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While reading this thread about silk worms it brought back memories about my reptile raising days back in California.
I have had a variety of reptiles over the years. Started with a Ball Python that my oldest son just HAD to have and a couple of weeks later could not take the mouse feeding. I got a pair of Sinaloan Milk Snakes to try to bud up with him and encourage him to continue. So guess who inherited it?
Anyway, I usually go overboard with things. I still need to start my 10K ft mountain for Osha!
What follows are some pictures of most of the different beasties we kept. We also raised the food for them, except crickets. I just bought those when needed. Rats, mice, crickets, meal worms, super worms, silk worms.
Anyway, here goes.
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Very nice nakey. Meet Baratheon and Dracenstien. They’re bearded dragons. They polished off a container of wood roaches each today. You should have heard the crunching….it was a bit sickening. They love green stuff like bok choy and fruit like strawberries and watermelon. They don’t like silkworms, at least not these two. They have to be kept separated or they’ll take chunks out of each other. Dracenstien has some toes missing from being bitten off when she was a bearded dragonette (what’s the name of a baby bearded dragon?) They belong to my daughter.
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Fey wrote: Are they poisonous?
Red touch yellow…kill a fellow.
Red touch black…friend of Jack.
King snakes and milk snakes are harmles (red touch black)
Coral snakes are elapids (related to cobras, kraits, sea snakes, mambas). They only live in the desert Southwest and are very timid.
Coral snake
Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.
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Fey wrote: Do they look after the eggs themselves like a chook? How often do they lay eggs? Are they poisonous? Have you tried eating the eggs? Have you tried eating the snakes? Do you need a licence to have them? (We do for the bearded dragons)
The egg laying system was a yogurt container mostly filled with damp moss. The lid had a hole cut into it. She would go into the container and then lay her eggs. That is the last she ever interacted with them. I would then extract them and place them in a container similar to the one in the pictures, using vermiculite as the media. Then off to the incubator for the incubation time.
I don’t remember how often I was able to get them to lay. In nature, I think it is once a year. Patrick addressed the venomous question. I did not even think about eating the eggs. They were worth too much as baby snakes ($20-30 each). I did not even think about eating the snakes. They were worth too much producing baby snakes.
Some places require a license for the larger reptiles, venomous reptiles. Never had to worry about either.
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IdahoHerbalist wrote: Plants are poisonous.
Animals are venomous.
Need to know this to be good herbalists.
Silly comment. Knowledge of plants and their use has nothing to do with choice of descriptive words.
venomous
ˈvɛnəməs/
adjective
(of an animal, especially a snake) secreting venom; capable of injecting venom by means of a bite or sting.
“a leading expert on venomous snakes”
synonyms: poisonous, toxic, noxious, dangerous, harmful; More
antonyms: harmless, innocuous
(of a person or their behaviour) full of malice or spite.
“she replied with a venomous glance”
synonyms: vicious, spiteful; More
As you can see, a synonym for venomous IS poisonous. If you stop and think of the word, “venomous” it just means full of venom, which doesn’t necessarily mean they’re poisonous to humans. Which means that I was being more succinct with my choice of words than you were. Steven, I hope your comment wasn’t meant to be venomous…. 🙂
This would have been a more accurate reply:
Poisons are absorbed by the body, such as through skin or the digestive system, while venoms must first be introduced directly into tissues or the bloodstream (envenomated) by mechanical means.
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IdahoHerbalist wrote: Plants are poisonous.
Animals are venomous.
Need to know this to be good herbalists.
:Laugh:
And there are some plants, the nettles, which use urticating hairs as venom delivery systems – the best of both worlds.
Typical toxins included in nettle tricomes are formic acid, like in many ant species, and neurotransmitters like serotonin, and histamine. The pain or itch goes away in a few hours. They raise red welts that itch, called hives. In scientific terms, all hive-producing reactions are called urticaria. Most nettle trichome envenomations, like those from Urtica dioica (common nettle) are irritating, but little else.
However, the ongaonga tree (Uritca ferox) is the exception. There has been at least one death associated with just brushing against it. The ongaonga has unusually large spines; the lightest touch brings pain for more than five days. Its neurotoxins also include an acetylcholine (Ach)-like chemical, yet another neurotransmitter.
Our king of venomous plants comes from a different genus of the same family of plants as the nettles.
The gympie gympie (Dendrocnidae moroides) lives in Australia, the land of painful deaths. The Australian Geographic website says that being envenomated by the gympie gympie is like, “being burnt with hot acid and electrocuted at the same time.” It has killed people, horses, and dogs.
Minor stings can last for hours to days with increased heart rate and sweating. The gympie’s trichomes seem to be silica based, like glass. You can heat them with a flame until they glow red, but they will still hold their shape. Add being stabbed with glass shards to the description of the gympie’s sting.
Severe encounters can bring pain for months, with symptoms waning and then brought back by hot or cold air, water, or rubbing. Some people have shot themselves to relieve the pain, while others have had to be strapped to the bed.
A GOOD TEACHER MUST KNOW THE RULES:
A GOOD PUPIL, THE EXCEPTIONS.
Martin H. Fischer
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IdahoHerbalist wrote: Plants are poisonous.
Animals are venomous.
Need to know this to be good herbalists.
AND THEN THERE ARE THE POISONOUS ANIMALS
12. Giant Leaf Frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor)
This extremely interesting frog, also known as the monkey frog, secretes a mild poison that can have a variety of effects, ranging from sedation and gastric upset to hallucinations.
11. Dyeing Dart Frog (Dendrobates tinctorius)
At approximately two inches, this big old frog employs poison in self-defense.
10. Red-backed Poison Frog (Ranitomeya reticulatus)
Peru’s red-backed poison frog has a toxicity that is considered ‘moderate’. The frog’s poison is thought to derive from the neurotoxic venom of the ants it eats and is stored in its skin glands.
9. Strawberry Poison Dart Frog (Oophaga pumilio)
Its poison is pretty toxic stuff, causing swelling and a burning sensation.
2. Black-legged Dart Frog (Phyllobates bicolor)
The second most toxic frog on Earth is the black-legged dart frog, or Phyllobates bicolor. Only 150 micrograms of the poison are needed to kill somebody, and human fatalities have been confirmed. The batrachotoxin causes fevers, excruciating pain, seizures and, ultimately, death by respiratory and muscular paralysis.
Etc etc….
AND…..
Although salamanders appear to be relatively inoffensive creatures, all species are poisonous. Poisoning may also occur after handling the animal and then rubbing the eyes or placing the hands in the mouth.
A BIRD!!!
homobatrachotoxin is a neurotoxin found in the hooded pitohui, which is a bird. The hooded pitohui is the first discovered poisonous bird, although we’ve found several other species since then. But it gets crazier. Remember how we said that the poison dart frog gets its toxin from its food? Well, the hooded pitohui lives in Papua New Guinea, roughly 10,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean from Central and South America (stomping grounds of the dart frog), and somehow it has evolved this EXACT same biological mechanism that allows it to absorb and later secrete the (incredibly rare) batrachotoxin family of neurotoxins.
AND BEETLES!!
An African leaf beetle, Diamphidia simplex (Chrysomelidae), exudes a poison that causes death by paralysis. African bushmen use this poison on their arrow tips to kill animals.
Many species, including Coccinelidae (lady beetles) and Meloidee (Blister beetles), can secrete poisonous substances to make them unpalatable.
Crushed, some poisonous beetles can kill animals or man.
A GOOD TEACHER MUST KNOW THE RULES:
A GOOD PUPIL, THE EXCEPTIONS.
Martin H. Fischer
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Well, this IS about reptiles! 🙂
I wonder if they taste like Rock Chucks (yellow bellied marmots)? Had some at an Anasazi activity a couple of weeks ago. It did NOT taste like chicken, I mean chooks. It did taste quite good though and Renee enjoyed it as well. Tasted better than the squirrel. Did not stay for the badger. It did not smell like it was going to taste very good.
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Doc Jones wrote:
Are they poisonous?
Red touch yellow…kill a fellow.
Red touch black…friend of Jack.
King snakes and milk snakes are harmles (red touch black)
Coral snakes are elapids (related to cobras, kraits, sea snakes, mambas). They only live in the desert Southwest and are very timid.
Coral snake
We have LOTS of coral snakes in Florida! And certainly there is no dessert environment here. Just the other day I sent my husband out for bay from the garden and he and our dog stirred one up. I think Florida ranks the highest in the U.S. for things that can kill you 😈
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