Tail detaches?!

[aquamentus_11]

I've never heard of a snake doing this. 5th paragraph from the top. I usually trust wise geeks, but not this one.

What Is a Ribbon Snake? (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-ribbon-snake.htm)

[guidofatherof5]

That would be the first time I've ever seen that statement about a ribbon snakes.

[aquamentus_11]

i've never heard that about ANY snake

[kimbosaur]

I don't see it? Was it removed?

[mikem]

here ya go, bolded the detach part:

"When confronted by a predator, the ribbon snake will first try to escape, darting into thick vegetation or plunging into water. If they are caught, ribbon snakes will thrash about, flatten their heads, or coil, exhibiting the protective behaviors of some venomous snakes. The ribbon snake rarely strikes and is not poisonous. It does shower its attacker with feces and a strong musk scent. A last resort for the ribbon snake is to detach its tail as some lizards do—the tails of ribbon snakes do not regenerate."

[chris-uk]

I think someone may have got confused. If ribbons really did drop their tail as a last resort I'm pretty sure someone here would have seen it.
The author may have got confused by seeing odd ribbons that have lost some of their tails due to a bad shed, and come to the conclusion that they are able to intentionally drop their tails. Or they've believed some "friend of a friend's ribbon did this" story.

[kibakiba]

Or perhaps someone found a garter snakes and tried to catch it, and it had its tail already falling off from an incomplete shed... And they assumed that it was because the snake felt threatened.

[EasternGirl]

That is definitely one of the weirdest things I have ever heard concerning snakes. You may want to reconsider the ribbon, Nate...what with tails flying all over the place...you might wake up one morning with a tail up your nose or something. Ha ha ha...

They also failed to mention false-striking and playing dead. Any way to contact that site and tell them that they are...ummm...nuts?

[kibakiba]

Well they do false strike, and trust me, some snakes will play dead. Snap has on many occasions. She goes limp with her mouth open and her tongue out, musks and then goes stiff. She'll lay like that until you put her down then she darts off.

[aquamentus_11]

Scylla went limp after I held her for the photoshoot of her junk. She twisted oddly to lie on her side in my hands and let her head fall over the edge of my hand very dramatically. She was watching me the whole time though and stopped after a minute or so. Wish she didn't have mites

[EasternGirl]

Stop Nate...don't you know it makes girls go crazy when you refer to our private parts as junk? :p That's exactly why I said that...because Cee Cee false strikes all the time and I have seen all of my snakes play dead a couple of times...and I remember that pic that you posted, Nate, where I pointed out that Scylla was playing dead. Aren't you going back to get her?...if you change your mind again I'm going to diagnose you as schizophrenic.

[katach]

I call in "bits and pieces" to my step-daughter. For some reason her mother thought it was appropriate to call it "koochi" to her.

[kibakiba]

I say junk for guys.. Because for most guys I know, theirs is junk... Haha. Nothing I want anything to do with! For girls, I say just "bits"... I grew up with it being called a "koochi" but that's just weird.

[EasternGirl]

I just say "privates" with my son...or I actually call the parts by the correct names. Which I don't think you can say on here. But my son has been coming home from school lately and sharing some interesting words with me that he has been learning from the two "trouble makers" in his class. Which is nice... Sorry for the derailing of the topic...

[RedSidedSPR]

This forum and our off-topics.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b283/chucknkelly/649a3bae.jpg

ANYHOO-- Tail doesn't detach. Period.

[EasternGirl]

Do some lizards really detach their tails?

[RedSidedSPR]

Hell yeah. Like, a lot do. I've had it happen in my hands before. (not that that's a good thing)

[RedSidedSPR]

I once found a little squirming tail tip from a skink in our drive way. Stayed "alive" for like 5 mins, who knows how long before I found it. Tha was weird.

[EasternGirl]

That is creepy...and definitely one of the weirdest things I have heard. I really hope a lizard's tail never pops off in my hand. There's a sentence I never thought I'd say.

[angrygamer]

Do some lizards really detach their tails?

I know Blue Tail lizards do, and they grow them back. I kept a few as pets when I was a kid.

[aquamentus_11]

yeah, actually i think most lizard species will drop tails. whether or not they grow them back varies as does how quick they are to drop them. usually the prehensile-tailed ones are less likely to. i'm not sure if iguanids or monitors do at all though..

[aquamentus_11]

and, as you know marnie, schizophrenia does kick in in the 20's...

[EasternGirl]

Okay...ready for a really blonde one? I'm sitting there last night trying to figure out how in the world these lizards would get their tails back on after detaching them! I'm picturing little lizards backing up to tails lying on the ground....I'm like...what? Do they take their tiny little lizard hands and try to put them back on? ROFL....OMG! I can be so unbelievably daft sometimes....how was I a professor??? So...thank you for explaining that they sometimes grow them back....oh god...still laughing at myself....

[RedSidedSPR]

.......

[katach]

I think that is even worse than a blonde moment. :D (I can say that because I'm a natural blonde)

[RedSidedSPR]

That was beyond blonde.

[EasternGirl]

I know...I'm still laughing at myself about it...Hey! I'm new to reptiles...I don't know how these things work...I mean..seriously! To put it in Jesse speak...tails falling the f*%k off!? I mean what the h*&l is that? Who would think a tail could fall off? So how was I supposed to know what happened after that? Ha ha...

[RedSidedSPR]

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b283/chucknkelly/b6ed663e.jpg

[chris-uk]

Okay...ready for a really blonde one? I'm sitting there last night trying to figure out how in the world these lizards would get their tails back on after detaching them! I'm picturing little lizards backing up to tails lying on the ground....I'm like...what? Do they take their tiny little lizard hands and try to put them back on? ROFL....OMG! I can be so unbelievably daft sometimes....how was I a professor??? So...thank you for explaining that they sometimes grow them back....oh god...still laughing at myself....

Oh dear. If you weren't a blonde already I'd suggest a permanent dye.

[angrygamer]

Okay...ready for a really blonde one? I'm sitting there last night trying to figure out how in the world these lizards would get their tails back on after detaching them! I'm picturing little lizards backing up to tails lying on the ground....I'm like...what? Do they take their tiny little lizard hands and try to put them back on? ROFL....OMG! I can be so unbelievably daft sometimes....how was I a professor??? So...thank you for explaining that they sometimes grow them back....oh god...still laughing at myself....

Well, you see Marnie, they go to little Lizard Hospital where the Lizard Doctor reattaches the tail if they make it in time.


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S7vujep85Bs/Ty9Ozl9S38I/AAAAAAAAAdU/bRexI4JZ1nQ/s1600/Lizard+party.jpg

[aquamentus_11]

ypu have to make sure you put it in milk on the way there

[angrygamer]

4171

[EasternGirl]

I'm actually a natural brunette...why do you think I colored it blonde in the first place? Lol...

[ConcinusMan]

Do some lizards really detach their tails?

Yeah, like most of them. If you grab it, it comes off and the lizard escapes. The tail grows back, but not as nice as the original tail. North American skinks (and perhaps some others) can drop their tail even if you don't grab it.

I assure you, if you grab the tail of a ribbon snake, it will remain quite attached. If you grab a snake's tail and it comes off, it's not a snake. It's a legless lizard.


yeah, actually i think most lizard species will drop tails. whether or not they grow them back varies as does how quick they are to drop them. usually the prehensile-tailed ones are less likely to. i'm not sure if iguanids or monitors do at all though..

Monitors, iguanas, chameleons... those are three I can think of that do not have detachable tails. Grab that, and they'll just turn around bite you.

By the way, that "milk" thing is a myth. Any ice cold liquid will do, preferably clean water. It's the cold that preserves:cool:

[aquamentus_11]

By the way, that "milk" thing is a myth. Any ice cold liquid will do, preferably clean water. It's the cold that preserves:cool:

haha i know i was just giving marnie a hard time

[RedSidedSPR]

I have tons of skinks living and breeding under my front porch each year. It's awesome. I find tails here and there, and have seen it happen more then once, there's a little break point, they just drop it. It stays wriggling for like 5 mins. Good defense.

[chris-uk]

Monitors, iguanas, chameleons... those are three I can think of that do not have detachable tails. Grab that, and they'll just turn around bite you.

If the larger guys dropped their tails it would be a great bush tucker trick - sneak up behind a goanna, shout "Boo", and pick up the tail to cook over the fire. Far easier than taking one down with a spiky stick.

[RedSidedSPR]

Lmfao ikr. Yeah it's the little guys tht do it. Even the species I never read about them doing it are usually capable.

[EasternGirl]

Chris...you are so crazy...I love it.