Weird couple of days
Jul. 20th, 2008 10:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mad_andyBeen a strange couple of days.
- Covered the weekend for my boss, which means I missed clubbing with the Zicos last night. Slay went, though.
- Had the weekend from Hell at the shop. Every idiot, moron, cretin and fuckwit came in to make life just that little more difficult for me. Considering what I could have been doing, this was mildly galling.
- A pair of snakes that live at the shop (the false water cobras, Hydronastes gigas) got into a very nasty fight on Saturday. I had to get into the viv and separate them which wasn't fun as yes, they are venomous (although rear fanged and therefore nowhere near as dangerous as front fanged hots) and there was a family who wanted to stand right in front of the viv as I went in there armed with hook, feeding tongs, bucket of water and a massive adrenaline high.
Even better, they were happy to let their three year old child stand right at my shoulder.
I threw them out of the shop and locked the door while I dealt with it.
The female falsie is getting on for seven feet long and she's a big, husky girl. She's not aggressive, but she's highly strung and had her mate (a little smaller but not by much) chewing the hell out of her neck. So a big girl in pain and rather upset and I had to pry him off her neck then move him out the back and into a tub until I could check she was OK.
All that went well, but due to the Saturday help being neither use nor ornament and the female falsie not wanting to let me anywhere near her neck I've had to just leave her be and hope that the wounds (which are nasty but shouldn't be too serious) heal by themselves. I don't like doing that. I want to get them cleaned and checked over and I can't do it on my own and I really hate that.
A note on False Water Cobra and venom:
Venom
The False Water Cobra is a rear fanged venomous species. Currently (May 2000) there are no restrictions regarding keeping them in captivity in the U.K.. They are not a species covered by the Dangerous Wild Animal Act 1976. It would appear (though not necessarily the opinion of this author) that this may change in the future as more studies show the true nature of the venom and the venom delivery capability of this species.
May I refer the reader to the Mangrove snake (Boiga dendrophilia), a species often seen in the pet trade up until it was discovered that they were potentially more dangerous than first thought and placed on the Dangerous Wild Animal Licence. From discussions with Paul Rowley at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicines it would appear that recent studies have likened the potency of the venom to the Timber Rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus.
I personally have only seen the results from one bad reaction from a False Water Cobra bite. The late John Foden was unfortunate to receive a bite from an adult on his arm. He told me he thought little of it at the time, until the arm swelled dramatically. Within a couple of hours he felt very poorly with a fever and severe nausea. Over the following days tissue damage occurred around the area of the bite, and a feeling of being generally unwell lasted for several days. Some time later he still complained of discomfort, and was left permanently with a disfigured arm.
Needless to say that my keepers and myself treat these snakes with respect as if they were a “venomous” species and only handle with gauntlets and /or a hook. Temperament can vary from gentle and placid to violent and intimidating.
Copyright ©2007 Zoo Logic.
FWC hooded up, but you can see how beautiful the species is!
- Also on Saturday I was attacked by a giant rat. Chris has a pair of Gambian pouched rats, which are rats as big as a small terrier. They're at the shop because they weren't getting enough human interaction at his home.
I'm no expert, but observation of their behaviour makes me think that the male is being highly territorial, and is also frustrated because the female isn't in season. Whilst Chris can open the cage and stroke them both, anyone else is met with suspicion; they squabble constantly, and I'm a little concerned as to the state of the female. That aside, it became clear that anything that brushed too close to the cage would get dragged in and chewed, and that included clothing or any part of a body that the male could reach.
So we're keeping people away from the cage area but you know what people are like, they see something that looks like a big cuddly toy and they unhook ropes and bypass keep out signs... somebody's going to get hurt. And yesterday it was almost me.
The male trashed the cage and I thought well, get in there girl. The plan was to give him a stroke along his back, take out the water bowl, refill, and take it from there - assessing his reaction to me.
Well, his reaction was to fling himself at me in an attack, and I've had enough animals of enough different species go for me that I can tell the difference between real aggression and bluff. He tried to bite me in the stomach, but (thankfully) got hold of my belt instead, as that was the first thing his snout touched. He grabbed it, sank his teeth in and bit down, only releasing to try and get a better hold. (I've encountered that grab-release-grab with dogs that are trying to do serious damage, and believe me when I say that if it meets flesh the result is messy.)
I yelled, grabbed his tail, yanked him backwards and jumped back; this broke his hold and I slammed the cage door in his face. The Saturday girl found this hilarious and I blew an absolute fucking stack; she sulked for the rest of the afternoon, but pardon me if being attacked by a rat bigger than most cats freaked me out. Actually, it was the deadly intent of the attack that freaked me out; bluff I can handle, but he wasn't mucking about.
And of course, the boss thinks I'm overreacting. That's fine, but I'm not opening that cage again unless there's someone on hand with a broom to hold the occupants back.
BTW, this is how big they are:
- Animal woes come in threes; this morning I was showing a guy a spider (a Chilean Rose, the best beginner's spider) and had to ask him several times to stand back, as I dislike anyone (that I don't know) standing so close to me that they brush against me. And if I can feel your breath on my neck then buddy, you're too damn close. The spider apparently thought the guy was as creepy as I did, because when he stuck his face near it, it flicked abdominal hairs at him.
(This is a defence against predators; the hairs on a tarantulas abdomen are brittle, barbed and as irritant as hell if they stick in the skin. If the spider feels threatened it brushes a back leg over its bum, which sends a cloud of fine, irritant hair fragments into whatever is upsetting the spider.)
Of course, because the spider was on my hand guess who got a hand, inner forearm and face full of spider hair?
Luckily, I'm not allergic. So it just feels like every exposed piece of skin has a bad razor burn, but had I been allergic my face, hands and arms would right now be swollen, red and weeping.
Oh, and the chap didn't buy a spider. So I didn't even get a bloody sale out of the annoying little fucker. I don't blame the spider; the guy was pissing me off too.
-The reason I covered the weekend for the boss is that last night he had a party at his field, a 3.5 acre smallholding. A lot of people didn't bother to turn up; he's such a nice chap that people treat him like shit. This irritates me.
Although sleeping in my car is a damn sight more comfortable than a tent! :D
- Covered the weekend for my boss, which means I missed clubbing with the Zicos last night. Slay went, though.
- Had the weekend from Hell at the shop. Every idiot, moron, cretin and fuckwit came in to make life just that little more difficult for me. Considering what I could have been doing, this was mildly galling.
- A pair of snakes that live at the shop (the false water cobras, Hydronastes gigas) got into a very nasty fight on Saturday. I had to get into the viv and separate them which wasn't fun as yes, they are venomous (although rear fanged and therefore nowhere near as dangerous as front fanged hots) and there was a family who wanted to stand right in front of the viv as I went in there armed with hook, feeding tongs, bucket of water and a massive adrenaline high.
Even better, they were happy to let their three year old child stand right at my shoulder.
I threw them out of the shop and locked the door while I dealt with it.
The female falsie is getting on for seven feet long and she's a big, husky girl. She's not aggressive, but she's highly strung and had her mate (a little smaller but not by much) chewing the hell out of her neck. So a big girl in pain and rather upset and I had to pry him off her neck then move him out the back and into a tub until I could check she was OK.
All that went well, but due to the Saturday help being neither use nor ornament and the female falsie not wanting to let me anywhere near her neck I've had to just leave her be and hope that the wounds (which are nasty but shouldn't be too serious) heal by themselves. I don't like doing that. I want to get them cleaned and checked over and I can't do it on my own and I really hate that.
A note on False Water Cobra and venom:
Venom
The False Water Cobra is a rear fanged venomous species. Currently (May 2000) there are no restrictions regarding keeping them in captivity in the U.K.. They are not a species covered by the Dangerous Wild Animal Act 1976. It would appear (though not necessarily the opinion of this author) that this may change in the future as more studies show the true nature of the venom and the venom delivery capability of this species.
May I refer the reader to the Mangrove snake (Boiga dendrophilia), a species often seen in the pet trade up until it was discovered that they were potentially more dangerous than first thought and placed on the Dangerous Wild Animal Licence. From discussions with Paul Rowley at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicines it would appear that recent studies have likened the potency of the venom to the Timber Rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus.
I personally have only seen the results from one bad reaction from a False Water Cobra bite. The late John Foden was unfortunate to receive a bite from an adult on his arm. He told me he thought little of it at the time, until the arm swelled dramatically. Within a couple of hours he felt very poorly with a fever and severe nausea. Over the following days tissue damage occurred around the area of the bite, and a feeling of being generally unwell lasted for several days. Some time later he still complained of discomfort, and was left permanently with a disfigured arm.
Needless to say that my keepers and myself treat these snakes with respect as if they were a “venomous” species and only handle with gauntlets and /or a hook. Temperament can vary from gentle and placid to violent and intimidating.
Copyright ©2007 Zoo Logic.
FWC hooded up, but you can see how beautiful the species is!
- Also on Saturday I was attacked by a giant rat. Chris has a pair of Gambian pouched rats, which are rats as big as a small terrier. They're at the shop because they weren't getting enough human interaction at his home.
I'm no expert, but observation of their behaviour makes me think that the male is being highly territorial, and is also frustrated because the female isn't in season. Whilst Chris can open the cage and stroke them both, anyone else is met with suspicion; they squabble constantly, and I'm a little concerned as to the state of the female. That aside, it became clear that anything that brushed too close to the cage would get dragged in and chewed, and that included clothing or any part of a body that the male could reach.
So we're keeping people away from the cage area but you know what people are like, they see something that looks like a big cuddly toy and they unhook ropes and bypass keep out signs... somebody's going to get hurt. And yesterday it was almost me.
The male trashed the cage and I thought well, get in there girl. The plan was to give him a stroke along his back, take out the water bowl, refill, and take it from there - assessing his reaction to me.
Well, his reaction was to fling himself at me in an attack, and I've had enough animals of enough different species go for me that I can tell the difference between real aggression and bluff. He tried to bite me in the stomach, but (thankfully) got hold of my belt instead, as that was the first thing his snout touched. He grabbed it, sank his teeth in and bit down, only releasing to try and get a better hold. (I've encountered that grab-release-grab with dogs that are trying to do serious damage, and believe me when I say that if it meets flesh the result is messy.)
I yelled, grabbed his tail, yanked him backwards and jumped back; this broke his hold and I slammed the cage door in his face. The Saturday girl found this hilarious and I blew an absolute fucking stack; she sulked for the rest of the afternoon, but pardon me if being attacked by a rat bigger than most cats freaked me out. Actually, it was the deadly intent of the attack that freaked me out; bluff I can handle, but he wasn't mucking about.
And of course, the boss thinks I'm overreacting. That's fine, but I'm not opening that cage again unless there's someone on hand with a broom to hold the occupants back.
BTW, this is how big they are:
- Animal woes come in threes; this morning I was showing a guy a spider (a Chilean Rose, the best beginner's spider) and had to ask him several times to stand back, as I dislike anyone (that I don't know) standing so close to me that they brush against me. And if I can feel your breath on my neck then buddy, you're too damn close. The spider apparently thought the guy was as creepy as I did, because when he stuck his face near it, it flicked abdominal hairs at him.
(This is a defence against predators; the hairs on a tarantulas abdomen are brittle, barbed and as irritant as hell if they stick in the skin. If the spider feels threatened it brushes a back leg over its bum, which sends a cloud of fine, irritant hair fragments into whatever is upsetting the spider.)
Of course, because the spider was on my hand guess who got a hand, inner forearm and face full of spider hair?
Luckily, I'm not allergic. So it just feels like every exposed piece of skin has a bad razor burn, but had I been allergic my face, hands and arms would right now be swollen, red and weeping.
Oh, and the chap didn't buy a spider. So I didn't even get a bloody sale out of the annoying little fucker. I don't blame the spider; the guy was pissing me off too.
-The reason I covered the weekend for the boss is that last night he had a party at his field, a 3.5 acre smallholding. A lot of people didn't bother to turn up; he's such a nice chap that people treat him like shit. This irritates me.
Although sleeping in my car is a damn sight more comfortable than a tent! :D
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