Rog's corner of the internet

Snakes
Nature's draught excluders.

And these are the snakes that share my house with me.
What? No, I'm quite normal, honestly.

Ramsbottom
Ramsbottom's a Royal Python (Python regius). He's 4ft 6in (140 cm) and about the size of a Coke can around the middle. Not sure how old he is but he's quite big for a male Royal.

He came to me in September 2001 after having been rescued from a very uncertain future by my friend Seb He had received the most horrendous injuries (the snake, not Seb) which we don't believe were accidental. It's little short of a miracle he survived it.

Anyway, he's made an excellent recovery and now lives in his own purpose built lair.

He's the most good natured snake you could imagine and not the least bit afraid of people for all he's been through. He's a very curious animal and likes to investigate every nook and corner he can find.

He often comes out to sit on my lap and watch the TV in the evenings, he particularly enjoys 'Vets in Practice'.

I named him after the puppet snake that appeared in the Sooty show which I (remarkably) still remember from my childhood days.

Luckily for me he hasn't got the same nauseating Yorkshire accent

Clyde
Clyde is a Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator) native to the northern parts of South America. He's about 17 years old and 7.5 feet (2.2 metres) long. While snakes never actually stop growing, they do most of it in their younger years and he probably won't get very much bigger than he is now. Boa constrictors are not the giants that legend often makes them out to be. A male will often make about 8 feet (2.3 metres) or so, a female will sometimes make 11 feet (3.2 metres) - Quite big enough when you have to carry it.

Clyde came into my care in January 2005 when his previous owners moved to Australia, which has a very strict ban on the import of non-native reptiles, so a new home had to be found. They had had him since he was just a couple of days old so it must have been difficult to leave him behind.

I often join Seb in his educational work and Clyde's excellent temperament makes him an ideal snake for use in animal encounters. He is an instant hit with all who meet him

Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator)

Trixie and Terry
These are my Garter snakes (Thamnophis marcianus). Being Colubrids, they are very different to the sedate Boas and Pythons. They are very fast, active snakes and very easy to lose down the back of the sofa. I had another one, Polly (see 'Under Milk Wood'), who died back in October 2003. Polly begat Terry in April 2003. Terry was a complete surprise to everyone, Garter snakes usually have about 20 to 30 babies (live !) in August/September. One in April is a bit of a mystery. I got Trixie to replace Polly in November 2004.

Pictured here is Terry at just three days old. Now, at the age of three and a half years he's about two feet long and eating me out of mouse and home!

It has recently been discovered, mainly due to the pioneering work of Dr. Wolfgang Wüster and Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry and others that Garter Snakes, together with a great many other colubrid snakes, are not quite as non-venomous as was always thought. Venom of the same kind as is found in the cobras and mambas has been found in many of them. Some people who have been bitten by garter snakes (who must be extremely unlucky because in my experience they never, ever

Checkered Garter Snake (Thamnophis marcianus)

bite) have reported tingling and numbness around the bite. This has been attributed to minute amounts of venom getting into the snakes' saliva. It appears that the only completely non-venomous colubrids are the king snakes/milk snakes and possibly corn snakes and a few others.