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RE: Naja haje
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by Chance on November 22, 2004
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Sure, only if you don't mind ending up with one fat one. I've had juvenile N. siamensis eat each other, and other people have had various other Naja eat each other. Best not to put known snake-eaters together unless breeding.
-Chance
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RE: Naja haje
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Anonymous post on November 22, 2004
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As a general rule snakes are best housed alone. Naja will consume other snakes of comparable size including those of the same species. If you choose to house them together seperate them at feeding time to avoid injuries. It's also a good idea to remember that when you are housing two venomous snakes together, that's two little hot tamales to watch, not one. The snakebite and escape risk factors double. It's definitely easier "said", then "done". Elapids aren't dummies. They seem aware of their confined settings, and opportunities for escape are exploited. These moments of rebellion occur often immediately after the cage door is opened. Can you catch two?
How much experience do you have with elapids? Naja haje are a poor choice for the novice interest.
-The Phantom
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RE: Naja haje
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by Chance on November 23, 2004
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Al, what can I say, I try ;)
The Phantom's post was dead on. I have a decent bit of keeping experience with various Asian and African Naja, and only two have ever really given me a run for my money: N. melanoleuca and N. haje. The melanoleuca is self-explanatory, but the haje did something I've never had ANY venomous snake ever do. She came in as a fairly fresh w.c., and when I pulled her out of the bag after returning from the airport, she acted very lethargic. A few minutes later in a warm room with my trying to coax her into movement did no good either. By this time I was sure she was on the brink of death. I placed her into a holding bin for an hour or two, then went back to check on her. Pulled her out, same story. She was actually somewhat stiff by this time. I squatted down a few feet behind her to try to get a better look at her while I was eliciting some slight movement by rubbing a hook alongside her body, and WHAM, she shot like a rocket in the opposite direction of me under a hide box that was sitting in the floor on the other side of the room. After I cleaned out my britches, and realized that she could have VERY EASILY when the other direction and landed right in my lap before I could have done anything, I corralled her back into her enclosure. This was no easy task any longer, as she went nuts, shooting all over the place and trying to bite anything she could get ahold of.
Moral of the story: that snake, IMHO, knew what she was doing, and just waited for her opportunity to act. After I got her into the enclosure, any time I'd walk into the room she'd slam the front of it open-mouthed. The rest of her duration here, which after that incident wasn't very long, she was a very psycho cobra. So yeah, hajes are NOT to be taken lightly. They can reach huge adult sizes, have incredibly toxic venom and a large venom yield, and for a Naja, are quite acrobatic. The whole 'playing dead' thing just adds spice to the cake. Please be careful.
-Chance
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RE: Naja haje
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by Phobos on November 24, 2004
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Wow Chance! Quite a scary story. Many of us forget time to time just how unpredictable these animals can be. Talk about "baiting you in for the kill" Holy Cow!
Happy Holidays
Al
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RE: Naja haje
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by Chance on November 24, 2004
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Hey Al. It certainly was a very scary situation. Of course, I may be misinterpreting the whole thing, and she may have just been stressed beyond belief and reacted as such until she figured out that she wasn't going to be eaten, then decided to protect herself. However, it doesn't seem like a haje would necessarily wait to protect itself. Needless to say, it gave me a whole different outlook on that, and any other, species of Naja. Stay safe!
-Chance
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RE: Naja haje
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Anonymous post on November 25, 2004
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Most of the facts stated by the other poster are correct, though I find his statement of experience a bit suspect in light of his story. This is not meant to be a flame, but I do believe that such lack of caution deserves criticism. How much experience in years do you really have?
Regarding the original poster's question, keeping juvenile Naja together is a great recipe for diversifying the feeding schedule of one of the two specimens. If your intent is anything other than that, then you should definitely keep them separated. Members of the genus Naja being ophiophagus is a pretty basic fact of their biology, so you may want to do some reading and refresh your memory on this and related topics.
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RE: Naja haje
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by Chance on November 25, 2004
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Wow, I never knew that relating a completely harmless story was a crime. Must be one of my many fans...lol. I wasn't saying, "this is what you should do in this situation." I was relating a story about something that happened to me which could have, and obviously should have, been avoided. However, I can't really say that many more experienced keepers than myself would have reacted very differently. It appeared as though the snake was dying, plain and simple. In fact, she appeared nearly dead, even to the point of becoming stiff.
Anyway, I need not explain my reasoning behind this. To answer your question, I've been keeping Naja since I was 19, and I am now 22, so 3 years with that genus. Most likely you will deem that insufficient, but I could care less. To name the specifics, in that time I have maintained N. kaouthia (4 specimens), N. sumatrana (1 specimen), N. siamensis (5 specimens), N. sputatrix (1 specimen), N. mossambica (2 specimens), N. nigricollis (2 specimens), N. melanoleuca (1 specimen), N. haje (2 specimens), and H. haemachatus (1 specimen). Like I said, I was relating my story with the intent of opening the mind of the original poster to the dangers posed by N. haje. Based upon his ad in the classifieds, I'd say it worked, probably along with what everyone else was saying. Have a good turkey day.
-Chance
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