes. Some of these are local caught snakes, and a few from other parts of the world. That area inside has a couple of Boa'a, an emerald tree boa, some Iguanas and some smaller lizards.
They have two bigger displays like this outside that hold the snakes that were taken in these pictures. Litterly hundreds of locally captured snakes in trees, in hollow logs, in grass or swimming around the mote around the islands (inside base of the wall).

Love that place, and usually wind up spending 4-5 hours in there every time we visit.
 
dpreston66 said:
I don't blame you! It looks like a great place to observe snake behavior.

:D
Click to expand...

Nice if you can get there around feeding time too.
They release a large case of live white mice and it's cool going back and forth from the Venomous to the Non-Venomous displays and watch the difference in the approach to feeding habits. The venomous snake of course strike and then start hunting the mice after they run off a short distance and then collapse, the non venomous snake start striking from the hollow logs or the thicker grass areas and coil around the prey and then eat !!!
They also release some small lizards and minows that the watersnakes take care of.
 
that seems like so much fun! I wish I lived closer! I would be there all the time! I love the fact that they release the snakes back in the wild after the season. Thanks for sharing!
 
I like the idea of how they feed. I think it would be quite interesting to see a snake hunt naturally, even though the mice are introduced. Thanks for sharing!
 
First off thanks to you for sharing your experience. Second, is it because they are wc that they feed them live? I think it's awesome they release them at the end of the season, but I have to wonder how the snakes will react being put back in the wild after having had months where their food "just appears". Do they do any kind of tracking on the snakes they put back?
 
I visited there several years ago while the outdoor displays were still under construction. It is a fascinating place and the gentleman who runs it has forgotten more about herpetology than the rest of us remember.

Definitely worth a stop if you are anywhere in the area
 
snakemom1961 said:
First off thanks to you for sharing your experience. Second, is it because they are wc that they feed them live? I think it's awesome they release them at the end of the season, but I have to wonder how the snakes will react being put back in the wild after having had months where their food "just appears". Do they do any kind of tracking on the snakes they put back?
Click to expand...


I would think that they don't over feed them, knowing that food supply in the wild might not be as readily available as it is in the displays.

Interesting question about the tracking. . I would guess they do some of that, but not sure. The guy that runs it, is usually around and will answer any questions you have about the snakes or the facility. I'll have to ask him about it next time I'm down there. . . . (May of next year)
 
snakemom1961 said:
First off thanks to you for sharing your experience. Second, is it because they are wc that they feed them live? I think it's awesome they release them at the end of the season, but I have to wonder how the snakes will react being put back in the wild after having had months where their food "just appears". Do they do any kind of tracking on the snakes they put back?
Click to expand...

Well Duh !! . . . . don't know why I didn't do this in the original post !??

Here's a link to their site, in case any of you ever make it down to that area.

http://www.edistoserpentarium.com/
 
the black snakes in both pics are black racers.coachwhips are seperate from racers but very much alike in habit. a coachwhip will usually have a black head and black coloration running down about 1/3 of it's body length and the rest of the coloration is a dark to like brown "flecked" with black.Racers are like the cockraches of the snake world when you herp all over the place.BTW>>Edisto is in Georgia if I'm correct.i wanted to make a stop coming back from Apalachicola National forrest in Florida on my way to do some herping in Jasper county,SC. but, I thought I'de save that for this year's trip.Great pics though!
 
Actually Edisto Island is in SC. I remember one of the early displays from several years ago. The tree in the middle had a solid ball of at least a hundred black racers in it. The reason they were in the tree was that there were several dozen Eastern Chain Kings on the ground. It sort of worked like an automatic feeder according to the gentleman who ran the place.


Great place though if you get the chance.
 
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