Hydrodynastes gigas

[Contortrix]

Here's a few pictures of my pair of Hydrodynastes gigas i picked up today. I have been searching for this species for over 10 years so it's an undescribable feeling of finaly getting a pair!

More pictures later when they have settled down in their new enclosure!

The female showing a little hood:



The male is cooling off in the tub:



Cheers, Ronny

[MissAvic]

Female is gorgious! Congrats on finally getting them. Enjoy every moment..

[Wolf777]

Cool snakes, like the female. Must be quite a nice feeling to finally have a pair after such a long wait.

[Warren Klein]

They are pretty specimens you got there too. This species has one of the bests feeding responses I have ever seen in a snake! They are eating machines!

[Bushviper]

With babies you can feed them every 4 or 5 days without any worries. They seem to suffer if they are fed "normally" as babies. Good luck with them.

[fredsmith]

Stunning!
Would love some of these one day...

[mgiddings]

Wow after a wait that long enjoy them

[fredsmith]

Besides having an incredible feeding response, what are these guys like character wise?

[mgiddings]

I heard they can be quite aggresive but then I have heard of completly docile FWC's so it seems it varies from animal to animal

[10gbooj]

Awesome snakes. They are very inquisitive, if you come into the room they will follow you as if you are prey. Apparently they are highly venomous but lack an efficient delivery system. Is this correct?

[babyball]

Gorgeous!
I had one that was very calm and docile until it sensed food, that becomes a different situation. Mine was such an awesome snake and regret getting rid of it everyday. They are awesome to keep and are always waiting to be fed left over food from fussy eaters.

Keep well,
Brad

[mgiddings]

Yes 10gbooj I believe that is correct sice they are rear-fanged, still not much is known about the venom

[Copperbob]

Hydrodynastes gigas are not highly venomous and their venom has been studied. Swelling, bruising and the usual physcosymatic effects e.g nausea, breathing difficulty, headache. I have witnessed two people having to pull these guys off and the only symptoms they experienced were headaches and a little bleeding.
I have also read that drop for drop the venom of Hydrodynastes gigas is comparable in strength to that of some crotalids, but I personally think it is nonsense. Stand to be corrected though.

[WW]

Hydrodynastes gigas are not highly venomous and their venom has been studied. Swelling, bruising and the usual physcosymatic effects e.g nausea, breathing difficulty, headache. I have witnessed two people having to pull these guys off and the only symptoms they experienced were headaches and a little bleeding.
I have also read that drop for drop the venom of Hydrodynastes gigas is comparable in strength to that of some crotalids, but I personally think it is nonsense. Stand to be corrected though.

Actually drop-for-drop, it is at about the same level as Crotalus atrox. Which actually means it's pretty weak - it's just that an atrox injects one hell of a lot more of those drops....

Mind you, a friend recently ended up in an emergency room with swelling past the elbow and swollen lymph nodes from a 20 second bite from a hatchling, so full, prolonged feeding bites by adults could potentially prove seriously unpleasant. As in most colubrids, most bites are trivial (I have been bitten twice by smallish FWCs without any effects whatsoever), but once in a while, someone could have a seriously unpleasant surprise.

Smart people make sure that someone else gets that surprise.

Cheers,

WW

[Bushviper]

Smart people make sure that someone else gets that surprise.

Cheers,

WW

That is brilliant. Especially if you are researching venoms.