Visit to BIO-KEN Watamu

[Manson]

Hi,

Last weekend we went down to Watamu for 3 days and had to go visit BIO-KEN.

Sorry the pics are not that great but all the cages are outdoors and the glare off of the glass was terrible....

Here are some pictures.



This guy was massive even though a bit of his tail was gone


Bells Hinged Tortoise / Kinixys belliana

Small Nile Croc

Rock Python

Large Rock python waiting release

Speckled sand snake / Psammophis punctulatus

What a good looking snake, the pictures do not do it justice, Link-marked sand snake / Psammophis Biseriatus

She has 3 eggs when we opened the cage

I think this is a Eastern Strip-bellied sand snake / Psammophis orientalis

Red Beaked snake / Rhamphiophis rubopunctatus

Rufous Beaked snake / Rhamphiophis rostratus

Tiger snake, very light markings / Telescopus semiannulatus

Black tiger snake / Telescopus dhara somalicus

File Snake / Mehelya capense unicolor

New born hatched File snake

Semiornate snake / Meizodon semiornatus

Cross-barred tree snake / Dipsadoboa flavida

Peter's Hook-nosed Snake / Scaphiophis albopunctatus - Very interesting snake and quite large..



Eastern Bark Snake / Hemirhagerrhis hilderbrandtii

Spotted bush snakes / Philothamnus semivariagatus

Green Water Snake / Philothamnus hoplogaster

Green Night Adder / Causus resimus



Kenya Horned Viper / Bitis worthingtoni

Puff adder / Bitis arietans from Nakuru area

Sorry for the bad picture but just compare the size of this snake to the ice cream tub.

Mt. Kenya Bush-Viper / Atheris desaixi



Garter snkes / Elapsoidea loveridgei



Eastern Twig snake / Thelotornis mossambicus

Green Mamba / Dendroaspis angusticeps

Egyptian Cobra / Naje haje

Completly black Forest Cobra / Naja melanoleuca





Large Brown Spitting Cobra / Naja ashei



And they had plenty more, next time we go will post some more...

[kfc223]

Quite a interesting place.

That Atheris desaixi isn't something you see often.

[Bushviper]

Some snakes there I had never heard of before. I see WW's photo is on the wall. A cobra eating a cat does not happen very often.

Please post more pictures.

[Mitton]

Hey guys, nice to see you online again.
What a great post, some really nice snakes, some I have never heard of or seen.

Thanks for sharing with us.

[rvanhuyssteen]

I think seeing a cobra eat a cat must be one of the most memorable things one could experience and to get a picture I don't think it would be easy to top that. That is a big cobra!

Some nice species there, that Peter's Hook-nosed snake is something. I have never even heard about it until now.

Thanks for posting.

[Manson]

I will post some more pictures asap.

The spotted bush snake should have been Philothamnus punctatus

[Westley Price]

Very cool pics and some nice animals.

I particularly like the Scaphiophis. I often wonder why they are not in the keeping hobby.

I also found those lighter Telescopus semiannulatus in the DRC. They are totally different to the ones down south.

Thanx a bunch for sharing. I'm looking forward to the rest of the pics.

No Pancake Tortoises? Thoseare my other favourite!

[Serpent]

Interesting! What country is this?

[Warren Klein]

Nice to see so many Kenyan locals, the Scaphiophis albopunctatus; Meizodon semiornatus and the Rhamphiophis rubopunctatus are also firsts for me. Also nice seening Bitis worthingtoni and Atheris desaixi but the most impressive is the picture of a picture of what must be Naja ashei eating a cat! What a mother of a cobra!

[WW]

Bio-Ken is a great place! For a herper, it is particularly gratifying that they display a tremendous variety of poorly known, rather obscure species, not just the usual headline grabbers (mambas, cobras, puffies, python). The people there are great too!

[mania]

Awesome post. Some amazing snakes there.