Zoological 2000

[Logan Skinner]

Recently heard some one there got bit by a mamba "thinking" it was a green rough snake, any one know anything about this???

[snakegetters]

The person bitten was a licensed handler who was treating the mamba for stomatitis. There was no misidentification, just someone trying to do the right thing for an animal in need of veterinary care. Appropriate tools and methods were being used, but these animals are particularly fast moving and giving hands on veterinary treatment always carries some risk to the handler.

In general ZI2000 is a good facility that takes positive steps to house and treat animals appropriately, giving humane veterinary care when it is required. That is a lot more than many importers are willing or able to do.

[miamireps]

There was no misidentification. In the news Al Cruz from Venom 1 was showing the general public a Rough Green Snake and , to make it short, telling the public not to call if they see a small green snake in their yard. I was there for the news interview and he showed the green snake so people can look at the animal and not panic if they see one as from previous bites throughout florida he has recieved hundreds of calls from people over cornsnakes thinking they were rattlers, etc.
The general public that isnt involved with the herpetological community couldnt tell the difference between a corn or rattler and are paranoid due to misinformation and or common ignorance due to no education or exposure to such animals that we deal with.
So all in all
there was no confusion about the snake, he knew it was a mamba, as he has decades of work with them, and the green rough snake portrayed in teh footage was to try to educate the public a little about the green snake found here in florida and not to panic thinking it is a mamba.
MikeB

[Logan Skinner]

Thanks alot for the info , it really shows how stories get tranformed into false information.thank you