Cosmo Snake Lecture

-Lecture Start-
[16:01:06] %Eyeliner♡: So listen, A lot of people are afraid of snakes and I think it does the creatures some injustice, as they are truly fascinating.
[16:01:38] %Eyeliner♡: I love them a lot and want to do a little bit of explaining to try and clear some of the fear up because snakes are actually really cool
[16:02:31] %Eyeliner♡: Well let me drop a fat fact on you
[16:02:41] %Eyeliner♡: an estimated 20,000 human deaths occur each year from snakebites, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. This is less than the average death by lightning strikes which is, 24,000.
[16:03:27] %Eyeliner♡: You're more likely to be killed by lightning. Snakes tend to not be too fatal. In fact. The amount of venomous snakes that are even a threat is low in comparison
[16:03:46] %Eyeliner♡: 600 are venomous but there 2,790 dif species of snakes currently known
[16:04:13] %Eyeliner♡: For those who are curious btw, the most venomous snake is actually one that few people know of.
[16:04:19] %Eyeliner♡: It's called the Inland Taipan
https://vgy.me/1la6HX.jpg
[16:04:36] %Eyeliner♡: It looks like this
[16:05:02] %Eyeliner♡: This is one of the most lethal snakes out there but accounts for very few of actual incidents.
[16:05:20] PunkyPrincess❤~: Eyeliner so is this the snake with the most powerful venom or the most agressive snakes out there?
[16:05:23] %Eyeliner♡: the Indian cobra, common krait , Russell's viper and the Saw-scaled viper are the ones accountable for the most snake bites.
[16:05:32] %Eyeliner♡: Most powerful venom
[16:05:38] %Eyeliner♡: They're not very aggressive at all
[16:06:01] %Eyeliner♡: The ones I just listed afterwards are some of the most aggressive. They're the ones that do most of the biting
[16:06:38] %Eyeliner♡: What may be interesting to some of you is not which snakes are on the list but which ones are **not**. Think of how many common venomous snakes are not listen
[16:06:42] %Eyeliner♡: *listed
[16:06:58] %Eyeliner♡: Snakes such as the King Cobra, Black Mamba, and Rattlesnake aren’t even listed. While they are dangerous, they’re not even the ones who cause problems. The reason there are so little deaths and some of the more famous venomous snakes aren’t listed is because snakes are not aggressive creatures.
[16:07:19] %Eyeliner♡: Don't get me wrong tho, avoid these snakes
[16:07:30] %Eyeliner♡: but contrary to popular belief, they don't want to bite you
[16:07:55] %Eyeliner♡: They only do bite if they feel as if you are threatening their life or home. Rattlesnakes are a perfect example
https://vgy.me/JyIeWM.jpg
[16:08:21] %Eyeliner♡: Y'all know why they have the rattle, right?
[16:08:29] Rosa☃Diaz: to threaten predators?
[16:08:36] %Eyeliner♡: Yes, kind of
[16:08:48] %Eyeliner♡: They do it to alert predator that they're there so they leave them alone
[16:09:01] %Eyeliner♡: They do it to kind of say "Hey. I'm here. Please leave me alone"
[16:09:24] %Eyeliner♡: It is! They're not very aggressive creatures in most instances
[16:09:52] %Eyeliner♡: In fact they don't even consider us prey. We're too big for them to actually eat, and this goes for all snakes (almost)
[16:10:04] %Eyeliner♡: Most snakes eat small rodents such as mice. They also can eat lizards, worms, small birds, occasionally fish, and sometimes even other (smaller) snakes!
[16:10:38] %Eyeliner♡: I actually have a few that I take care of, and I feed them mice/rats
[16:10:49] #Lionyx: is it true that some can also eat cats?
[16:10:52] %Eyeliner♡: I'll link pictures of them cuz they're kind of cute and I love them
[16:11:01] %Eyeliner♡: Yes Lio, but that's like only Really big ones or small cats
[16:11:08] %Eyeliner♡: It doesn't happen often
[16:11:25] %Eyeliner♡: Big ones as in big snakes
[16:11:53] PunkyPrincess❤~: Eyeliner have you ever been bitten by a snake?
[16:11:59] %Eyeliner♡: Yes
[16:12:10] %Eyeliner♡: but only by my little corn snakes when they were babies
[16:12:35] %Eyeliner♡: They didn't hurt at all and they were too small to even fully bit the end of my finger. It was a little nibble. It was kind of cute lol
[16:12:54] %Eyeliner♡: They grew out of it
[16:13:00] %Eyeliner♡: As babies they were scared
[16:13:22] %Eyeliner♡: They didn't know where they were or why we were holding them but as they grew up they learned to trust us and became quite good pets
[16:13:28] %Eyeliner♡: Here's a picture of the one I have now
https://vgy.me/IgiLvf.jpg
[16:13:52] %Eyeliner♡: She likes hiding in this turtle shell we got her as a cave
[16:14:00] %Eyeliner♡: It's so cute when she pokes her head out like that
[16:14:30] %Eyeliner♡: This my other snake who passed away. He was my baby. I loved him. He was a great pet
https://vgy.me/lXzyR3.jpg
[16:14:44] %Eyeliner♡: He curled up like a pretzel and I had to take a picture
[16:14:54] %Eyeliner♡: He was about 1 inch from record size
[16:15:01] %Eyeliner♡: (for a corn snake)
[16:15:41] %Eyeliner♡: Despite his size tho, he was a total sweetheart. he liked if you picked him up, and he'd love to check things out but he'd never like run or try to get out of your hands. He was like a little baby
[16:15:48] %Eyeliner♡: A big big baby lol
[16:16:06] %Eyeliner♡: They’re fairly easy to take take care of but they require a few things
[16:16:22] %Eyeliner♡: In case you were curious or want a pet snake there are things to keep in mind
[16:16:38] #Lionyx: I have to ask, how long do domestic snakes live in general ?
[16:16:45] %Eyeliner♡: They generally need a hot, basking zone in their tanks, often in the 90°s, and a cooler zone in the 70°s, to regulate their body temperatures properly, but Other than that you just need to clean out their tanks periodically and feed and water them.
[16:17:01] %Eyeliner♡: Ya know, Lio. That kind of depends. Largely on the breed of snake
[16:17:23] %Eyeliner♡: Corn snakes tend to live longer than most in captivity
[16:17:29] %Eyeliner♡: They can live from 23 to 25 years
[16:17:40] #Lionyx: wow, that's pretty amazing
[16:17:45] %Eyeliner♡: The big one passed away due to seizures caused by a genetic defect. :c
[16:17:53] %Eyeliner♡: Something to keep an eye on if you get some
[16:18:16] %Eyeliner♡: Cuz that is a fairly common occurrence that happens during breeding
[16:18:35] %Eyeliner♡: What’s cool tho is that if you hang around them a lot they grow attached to you. The snakes will actually come up to your hand or the front of the habitat to greet you when you come by and will even follow your hand around playfully. It’s very cute!
[16:19:40] #Lionyx: you know I'd love to adopt one but I'm afraid my cat would hurt it
[16:19:43] %Eyeliner♡: Some bigger snakes can even be worn like scarves as they'll just hang out and crawl around you. They just do it to kind of hang out. They won't constrict or anything. Here's a picture
https://vgy.me/L0R6iZ.jpg
[16:19:58] Rosa☃Diaz: im scared of boas
[16:20:00] Rosa☃Diaz: like big ones
[16:20:09] Rosa☃Diaz: cause i feel like at any moment they can just go "imma choke you out"
[16:20:14] %Eyeliner♡: No need to be! Boas raised in captivity are very friendly
[16:20:47] %Eyeliner♡: Wild boas are dangerous but the ones kept as pets are actually very calm animals and tend to only eat what you feed them. They don't act aggressive very often.
[16:20:54] %Eyeliner♡: Only in very rare circumstances
[16:21:04] %Eyeliner♡: Tho I have no proof. I've never even heard of it happening
[16:21:35] %Eyeliner♡: And Lio, it might. It depends on the cat but if you keep the snake in a cage most of the time, away from the cat it should be fine
[16:21:51] Rosa☃Diaz: well what can make a boaconstrictor feel like
[16:21:52] Rosa☃Diaz: threatened
[16:21:59] %Eyeliner♡: Hmm
[16:22:05] %Eyeliner♡: If you hurt it, I guess
[16:22:37] %Eyeliner♡: Raised in captivity around humans, they become accustomed to our presence and us holding them so picking them up and such or being close to them doesn't bother them
[16:22:52] %Eyeliner♡: Really Idk what would provoke it other than if you hurt it
[16:23:05] %Eyeliner♡: But even then it would probably run. Boas rarely ever bite
[16:23:16] %Eyeliner♡: They tend to swallow things whole and with humans they can't do that
[16:23:49] Rosa☃Diaz: i actually have thought aobut that cause like i have heard of stories of boa's eating kids before and stuff and im like "is that even possible"
[16:24:11] %Eyeliner♡: The only snake that I know of that could eat a child would be an anaconda
[16:24:17] %Eyeliner♡: Which is the biggest snake
https://vgy.me/yM1eZA.jpg
[16:24:54] %Eyeliner♡: They're also not very aggressive and they're found in dense jungles
[16:25:09] %Eyeliner♡: The chances of a child encountering one is low so they're not much of a threat to humans
[16:25:40] %Eyeliner♡: They are kind of wild tho. They eat stuff like pigs and even small deer!
[16:26:10] %Eyeliner♡: But the anaconda is just one of many snakes
[16:26:18] Rosa☃Diaz: are they the most dangerous
[16:26:21] %Eyeliner♡: There are a few main categories or snakes with various subspecies that I want to talk about
[16:26:51] %Eyeliner♡: No Rosa. They're not. Idk what the most dangerous technically is, but judging by aggression, venom, and habitat, I'd say the Black Mamba is prob the most dangerous
[16:27:09] Rosa☃Diaz: actually Eyeliner!! i think i heard about a new very dangerous snake or something in australia acouple of days ago
[16:27:15] Rosa☃Diaz: or a month ago
[16:27:18] %Eyeliner♡: Oh really?
[16:27:20] %Eyeliner♡: Interesting
[16:27:22] Freelia: it's always australia man
[16:27:22] Rosa☃Diaz: ye lemme try to find it
[16:27:33] %Eyeliner♡: Coolio! Let me know if you get it
[16:28:15] %Eyeliner♡: While they're looking for that snake, I'll move on to talking about some general snake info. Starting with some of the variations of snakes.
[16:28:23] %Eyeliner♡: Those being: Vipers, Boas, Cobras, Rattlesnakes and sea snakes. Of course there are more than these but these are some of the largest categories.
[16:28:25] %Eyeliner♡: If you’re curious about more types of snakes, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_snakes_by_common_name, is a good link to check out for more information.
[16:28:28] Rosa☃Diaz: Biologists from the University of Queensland discovered the snake by chance while conducting a sea snake survey. The species is reactively small and narrow. It's scales are black with white stripes.
[16:29:03] %Eyeliner♡: Oh wow. That's cool. So a new sea snake?
[16:29:14] Rosa☃Diaz: yes!
[16:29:15] Rosa☃Diaz: https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/new-species-of-venomous-snake-discovered-by-accident-in-australia/
[16:29:19] Rosa☃Diaz: heres a article about it n.n
[16:29:57] %Eyeliner♡: I opened it in a new tab and will check it out later. That's really cool. Thanks for pointing that out :)
[16:30:37] %Eyeliner♡: Speaking of sea snakes tho I do want to mention just a little about them, tho without going into detail about a specific kind of sea snake there's not too much special about them
[16:30:47] %Eyeliner♡: Simply, Sea snakes are categorized as such for obvious reasons: They inhabit marine environments for most of or all of their lives.
[16:31:05] %Eyeliner♡: Other than that, they're basically just snakes. Nothing else too special about them
[16:31:21] Rosa☃Diaz: :o thats interesting
[16:31:25] %Eyeliner♡: Another kind of snake to talk about tho are vipers
[16:31:32] %Eyeliner♡: Vipers are usually characterized by erectile, venom-conducting fangs. Which makes them different from other kinds of snakes. Boas are a kind of snake that kills by constriction, which is what makes them unique.
[16:31:51] %Eyeliner♡: Oops, put the boa info there too
[16:31:52] %Eyeliner♡: Haha
[16:31:55] %Eyeliner♡: 2 for 1!
[16:32:13] %Eyeliner♡: But anyways, that's what differentiates those two varieties from most other snakes
[16:32:31] %Eyeliner♡: Vipers have those trademark fangs you know of, and boas are the ones that constrict
[16:32:42] %Eyeliner♡: One of the more interesting snake varieties, is the cobra
[16:32:58] %Eyeliner♡: Cobras are different in that they’re less straightforward. Cobras are typically snakes that look like they have a hood. However there are some snakes with hoods that don’t fall under the cobra category.
[16:33:14] %Eyeliner♡: For example this one
https://vgy.me/0rc6tV.jpg
[16:33:30] %Eyeliner♡: Funny enough tho, the King Cobra is not actually a cobra
[16:33:56] %Eyeliner♡: Fun fact: The King cobra does not belong in the genus Naja and thusly is not technically a cobra but is grouped as such due to the trademark hood it has.
[16:34:36] Rosa☃Diaz: Eyeliner i got a question
[16:34:38] %Eyeliner♡: It's just interesting that the king cobra is not a cobra
[16:34:40] %Eyeliner♡: Sure Rosa
[16:34:56] Rosa☃Diaz: do other snakes stand up like that or do just cobras?
[16:35:04] Rosa☃Diaz: cause now that i think of it i never see snakes sit up
[16:35:07] %Eyeliner♡: Some do, but it's mostly cobras
[16:35:12] Rosa☃Diaz: whys that o.o
[16:35:16] %Eyeliner♡: A lot that do actually are mimicking dangerous cobras
[16:35:27] %Eyeliner♡: Well the King Cobra does it to appear bigger and more threatening
[16:35:57] %Eyeliner♡: To warn predators. Essentially when it sits up like that it's either trying to get up high or displaying its "Fuck off" tactic
[16:36:33] PunkyPrincess❤~: don't cobras uaually have a faster striking speed than most other snakes/
[16:36:42] %Eyeliner♡: I believe so
[16:36:51] %Eyeliner♡: they're not the fastest but they are certainly quick
[16:37:06] %Eyeliner♡: Another interesting fact about cobras is that they are kept as pets in Thailand
[16:37:20] %Eyeliner♡: I find that very fascinating, tho I'm not quite sure why that is
[16:37:40] PunkyPrincess❤~: are they not pets in most other places?
[16:37:45] %Eyeliner♡: No
[16:38:01] %Eyeliner♡: Usually places prohibit them from being pets due to their dangerous venom and large size
[16:38:26] %Eyeliner♡: King Cobras are very dangerous even if they don't account for many fatalities
[16:38:31] %Eyeliner♡: They're not to be taken lightly
[16:39:47] %Eyeliner♡: There's still more information about Cobras as a whole tho. As said earlier the King Cobra isn't even a cobra due to its genus. In fact all species of snake are determined by their genus
[16:40:02] %Eyeliner♡: Tho most (like vipers, sea snakes, and boas) have a defining feature
[16:40:08] %Eyeliner♡: Cobras however do not
[16:40:23] %Eyeliner♡: Snakes are considered cobras purely off genus which is fairly interesting to me
[16:40:37] %Eyeliner♡: 2 other types of snakes I’d like to mention are pythons and adder which are very large categories as well. However adders are actually just a large subspecies of vipers and pythons are a large subspecies of Boas.
[16:41:42] %Eyeliner♡: And I think that concludes all my snake info I put together. Did y'all enjoy? Learn anything? Become less afraid? I wanna know! And feel to ask any questions you still have. I'll do my best to answer

-After Lecture Questions-
[16:43:16] PunkyPrincess❤~: I do have one question though
[16:43:36] PunkyPrincess❤~: has there been actual cases of two headed snakes? or is that just like a legend
[16:43:43] %Eyeliner♡: No it does happen
[16:43:53] %Eyeliner♡: I forget why but it's a legitimate genetic phenomena
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/G7RdB0qM3qk/maxresdefault.jpg
[16:44:18] %Eyeliner♡: There's a pic of one
[16:44:52] %Eyeliner♡: It is but iirc it's bad for the snake
[16:45:07] %Eyeliner♡: Two heads don't turn out to be better than one
[16:45:13] %Eyeliner♡: It is interesting to see though

[16:47:01] PunkyPrincess❤~: what's the average life span for most snakes? does it depend on species?
[16:47:10] %Eyeliner♡: Yes
[16:47:35] %Eyeliner♡: It'd take a lot of research for me to figure that out, but feel free to look it up on your own
[16:47:46] %Eyeliner♡: I think all dif species of snake have a dif lifespan
[16:47:55] %Eyeliner♡: Could be wrong and I'm sure some are similar
[16:48:00] %Eyeliner♡: but I doubt there's one solid number

-Lecture End-