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Ophiophagy - instances and opinions
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by Thing on December 15, 2008
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I am somewhat fascinated by ophiophagy in venomous snakes. Some people do not like the idea of a gorgeous snake being consumed by another. I would like to hear some cases of ophiophagy that you all have heard. Only of venomous snakes eating each other. Here are some of the documented instances I know of.
- A cottonmouth that ate a canebrake rattlesnake in one of Kauffield's books.
- King cobras eat Naja and Bungarus with relish. Several sources.
- Naja naja eating Echis in Sherman Minton's Contribution to the Herpetology of West Pakistan.
- Several African Naja consuming Bitis arietans. These would include N.nivea, N. haje, N. annulifera, N. anchietae, and N. mossambica.
- Naja nigricincta eating a Bitis caudalis.
- Naja anchietae eating N. nigricincta. (The Ecology of Cobras from Southern Africa)
- Pseudechis australis eating both Death Adders (in photos) and inland taipan (video).
The one that I question the most is two instances of Dendroaspis polylepis consuming a Naja. One a banded egyptian in book I read long ago called Snakes of East Africa by Isemonger I believe. The other a melanoleuca supposedly found in the stomach of black mamba. I have read this online and it is on the black mamba exhibit at the St. Louis Zoo.
Thanks in advance for all your responses.
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RE: Ophiophagy - instances and opinions
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by FSB on December 15, 2008
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Do I understand correctly that the case of the black mamba consuming the forest cobra happened in captivity, at the St. Louis Zoo? Do you have a date for that? I was just curious since we donated a very large N. melanoleuca to the zoo in 1975. It would have to have been a mamba in excess of 8 feet to have eaten that guy.
Occassionally, snakes in captive situations might consume other snakes that are not normally on their menu just due to stress or opportunism.
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RE: Ophiophagy - instances and opinions
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by jared on December 15, 2008
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Hmmmm Ophidiophagy i have seen and some I never have
A NG Taipan killed and consumed by a large female black and white spitter
Several wild situations in which Se US getula or chain kings eating both A.contortrix and A.picsivorus
Black racer eating juvi canebrake,halfway down it regurged, the cane "wakes up" a few seconds later and crawls off
King Cobras feeding on the following, Various pythons, EDBs, WDBs, Various ratsnakes, bamboo vipers, and pretty much anything else u throw and certain ones (turkey necks rats etc) (99% were frozen and either freshroadkills or some other form of feeder snake)
Various bungarus feeding on various ssp of ratsnake, various python and boa ssp including tree boas, and racers.
Cottonmouths eating other cottons, various watersnakes, various ratsnakes, and even having seem them pull roadkill so old u couldnt even tell what kind of snake it was.
Scarlet kings eat ANY other snake u put in the bag with them, in my case scarlet kings and corns and racers (babies).
Red rat "corn" snakes cannabilizing eat other in the bag.
And to this day, I keep and breed agkistrodon, and at this point all copperhead cotton and most cantil ssp (hopefully russeolatus are good producers :) and keeping most of my pictigaster, mokasen, contortrix,phaeogaster, and lactincintus in large terraria in breeding groups of anywhere from 1.3 to 2.5 in LARGE (i repeat) Large cages, lots of hiding spots and well fed. I HAVE NEVER had a single copper cannabilze in the same cage, babies in the group with the mother ETC. I have NEVER had coppers even seem interested in eating one another. Again, my animals produce almost every year for the last decade they are cycled, and fed on a 10 20 feeding schedule. Light is also cycled and regulated (thats an important one kiddies;). I have heard accounts, but in producing thousands of the lil buggers i have NEVER once seen it happen in copperheads.
I am sure i am forgetting some of um, but those are some I have some experience with,
Jared Watts
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RE: Ophiophagy - instances and opinions
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by Thing on December 15, 2008
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I don't believe that the mamba ate the melanoleuca at the St. Louis Zoo. It just says on the info card that one mamba consumed a parrot and another consumed " a full-grown forest cobra". Neither animal generally share natural habitat with black mambas. Dendroaspis jamesoni may share habitats with parrots and forest cobras but I don't believe that either would figure in its diet regularly. Also, most mambas are believed to feed almost exclusively on warm-blooded prey.
As far as captivity goes, those are different circumstances and for that reason do not bear the same interest for me.
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RE: Ophiophagy - instances and opinions
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by pictigaster1 on December 15, 2008
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Found a pictigaster eating a half grown blackneck garter.Had a coachwhip eat several nightsnakes in the catch box I was bringing them home in.
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RE: Ophiophagy - instances and opinions
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by Thing on December 15, 2008
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Jared -
How did the PNG taipan and B&W spitter end up together?
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RE: Ophiophagy - instances and opinions
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by jared on December 15, 2008
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Keeper error at a facility I was at. The keeper opened a split lvl exhibit and before they could remove one or the other, the 4ft taipan shot to the other side of the exhibit, and the big bw didnt hesitate. Grabbed the pan by the face, and proceded to feed. I wasnt at the facility at the time but this was made clear about that display. Also, to my knowledge polyepsis and melenoluca do infact cross paths in several parts of the range including tanzania though I am not really familiar with mambas being highly ophidiophagic.
Jared
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RE: Ophiophagy - instances and opinions
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by Thing on December 15, 2008
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Not that forests and blacks do not live in the same countries or ranges, I ment that mambas tend to prefer more open, rockier, drier areas than melanoleuca.
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RE: Ophiophagy - instances and opinions
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by jared on December 15, 2008
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Forest cobras actually range in habitat greatly. Certain localities of animals will readily roam open savannahs in tanzania with great regularity and could easily encounter blacks by nesting the the few trees or simply in open savannah. Forests also are VERY indescriminant feeders and in my exp can be just as nasty if not more so than big polyepsis though its a really fine line. I dont think its probable for the mamba to eat the forest unless it was quite a bit smaller, then again i have seen stranger in the herp world. Forest cobras free roam (esp in large enclosures) and move around quite and cover lots of ground. Blacks in general can be found in quite varing habitats. On some of the african forums they are often posted in conjunction with each other on field herpin trips.
Jared
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RE: Ophiophagy - instances and opinions
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by vampire on December 15, 2008
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My Eastern Coral snakes ( Micrurus f. fulvius ), will attack and consume LIVE or F/T baby Copperheads with gusto.
Vampire
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