Just wanted to say I'm fairly new to this hobby (two years) and found out about this site from a gantleman at aquatic discoverys (love that place). The aspect I love about the hobby most is the mysterious critters that pop out of the live rock, you just never know what your going to get. Last friday I experienced the most shocking thing that has happened to me thus far in the two years of reef keeping. I received two boxes of uncured bali live rock shipped from a small wholesaler out of concord, california (Sand Star inc.). When I opened the second box and was going for the third piece of rock I noticed something out of the ordinary in the corner of the box. At first I thought it was a eel but, then I moved the cold rock slowly away to see that it had scales. It was a snake, my first reaction was to grab for it thinking it was a king snake or milk snake but, I have never seen a snake with grey blue rings like this. So I closed the box and called a good friend of mine who is very experienced with reptiles. When he got here and opened the box he just about lost it, I've known the guy for five years and have never seen him so excited over a snake. I asked if it was poisonous, he answered very quickly hell yes. He asked for a coat hanger to use to push the cold barely alive snakes head against the box and then just grabbed it like it was nothing. I had one picture left on my camera and snapped this surprisingly beautiful snake. I guess it is a banded sea snake (laticauda colubrina) pretty common near australias waters. My friend took the now dead snake home where it is in the deep freeze. Man.... who would have ever thought, I still don't believe it. Needless to say this hobby will always keep me on my toes and thankful of my life. I guess you could say reef keeping is a dangerous and extreme hobby.
interesting live rock find!!!
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Welcome to Michigan Reefers !!!
That would be a suprise finding a snake in the box, this hobby never ceases to amaze me.
Please tell us about your tank/tanks and what you keep.
I noticed you have been in this hobby for 2 years so was this rock of a new tank?
Kaye
That would be a suprise finding a snake in the box, this hobby never ceases to amaze me.
Please tell us about your tank/tanks and what you keep.
I noticed you have been in this hobby for 2 years so was this rock of a new tank?
Kaye
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Too bad you couldn't keep it alive. That would've been a one of a kind pet.
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One of a kind, no kidding! Pretty sure I wouldn't want to stick my hands in the tank with that thing, though. I had a tough enough time getting rattlers out of my parent's garden...even got surprised once.
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canisson said:
Y'know, I handled the lionfish alright. I could handle a snake. Heck, I caught enough of them when I was younger.
That's a pretty cool find... You are actually pretty lucky that you noticed it before it had a chance to strike. If it is the snake that I think it is, they have been reported to be able to kill divers before they reach the surface. When we were on vacation in the pacifc, we were warned about them and how dangerous they can be. Not sure if it was good or not but I got to see one in the wild, needless to say I was lucky it was the last day of vacation since it scared the sh** out of me. The bright side is they very seldom bother people and they have an extremely small mouth so it pretty much has to bite a finger or ear to have full impact.
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