INDIANANGLER

hi binu herpetology is one of my interests.
i volunteer for an ngo called sarpa rakshak sanstha here in pune.
in the past i have kept snakes at home for about the duration of a week.. they were always temporary guests
this was from time to time whenever id seen people trying to kill em near my college ... this was sometime back..
i would feed them and release them in the hill regions around pune.

I have friends who have pet snakes in India. I do not know about importing them into the country. Will advise if I have any info.

these tanks are called terrariums..

no i didnnt use tanks ..

i have a old wooden showcase at home with sliding glass..its quite big .

i had put in some rocks and sand and a piece of dead tree bough..

a plastic water trough embedded in the sand.

for heating i had placed a study lamp outside the glass ..

i would turn it on in the morning for abt 2 hrs and again for a little while in the evening.... so that the inside would get warm enough.. (p.s. note .. different snake need different kinds of heat and terrarium settings ..

( you could check this book called Giant and non venonomous snakes by Klaus Griehl- that was my first book on snakes ,when i was in std 6... very detailed info.. ) sadly my mom has hidden it or thrown it out coz i still cant find it till today...)



mostly my guests at snake motel would be common trinkits , vine snakes
sand and jon's boas and rat snakes ..

i have seen my guests eat too.

all the times they would be fed by hand ... i would hold the snake just behind the jaw, this way the tend to open their mouth.. then with tweezers i have feed them beef .. normally they wont eat natural prey initially when captured ... they are not in their natural habitat... only after a a while say two weeks to a month , they would take live prey , depending on their temperament and when and what they had eaten last.. since i never kept them for more than a week i never got to see that .

i have never ventured to keep any cobra or krait that i have caught..

fortunately or unfortunately i have not handled a russels viper ..

even now i wouldnt want to take that chance ... i fashioned a snake net with an old badminton raquet and mosquito netting .. with a bamboo rod and that ,you can pretty much get any venomous snake in the bag , without laying your hands on it..

less trauma for the snake and definitely onesself.

having said this , i want to say the above set up was just a temporary shelter for the snakes that came to my house...

i would not keep them longer than a week.. so i really dont keep snakes as pets per say.

Thanks Hamour,
for the detailed explanation. I have been reading about terrariums for sometime and in the U.S they are very easy to get.. You get all the things needed to setup a terrarium for a tarantula or snakes in most pet shops. I dont have any plans to keep venomous snakes..
I read that a Ball Python could become a very good pet, thats why was wondering if any of you guys were keeping snakes..

Cheers,
Binu

Below is a excerpt from the TOI supplement in pune...

actual truth of the matter was that someone in that building having certain connections was illegally housing that snake... Mr. Pansare , the gentleman who heads the org i volunteer for had told us...

thought i'll put this up as proof that such things do happen.

"PUNE: It was an unusual occurrence on Friday night when a seven ft Indian rock python found its way to the balcony of a fifth floor apartment
in Lullanagar.

The fully-grown female python was spotted around 11.15 pm in the house of Sajid Shaikh at Carina Terrace Apartments. Brijesh Suryawanshi, a volunteer with the Katraj snake park, came to the rescue and caught the reptile. "When I saw the python, it was on the balcony and was climbing towards a window on the sixth floor," said Suryawanshi.

"The non-venomous snake is about 6 kg in weight and brown in colour, with amoeba-shaped patches on the hide," Suryawanshi added. Commonly known as Ajgar, the Indian rock python is a rare species of snake. "The whole process of catching the repitle took about half an hour, and now it has been sent to the snake park for a medical check-up," said Suryawanshi.

According to Neelimkumar Khaire, director of the Katraj snake park, "The snake appears fine, even though we found an injury on its back, which looks at least two months old. Once the snake recovers, we will release it in the nearby forest."

The flat where the snake was found, has been vacant for the last six months. On Friday night, when the owners opened the door, they found the python coiled up on the balcony.

"It is a rare occurrence to find such a snake in the heart of a residential area. We have no clue how it found its way into the building," Abrar Sayed, secretary, Carina society, said.

Khaire, however, has an explanation. "It’s a case of passive migration. The reptile must have got onto a vehicle like a truck in the forest and travelled all the way to the city." The python is usually found in the dense forests. "This could be the first time that such a huge serpent was found in the heart of the city," said Khaire."

WOW!

hahahahahahahahaahah

No way! I love my brain.

Keyur! Get the dog fast mate. Nothing is complete without one.

Hi M'ken,


it sure is awesome having a dog as a pet.

Mum always called the dog her best son. Had dogs as pets right through my growing up years in Bombay. We needed them as we had lots of fruit trees in our compound

I have loads of amazing stories about my dogs, but I'll save that for sometime later.

Cant really keep one here in Dubai due to various reasons. Maybe I'll get one when I get back to Bombay.

An electric fence was not enough to stop this python from stealing a farmer's sheep. Note outline of sheep in the python's stomach.[/img]

Sorry folks but I was unable to upload the pictures. Will try again or send it to one of you gentleman by email with a request to upload. Worth seeing.