AboutMick Expertise NO PRIVATE QUESTIONS! READ MY INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE SENDING YOUR QUESTION!. I can answer questions related to various aspects of reptile husbandry, selection, field ID (esp. in Texas and the SW), legal aspects of various species, and intermediate level medical care on most species. I am a co-founder of Wichita Falls Reptile Rescue ( TX ), founding member of The Society for Horned Lizard Preservation, a member of the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Assoc, a listed rescuer with Melissa Kaplan @ anapsid.org and rescuenetwork.org, and a subscriber to the International Veterinary Information Service. I do most of my own veterinary care in-house. I am most experienced in Chelonia (turtles&torts) with box turtles and common smaller tortoises (I am familiar with sulcata as well); and in Squamata (lizards & snakes) with everything from Anoles, Geckos, Beardies, and Monitors, to venomous snakes. With snakes, my primary expertise is in Crotalids (rattlesnakes), but I can answer a broad range of questions about colubrid and boidae snakes; such as kings, milks, corns, pythons, & boas. I am not aware of any reptile related question, in general, that I would not be able to provide some reasonable answer for. I have a direct style and may tell you something you did not want to hear; but the welfare of the animal comes first with me, and I will always reflect that position in my answer. READ "Instructions to Questioner" BEFORE ASKING YOUR QUESTION.I WILL NOT BE ADVISING PEOPLE ON HOW TO TREAT SERIOUS OR EMERGENCY HEALTH PROBLEMS ANYMORE, WHERE YOU SHOULD OBVIOUSLY SEE A VET, EXCEPT FOR IMMEDIATE NECESSARY LIFE SAVING PROCEDURES OR TEMPORARY MEASURES UNTIL YOU SEE A VET. I AM NOT HERE TO HELP YOU AVOID A VET BILL! Thank You.
Experience
I am an amatuer herpetologist with 24 years experience in reptiles. I am a reptile rescuer and subscriber to the International Veterinary Information Service. I have medical and scientific resources available, and have had to learn herp medical care over the years. I am not a vet, but I read from the same materials and have had to correct a few in the past. The average vet is not well versed with reptile anatomy and physiology.
I have a yahoogroup dedicated to the conservation and husbandry of Horned Lizards. My specific area of expertise is in Chelonians ( primary- Box Turtles ), Phrynosoma ( Horned Lizards ), and Crotalids ( primary- Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes ); though I have some experience also with aquatic turtles, tortoises, monitors, many other smaller lizards, and colubrid snakes.
I am currently the caretaker of 12 Horned Lizards, 25 Box Turtles, 13 Red Eared Sliders, 1 Green Iguana, 1 Texas Spiny Lizard, 1 Bullsnake, 2 Checkered Gartersnakes, 2 Eastern Ratsnakes, 1 Albino Great Plains Ratsnake, 1 Desert Kingsnake, 3 Fox Squirrels, and 1 Budgie. Previously: Leopard Geckos, Golden Gecko, African White-Spotted Wall Gecko, Mediterranean Geckos, Bahama Anoles, Ca. Kingsnake, Brazilian Rainbow Boa, Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes, Russian Tortoise, and Eastern Cotton-tails.
Organizations
Co-Founder: Wichita Falls Reptile Rescue http://wichitafallsreptilerescue.webs.com Founder: Horned Lizards YahooGroup http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hornedlizards Member: National Wildlife Rehabilitators Assoc.
Founding Member: The Society for Horned Lizard Preservation
Publications The Horned Lizard Husbandry Manual - self published 40 pages of care information on genus Phrynosoma.
Wikipedia entry "Horned Lizards" - contributed to a majority of the content.
Education/Credentials 24 years of field and captive experience. In my book that beats a PhD any day of the week. I was hands-on with venomous snakes before some of the formally educated "experts" currently in the herpetology field even knew what their undergraduate major would be.
Past/Present Clients I was requested to provide my care sheet ( manual ) on the Desert Horned Lizard ( Phrynosoma platyrhinos ), for the Montreal zoo. My manual is also used by the Ft. Worth and Nashville zoos.
Question I found this snake near malibu, it seems to be young. it ratles its tail but it has no ratle and it has a black tounge ive looked everywere to see if i could find what type of snake i have and it seems to loo familiar to this
Answer Sorry your question has not been answered sooner. I just joined the experts a few days ago, but I am an expert in Rattlesnakes for sure.
This is definitely not a rattlesnake, though this particular snake does a great rattlesnake imitation and looks in a few superficial ways like a rattlesnake to the lay person. This snake is commonly known in Ca. as a Gopher snake. In Texas we call them Bull snakes. The species is Pituophis catenifer and the subspecies is more than likely P.c. annectens, or P.c.pumilis if you found it in Malibu and it hitched a ride to the mainland on someone's boat from Santa Cruz.
Bull/Gopher snakes, like many non-venomous snakes in rattlesnake country, perform rattlesnake mimicry to fool potential predators and threats into believing it is a rattlesnake. Many will rattle their tail, which in the bushes or leaves can sound enough like a rattlesnake to maybe put off a predator long enough for them to escape. The Pituophis genus has a few extra rattlesnake tricks up it's sleeve though. It has a bisected flap of tissue over it's glottis, which flaps rapidly from side to side when it exhales forcibly, and it can exhale pretty forcibly. When it does so, this flap produces a rattle-like sound. In addition, they may also raise up and take on an "S" posture, and flatten their heads to look more like the shape of a rattlesnake's triangular and wider head. It's quite astounding. It is close enough to the sound and look of a real rattler that some of them have fooled me for a second when I first stumble upon them at night.
It is important to note though, that in Ca. these snakes are protected. Though it has been some time since you asked, and I do not know whether this snake is still alive, I would urge you to not pick up any more. Catching and keeping animals from the wild is very much frowned upon by many in the herp community, especially in California where many of them are illegal to pick up and take home without permit.
