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not a true cobra?
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by Buckk on June 25, 2005
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My question is why O.hannah is said to be not a true cobra. I have read somewhere ( and excuse me for not having a reference)that it is not considered to be a true cobra. My feeble theory is tha t it has to do with the diet (of only snakes) and that it is listed as the only species of the genus Ophiophagus. I know someone here can bring me up to date. And thanks for all of the previous help from the members here as well.
later
Mark
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RE: not a true cobra?
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by LarryDFishel on June 25, 2005
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I've never heard a good explanation of this, but here's what I THINK it means...
"Cobra" is or once was synonymous with the genus Naja. Therefore any snake not in the genus Naja is not a true cobra.
But since the division of a family into geni(?) is basically arbitrary, I'm not sure that the whole concept of "not a true cobra" is terribly meaningful.
Please note that I could easily be completely full of it...
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RE: not a true cobra?
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by Chance on June 25, 2005
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I'm also not entirely sure of this, but I believe there are some physiological and adaptive behavioral differences between O. hannah and any other Naja. First off and most obviously, they're HUGE. I mean think of it, a cobra-like elapid that commonly and easily exceeds 10', with 18' being the record length. I can't even imagine what an 18' king would be like, probably something like a giant venomous scrub python. There are some other elapids that can reach impressive sizes, such as all mambas except for D. angusticeps, which can meet or exceed 10', and Oxyuranus scutellatus sp., which can supposedly exceed 10' (again here, I couldn't imagine dealing with a taipan over 10'....shudder the thought, lol). However, none of these have the immense body build of O. hannah.
In addition to size, there are also behavioral characteristics that set them apart. Kings will literally growl when defending themselves in a hooded pose. Many Naja will hiss while hooding, but none that I know of growl. Nest building and guarding among female kings is quite unique. They also supposedly "mate for life," which is very strange for any herp.
Though their Latin refers to the fact that they mainly enjoy snakes as their diet, they do consume other reptiles and in captivity they will take rodents from time to time. Many Naja are known to partake in consuming other snakes, even of the same species, so I don't really think this could be counted as being a big reason for the separation.
Whatever the facts are, kings are definitely very unique snakes that are probably on or near the epitome of elapid evolution. It's too bad they're just so darn dangerous.
-Chance
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RE: not a true cobra?
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by bush_viper17 on June 26, 2005
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They also have good eyesight and can see up to 330 meters away!!! They are probably the smartest snake/reptile in the herp world. I saw a show that had a huge king cobra. I cannont remember the show but I saw it about ummmm 5 years ago. Some women had to kiss it for some reason and it killed a few members of her family. When it hooded, it stood taller than she did. King cobras seem(I said seem) to tame easily. I saw a show on TV where a little girl had one as her pet and carried it in her arms. I think she lived in Indonesia, but another guy had one that was the calmest thing in the world. He used it as a pitch to sell wood. The only king cobra I have ever worked with was extremely calm and you could hold it in your bare hands without it even attempting to bite...but thats another story that has already been discussed.
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RE: not a true cobra?
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by Chance on June 26, 2005
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I have also seen one of those episodes, not sure which show it was, where the family in India had the large king they let roam the house. The kids would carry it around and the adults talked about how great of a family member it was. It only spread a partial hood at the dog. However, I believe what they were doing was incredibly stupid, as snakes, no matter how supposedly intelligent they are, are still purely instinctual predators. Oops if one of the kids found another snake outside and handled it a little and then went and handled the king...
Kings aren't the only elapids though known to "tame down" well in captivity. Rhinkhals spitters (Hemachatus haemachatus) are well-known for their calm temperaments after giving them time to adjust to captivity. My rhink was nutty for the first month or so, then became so calm thereafter it was eerie. Some people have had coastal and inland taipans and black mambas that were also incredibly calm. That doesn't mean that a single one of them couldn't kill you just as easily though.
Obviously no reptile can be trusted as being tame, and most especially venomous snakes! The one king I've had the opportunity to handle was a nightmare and would chase you across the room with an open mouth, and she was only around 9 to 10' in length. That experience alone was enough to convince me to give this species a great deal of respect.
-Chance
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by GREGLONGHURST on June 26, 2005
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Just out of idle curiosity..Where did you get the info about Ophiophagus being able to see nearly a quarter mile?
~~Greg~~
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by Snakeman1982 on June 26, 2005
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Hey Larry,
I am not trying to be rude but it seemed like you wanted to know what the plural for genus is. It is genera. So for example, there are multiple genera of cobras, or the family of Elapidae has many genera in it. Just thought I'd help.
Robert
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by fizzbob7 on June 26, 2005
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i wish there was some way people from alabama could either be certified or buy a license or something, just so i could keep one of these animals
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RE: not a true cobra?
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by LarryDFishel on June 26, 2005
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No problem Robert. I was too lazy to look it up, but it came up again in something else I posted maybe 10 minutes later, so I looked it up and then said, "Duh!, I knew that..."
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