Conger Eel

Species information

In and around the rocky places and shipwrecks of our seas lurks one top predator that every creature on the seabed should be be wary of – the conger eel. This muscular and snake-like monster can reach three metres long and weigh over 50kg. The long and powerful conger with its strong jaw and sharp teeth, will eat almost any seafood it finds, from octopus to crabs to fish. It is most active at night as it leaves its resting place to hunt.

Its smooth, scaleless skin makes it the proverbial slippery customer. The dorsal fin runs the length of its body and the upper jaw extends beyond the lower one. After an amazing migration to the centre of the Atlantic the mature conger eel spawns only once and then dies soon afterwards. The young of the conger eel are called ’straps’.

The conger is most common and widespread in the waters of south and west Britain and the whole of Ireland. It can occasionally be found around any of our coastlines, usually at depths down to 500m or even as low as 4,000m when spawning.

Skunk

Skunks are the smelliest mammals. These small, nocturnal animals are found in South and Central America and much of North America.

The Spray: Skunks produce a very smelly spray that repels most predators. This oily, yellow liquid is produced in two glands located under the tail. They can spray up to 10 feet away. The smell is long-lasting and very hard to get rid of.

Anatomy: Wild skunks are black and white, but the patterns vary. They all have a bushy tail, short legs, clawed feet, and a long snout. Domesticated skunks have a variety of coat colors and patterns.

Diet: Skunks are omnivores; they eat insects, rodents, reptiles, small mammals, worms, eggs, fish, fruit, and plants.

Tracks – The skunk leaves a distinct pattern which is easily identified. The smaller front feet are pigeon-toed and placed just ahead of the larger rear feet while in motion. This five-toed creature has long claws which are usually evident in the print.

Australian Brown Snake

Family: Natricidae – Harmless Live-Bearing Snakes

Pygmy Rattle Snake

Range and Habitat: The Carolina pigmy rattler is found in the northeastern, northwestern, and central portion of Georgia and throughout South Carolina . Dusky pigmy rattlers inhabits the southern Coastal Plain area. Although fairly common in the Coastal Plain of both states, populations in the Piedmont are few and scattered. Dusky pygmies inhabit areas near water sources like creeks, marshes, and swamps but can be found in a variety of habitats including pine and scrub oak sandhills, scrub pinewoods, mixed forests of pine and hardwoods, longleaf pine-wiregrass forests, swamps, and even xeric uplands. Carolina pigmies are generally restricted to drier habitats and are most common in sandhills and xeric pine forests. When available, this species is known to use gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) burrows as well as those of small mammals.

Habits: Pigmy rattlesnakes spend most of their time well-hidden among leaf litter and can be very hard to spot. From such hiding places they ambush a variety of prey including lizards, frogs, small mammals, and insects as well as centipedes. These snakes are most often encountered crossing roads on summer evenings. Females give birth to live young in the late summer or fall.

Racers mate in the spring and females deposit 10-12 eggs in mammal burrows under rocks, logs, mulch, or rotting logs. When they lay eggs in June or July hatch in August and September. They eat small mammals, other snakes and insects. These snakes bite very hard and often. These snakes are difficult to capture because they spray musk at the person trying to capture them.

Racer Snake

How they eat?

Black racer snakes are an important link in the food chain in the natural ecosystems of the world. The typical prey of the black racer snake depends on the size of the black racer snake. It usually includes small varieties of invertebrates, such as slugs, worms and insects. They also eat fish, some varieties of amphibians, other snakes, birds, the eggs which are laid by birds, and some species of small mammals.

Some species, including the black racer snake, the black rat snake and the milk snake also consume a large number of rodents. They can be seen around barns and it is because of the fact that they eat rodents and other farm pests that they are of great help to farmers. They frequently enter the burrows of mice and rats and eat their young, and they also like slugs and other species of insects that have soft bodies.

Within its range it occupies a variety of different habitats. In most of its range favoring deciduous forest and mixed woodlands. They are often associated with rock outcroppings and ledges, but are also found in low-lying swampy regions. In the southern parts it can also be found in pine forests in. In the dry areas of West Texas and Mexico it is often found around watercourses.

It prefers to live in wooded areas, among rocks, or near streams or ponds because prey is more plentiful in such locations. Favorite hiding places include stone walls, sawdust, garden mulch or compost piles, and under decaying stumps, in wood piles, under abandoned building debris, and under large flat stones. This snake will be seen basking during the day when weather is cool but not cold. During the heat of summer, it will stay hidden during the day and become active at night.

In October the Copperhead retreats to its underground den to hibernate until late February or early March. Dens are most often in rocky hillsides with southern or eastern exposure to the sun. These “snake dens” will be returned to year after year and may contain a large number of snakes. In late summer through mid-October, between 1 and 14 young are born alive rather than hatched from eggs.

This common snake accounts for the largest number of snake bites in the US every year, thousands of documented cases of people injured every year, and many more pets that are bitten often many of these going unreported.

Copperheads are very common in many districts, Throughout the South Eastern states in particular; North Carolina holds the dubious title of the state with the most snakebite cases each year.

With such high numbers of Copperhead snakes in the places we live in, being the main reason for the great number of injuries.

Small copperhead snakes are notorious for getting “Everywhere” in the garden, in flower beds, in cars, coming up around porches and decks, many being so small they are an invitation to small children and pets to investigate.

Even the smallest baby copperhead is capable of inflicting a painful and dangerous bite

Baby copperhead showing its distinctive yellow tail

The Copperhead comes in several color variations, depending on the location, from bright copper and light through to very dark brown shades.

Copperheads are usually colorful and strikingly patterned snakes. The background color of the back and sides is tan to pinkish. There are darker, chestnut colored bands across the back and sides. Each hourglass shaped band is of varying width.

Newborn Copperheads are colored and patterned like adults, excepting the last inch of so of the tail which will be a bright, sulfur yellow color.

Virtually all adult still retain the copper color head, which gives it its name.

When adult they are moderately sized snakes, normally reaching 2–4 feet, with thick, heavy bodies.

The copperhead bite is not usually fatal in adults, but very painful and often lasting discomfort is the result.

Parents who have seen their children go through the pain and suffering a copperhead bite can cause; it is something nobody would wish to experience again.

Bite symptoms include intense pain, tingling, throbbing, swelling, and severe nausea. Damage can occur to muscle and bone tissue, especially when the bite occurs in the outer extremities such as the hands and feet, areas in which there is not a large muscle mass to absorb the venom.

Previously most ratsnakes were assigned to the genus Elaphe but many have been since renamed following mitochondrial DNA analysis performed in 2002. For the purpose of this article names will be harmonized with the TIGR Database. When searching for information on a particular species of ratsnake it might be useful to query the old name, Elaphe sp., as well as the new.

Black - Rat Snake

Black rat snakes will do very well on a diet consisting solely of domestic rodents. Baby rat snakes will usually start out eating a new born mouse pink without any trouble. As the snake grows, you can feed increasingly larger mice. Baby rat snakes should be fed every 4 to 6 days while adults will do well on adult mice or rat fuzzies fed every 7 to 10 days. The size of the prey item should be no larger than the maximum diameter of the snake. I like to feed my snakes until satiated.
Small prey items like mouse pinks, fuzzies, and hoppers as well as rat pinks and fuzzies can be fed alive or dead depending on what the snake will accept and what is most convenient for the owner. Larger prey items should be fed dead to eliminate any chance of the rodent injuring the snake. Some owners prefer to buy rodents frozen in bulk to save money, and this can be a very convenient supply of food items. Other keepers prefer to buy live rodents at the pet store. Rodents can be bred at home, but unless you have a number of snakes to feed this is probably more trouble than it is worth.
Several things can be tried to induce a troublesome neonate to eat its first meal. First, place a newborn mouse pink inside the snakes enclosure overnight. If the snake does not eat it, then take the snake and the pink and place them both in a much smaller container like a deli cup overnight. If this still does not work, give the snake a couple days of rest then try a split brain pink. This involves taking a DEAD pink and cutting into the head to expose the brain. Place the split brain pink and the snake into a deli cup overnight. This will often work. If not, then try again with a lizard scented pink. Anoles and house geckos work well. Cut open the abdominal cavity of a frozen lizard and rub a thawed pink into this cut and place this scented pink and the snake into a deli cup overnight. This can also be tried using a small piece of lizard skin dried onto the head of the pinky. If a humidity box is used, then try placing a live pink on the outside lid of the humidity box. If this doesn’t work, try a dead pink. These techniques and a lot of patience should get a troublesome hatchling to eat. However, it is the breeder’s responsibility to make sure that any snake that they sell is eating unscented mice before selling it.
Another thing that will sometimes work to get a troublesome baby to eat is to try a different food item. If available, a pink deer mouse will often elicit a very strong feeding response in most North American snakes of the genera Lampropeltis, Elaphe, and Pituophis. Although the information above is a bit frightening and at times gruesome, do not be discouraged as most pet owners will never have to deal with these problems, especially with a rat snake. However, if you intend to breed your snakes then you will need to be familiar with these techniques.

Breeding:

Prebreeding Conditioning: Before beginning to breed or brumate your snakes, inspect them closely. They should be in optimal health and have good weight. They should have a minimum size of 36 inches and weigh at least 150 grams. If your snakes are smaller than this or are thin or otherwise not in optimal health, then wait until the following year to breed them. Otherwise, you may end up with a dead snake or experience problems like egg binding. The generally accepted method of breeding corn snakes involves a period of cooling called brumation which is similar to hibernation but the snakes still remain active to some extent. This involves first stopping feeding two weeks before the cooling period is to begin. This is to eliminate any remaining food still inside the snake, which could rot inside the snake during cooling and potentially kill it. After the two weeks are over, slowly decrease the temperature over several days until a temperature of about 55F to 60F is reached. Keep the snakes at this temperature for two to three months usually from December through February. Check on the snake’s health frequently, and change their water weekly. If any signs of respiratory infections are seen then warm the snake up and treat the infection. Do not feed the snakes during this time. At the end of the cooling period, slowly warm the snakes up to the normal maintenance temperatures and begin feeding. Feed the females as much as they will eat in order to fatten them up before breeding.

Breeding: After her first or sometimes second shed, the female will be ready to breed. Start to introduce the female into the male’s cage. Watch the pair closely, if the female is ready for breeding she will produce pheromones from her skin which will attract the male. The male will start to chase the female and rub his “chin” along her back. Actual breeding usually lasts about 20 minutes or so, but could last an hour or more. If they do not breed after an hour or two, separate them and try again in a day or two. If they do breed, then separate them afterward and reintroduce them every couple of days until she has been bred at least three times. This should ensure the fertility of the eggs. After the female has been bred, again start an accelerated feeding schedule. Feed the female smaller, easily digested food items every few days. She will need these nutrient reserves to produce the eggs. About six weeks after breeding, the female will undergo a shed cycle. At this time you will need to give her a nest box to lay her eggs in. This box should contain moist but not wet sphagnum moss in a closed dark container. I use a plastic storage box (shoebox) with a hole cut in the lid. Remember to cut the hole larger than normal, as she will be swollen with eggs. About 10 days after shedding, the female will become very active as she searches for the best place to lay her eggs. She will usually settle down inside the nest box and lay her eggs, from 5 to 30 depending on the size of the female, sometime over the next couple of days. If she settles into the water dish, you may want to replace it with one that is too small for her to enter and without a lid. This will encourage her to look for another place to lay her eggs. After she lays her eggs, feed her a smaller than normal prey item for the next couple of feedings. She will be weak from her pregnancy and small prey items will be easier for her to eat and digest. If a second mating and egg clutch are to be attempted, than again feed her on the accelerated feeding schedule. After her next shed, start to reintroduce the male as before. Remember though that a second clutch of fertile eggs is possible without a second breeding due to stored sperm. After the second clutch is laid, it will be even more important for the female to regain her lost weight. Feed her as much as she will eat until she has regained good weight.

Care for the eggs and babies: The eggs should be placed inside a container (plastic food containers without the lid work well) of coarse, damp vermiculite. The vermiculite should be mixed with water 1:1 by weight. This should make the vermiculite damp enough to just clump when squeezed together. The container should then be placed inside an incubator of some kind that will maintain a temperature of around 82F. Watch the eggs closely, if they begin to dimple or cave in, then add a little more water. The eggs should hatch in 6 to 8 weeks. Various incubators exist, but a good, small incubator is the Hova-bator incubator sold through pet supply dealers or at feed stores where they sell them for incubating chicken eggs. These incubators cost around $30 to $40, and are well worth the money.
When the eggs start to hatch, the baby (neonate) snake will slit open the leathery egg by means of a temporary egg tooth located on the tip of their snouts. They will often remain inside the slit egg for a day or two with just their heads sticking out of the slit. Do NOT try to force the baby out of its egg before it is ready, as it will be attached to an umbilicus and yolk sac. Forcing it out of its protective egg may result in killing the snake due to dehydration as water will be quickly lost through the yolk sac and umbilicus. Also, do not cut the umbilicus as it will cause the snake to bleed to death. The umbilicus will fall off on its own in a day or two so wait until the snake leaves its egg on its own. Set up each neonate into its own separate enclosure. I use plastic shoeboxes with many very small holes drilled into all the sides. Use paper towels as substrate and keep careful records of sheds and feedings. The baby snakes will usually start eating sometime after their first shed. Start them off on a live newborn pink mouse. If you plan to sell or give these animals to other people than provide them with these records.

The most familiar species is the green anaconda, “Eunectes murinus”, notable for being one of the world’s largest snakes. Green anacondas can grow to be 29 feet long and 550 pounds. They are found east of the Andes in Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, and on the island of Trinidad.

Other anacondas are the yellow anaconda, Eunectes notaeus, a smaller species found in eastern Bolivia, southern Brazil, Paraguay and northeastern Argentina; and the dark-spotted anaconda, “Eunectes deschauenseei”, a rare species found in northeastern Brazil, coastal French Guiana and Guyana.

All three species are aquatic snakes that prey on other aquatic animals, including fish, river fowl, caiman, and capybaras. Some accounts exist of anacondas preying on domestic animals such as goats and ponies that venture too close to the water.

While encounters between people and anacondas may be dangerous, they do not regularly hunt humans. Nevertheless, threat from anacondas is a familiar trope in comics, movies and adventure stories set in the Amazon jungle. Anacondas have also figured prominently in South American folklore, where they are sometimes depicted as shapeshifting mythical creatures called encantados. Local communities and some European explorers have given accounts of giant anacondas, legendary snakes of much greater proportion than any confirmed specimen.

Applied loosely, the term “anaconda” may also refer to any large snake that “crushes” its prey by constricting.

Anaconda

Anacondas are the strongest snakes in the world of snakes. Anacondas kill their prey by squeezing them until they die and then they eat them hole. They also can be up to 18 to 35 feet long and can weigh up to 500 pounds. Anacondas eat up to 40 pounds a day. Anacondas are the heaviest snakes in the world of all snakes. Another name for an anaconda is Eunectes murinus which is a scientific name for it. Some people thought that anacondas where some kind of sea monster. Anacondas are carnivorous.
Anacondas swallow their meal hole and when the meal is in their body their bones crush the meal. Anacondas feed on deer, pigs caiman( a creature that looks like a small crocodile). Anaconda are very amazing snakes.

Octopus

Cephalopods:

Anatomy:

Moving About:

Diet and Digestion:

Reproduction:

Defending Themselves: