Eye of the beholder

[Pavel]

Thought this pic was rather neat. I've noticed before that, when seen at the correct angle in bright light, one can actually see the pupil in my pueblan milksnake's eye. [Normally her eye looks just black]



Masquerade is about 2 ft long now -- makes her a bit of a "handful".

[ejsparks]

Nice pictures of a beautiful animal. I was wondering what kind of temperament and disposition your milksnake exhibits. Is she feisty or a biter? Would you recommend this type snake as one with which you could interact without a great fear of being bitten?

JS

[Pavel]

Fiesty? No. Nervous would be a much better word. Now do keep in mind that I do not handle her on a regular basis so that could likely part of the reason. However, from what I had read, even before getting her, pueblan milksnakes tend to be skittish and remain that way. So handling her on a regular basis is not necessarily somethng that would be good for her anyway.

Biter? I've had her for at least 7 or 8 years and the only person she has ever bitten is me. She did that ONE time and truly it was my fault. She was really hungry, and I having just cleaned out my gecko's enclosure went & cleaned her's. My hand no doubt had my gecko's scent on it and many milksnakes are, by nature, reptile eaters. To add to the 'confusion' I feed her thawed fuzzy mice [which are warm]. So here we had a very hungry snake "presented" with a warm lizard-scented item. Can't blame her for biting. That was the one & only time she's bitten anybody.

If anything, she'd be more likely to defecate on you or musk you.

Other species can be quite aggressive. Best advice ... do your research to determine the best choice for you. (For instance, pueblans are largely nocturnal so if you want a snake highly active during the day, they wouldn't be a good choice.)

[tikichick]

Beautiful girl, and awesome photos!