Stefan's garters

[salzar]

well,shes a beautie!!!
good luck with her, and watch out!!
do not wake sleeping snakes with out food to feed!!! just kidding!
heeee heee , bye
michelle

[Stefan-A]

Just a random question, but why exactly do they flatten their heads? To look bigger, to look like vipers or is it just because of the mechanics of the bite?

Viewed from the front, they look a bit bigger, but viewed from above, the head shape is the same triangular shape as a viper's with the big venom glands.

[adamanteus]

Yes, it's all part of the whole viper-mimic job. Occasionally, when very angry, they will raise the head off the floor and hold it chin-down in typical rattler defense pose.

[Stefan-A]

This one did exactly that earlier today.

[adamanteus]

That would make a most excellent photo, if you could catch her at it. Can you go and annoy her a bit more?

[salzar]

hi even the little common brown snake I caught early this year showed aggresion in this way. look at the pix of the brown snake striking on my gallery space , this femail was very aggresive twards anythig!
and did her best to make you belive she was dangerous!!
very cool , nature is wonderful!!
bye
michelle

[adamanteus]

Indeed. Even at their tiny size, such a display can be very impressive.... if you look close enough!

[drache]

yup
I had a baby radix do the whole coil, S-curve, flatten thing
and she struck at my hand with open mouth
it was very impressive in a tiny sort of way

Stefan
congrats
lovely baby you got there

[Stefan-A]

And yet another picture. Couldn't get her to even flatten her head for more than a second.

The dorsal stripe is green, the lateral stripes and belly are blueish.

[anji1971]

Congratulations, Stefan!! She's a beautiful little thing! Too bad she wouldn't do the head-flattening thing --I've never seen a snake do that! Apparently I'm such a sweet gal that mine just aren't threatened by me!!