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Atrox
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by Jahon on April 26, 2009
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I have a large (5') Western diamondback in my collection. Out of all of my snakes, he is the one that I would most like to get bitten by if I had to choose from one of my rattlesnakes. Why? Because for some odd reason he is unable to envenomate and at the very least mildy envenomates the rats I feed him. They are not defensive bites! He actively pursues the rats then gives a feeding bite but they never get envenomated! He eats them only when I kill them for him. As much as I hate doing this, especially with such a large snake, I headed him to see what is wrong. I brought his face up to a glass and exposed his fangs and he was barely able to get out a drop of venom from one of the fangs. Nothing really seemed wrong with his mouth or fangs. I got him from a friend a little while back. He was wild caught and is not a venomoid. He eats well and is quite active. What could be wrong with him? Thanks in advance, and have a great day.
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RE: Atrox
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by AquaHerp on April 26, 2009
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I have numerous rattlesnakes that are reluctant to give venom. To me this is simply their prerogative and not a symptom of anything medically awry. I wouldn't give the snake any less respect. Many of the snakes on our venom line are poor extraction candidates, but on rare occasion they get riled and will volunteer an appreciable amount. A few of the larger C. atrox at the center are fairly placid in their day to day demeanor and offer little resistance to being manipulated. A few other large specimens will gladly top off your tank. It's just the individual.
I am curious as to why you are feeding live rats when long-term C. atrox will eat thawed readily. Normally the adults are notorious for not feeding when brought in from the wild, but once they begin eating will accept dead food with little effort.
DH
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RE: Atrox
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by atwageman on April 26, 2009
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Like aquaherp said, its all about the individual snake. I personaly keep and seek out rattlesnakes for my collection. Some in my collection won't envenomate and others are more than happy to oblige. My opinion as to why some won't envenomate is becuase maybe they've associated in some way you with being the food provider, and no sense in wasting venom when it knows its feed time.
Most of the atrox in my collection seem to display what I call bi-polar disorder. Some in my collection can go a day or two and act very placid, and then turn right around and act like hitler. Typical atrox attitude if you ask me.
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RE: Atrox
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by Jahon on April 26, 2009
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The reason why I feed live is because the previous owner had tried to feed pre-killed without any success and they had it on live rodents. It just seemed so weird to me that he would not envenomate his prey items depsite multiple bites.
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