Black mamba

Here are a few pictures of a subadult female D.polylepis I have. She is of Tanzanian origin. I recently acquired a male of the same origin and will get some pictures once he sheds. -Jamie

Black mamba Dsc049801resize

Ah very nice! I just watch Steven Austin in "7 deadly strikes". Black Mambas are fantastic snakes for sure!

It looks really healthy with that shine. Congrats.

Hi, she is beautifull !
i hope to have a male for my female soon too !
...by the way, what is her size ?
Cheers.

patrick vince wrote:: Hi, she is beautifull !
i hope to have a male for my female soon too !
...by the way, what is her size ?
Cheers.

She's a little over 6ft, 1.8m, in length. She's still a young one. -Jamie

Always loved these - see them often in the wild.
Nice Pics

Its so beautyful, greats!!!

The blacks are one of the nicest snakes in my opinion

Richard Blok wrote:: The blacks are one of the nicest snakes in my opinion

Ive never dealt with a Black mamba that was "nice" Smile

Sorry Gentlemen, I've to ask another maybe stupid question:

Are blacks in general more aggressive and wild in captivity than most of the other hots? Just for my interest.

What may be the most difficult snake species in this sense?

Cheers,
Guenter

Hi Guenter,

I did not handle Mambas so far, but from my experience Pseudonaja species are really some of the most agressive/nervous ones (e.g. P. textilis and P. affinis)

Pascal

I personally do not find Black Mamba's that bad, I have 6 of them and although everytime I take them out, I am respectful of what they can potentially do. I do not consider them to be "aggressive" snakes.

I find alot more of my cobra to be "aggresive" when been taken out of their cages. The Black Mamba's generally just look for somewhere to go once they are out. I can most likely count the amount of times on one hand where my mamba's have struck at me when handling them. Some of my other cobra's on the hand it is a regular thing when handling.

You see there also nice black mamba.s Laughing

I agree with Lourance, I find them easy going (as a rule), the issue I find is it only takes a breath of wind to p**s them off, then everything can change (unwinding them from their branch is a good example). It's about being steady and slow with them, I find they react to movement.

I fully respect what they can do - a key thing to remember.

Dave

Very nice looking Mamba Jamie, I really like the Tanzanian locale.

People have to have guts to have a black mamba for a pet! Shocked

Do you guys have antivenom around in case somebody gets bitten?

First, on the main it has no normal hardworking people can afford to have an antidote at home as it is very expensive and also a perishable commodity. Furthermore, I assume that you have to be somehow educated doctors etc. to know how large a dose you should take and where. So first priotering is to get to the hospital. whatever poisonous snake you've been bitten by.

Quote :: no normal hardworking people can afford to have an antidote at home as it is very expensive

expensive? not this one!
I know several people storing antivenin at home, including myself.

ok here in Sweden I do not know if many anyway with antidotes home precisely because it is too expensive what I've heard anyway. But you who have antidotes at home then you know exactly how large a dose of the antidote you need to take? or do you have it to a doctor at the hospital who can quickly get access to it?

Antivenin isn't something you "take", it can only be administered by doctors in a hospial, usual intravenously via a drip.
How large the dose should be depends on the severety of the bite, resp. the amount of venom injected, and must be determined by doctors.
The advantage of home-stored antivenin is clear: no time is wasted in searching antivenin and transporting it over hundreds of miles.

Fantastic animal, but I must agree that I'm to old for this kind of snake. :-)

best regards Manni

I have ten years more, Manni.
I don't think it does depend on age.

Peter Zürcher wrote:: I have ten years more, Manni.
I don't think it does depend on age.

Hello Peter
you've right, my comment was more a little joke.
Seriously keeper do it with Head, heart and brain. :-) :-)

best regards Manni

What does antivenom cost ?

My single male D. Polylepis, which was raised from an egg, only showed me the open mouth threat when it was a newly hatched baby. Very quickly he stopped all forms of defensiveness, although I respected the venom potential.

Only "necked" him a couple of times as a "juvie" due to the unnecessary risk. I also didn't want to risk injuring him. They are really interesting captives in general. A very beautiful animal for sure.

Antivenin was sourced by me through a local zoo, which they owned. So no idea as to the cost, especially for prices on todays market. But there are experts here keeping their own supplies of coarse.

For a comparison, I would say that Taipans are more on the nervous side, with more caution being necessary.

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