• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Milking Some Big Eastern Diamondbacks

Spurticus

Spurticus

New member
This took place at the Serpentarium on Edisto Island. It's a normal stop
when we go down there on Vacation every year. This year though, we
to to see the operators of the Serpentarium (Ted and Heyward Clamp)
Bring in and milk 12 HUGE Eastern Diamondback Rattlers before placing them
in the venomous viewing area.
I'd seen this done on Videos, but never saw it live until this past week, and
it was worth the price of addmission. The Clamps are in their mid to late
60s now, but still have a passion for reptiles, especially the EDBs.
Thought you all might enjoy these shots:

milking.jpg
 
Nanci said:
Cool pics! What is he syringing into the snake?
Click to expand...

They said it was a universal parasitic medication. Said it was routine, to
give them after milking. Occasionally, the give them this if they suspect
they have internal parasites too.

It's supposed to prevent worms and other internal parasites from developing
and spreading to the other snakes.
 
The seryng is food , I think .
I was at World Serpentarium nearby Kissimee (2-3 times) .
They milk too and they fed the coralsnakes this way too because they mosty only eat other snakes . There was babyfood with chicken in it , the ones you can buy totally prepeared at the stores .
I was thinking why they just don't breed some corrnsnakes to get food for the corals or buy some lowpriced normals . I think even F/T corns would be more "natural" than tubefeeding AND less dangerous too .
 
mvervest said:
The seryng is food , I think .
I was at World Serpentarium nearby Kissimee (2-3 times) .
They milk too and they fed the coralsnakes this way too because they mosty only eat other snakes . There was babyfood with chicken in it , the ones you can buy totally prepeared at the stores .
I was thinking why they just don't breed some corrnsnakes to get food for the corals or buy some lowpriced normals . I think even F/T corns would be more "natural" than tubefeeding AND less dangerous too .
Click to expand...

That's what I thought it was when I first saw it, but they did this outside
in an ampatheater, and while the two men (eventuall brought out a
younger guy to assist them) milked the snakes, they had a very knowledgeable young lady take questions from the audience of about 35-40 people, and that was the first question that came up. She said it was a parasite medication to prevent worm and internal critters from growing, and to prevent the spreading of the parasites to the other snakes, and the majority of these 12 were freshly caught.
 
They had a couple of the most BEAUTIFUL Okeetee Cornsnakes I've ever
seen in the non-venomous area this year ! . . . I told them they'd better
keep an eye on me while I was there, because I was really tempted to
go over the wall and grab one and be on my way home !!

:laugh::laugh::laugh:

I wanted to find one of the two brothers or either the young lady who did
the snake discussion to ask them about one corn in particular. They said
all these snakes are locally caught and then released back into the area
when the Serpentarium closes in late Sept. but I swear one of the corns
looked like a Miami phase to me.
I have some pictures of these at home I'll try to post this afternoon. I'm
at work right now.
 
Nice story and photo! Did they say where the venom is going?
 
elrojo said:
Nice story and photo! Did they say where the venom is going?
Click to expand...

Thanx

And yes they did. They called the name of the guy who runs the lab, but
that name escapes me right now, but I think they said it was headed to
a lab in Florida. They said the bulk would go toward the making of
Anti-venin (anitvenom), but that lab was also starting some breakthough
research using EDB venom in a treatment for Breast Cancer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top