Deadly Snake Outside My Door. Who To Call In Pattaya?

[Rimmer]

I think it is simple to understand, as there is the Dark side and there is the Dark side.

If you live in a gated community that is surrounded by other villages at all sides and across the road, it will be hard to get a snake in your garden as there is a big chance they are discovered by someone in a surrounding village before they can reach your house.

When you live in a stand alone house in the middle of the country side, everything around your perimeter wall is their territory and there is little chance they are discovered before they arrive in your lawn.

Yes exactly jbrain We live in a stand alone property in the middle of nowhere, it is impossible to keep them out, we have 2.20 meter walls all around, a swing type double gate with no gap under it but still they manage to find a way inside, I suspect they come in via the water drains but I also suspect some of them know how to climb walls. My wife found one in the bathroom one day and that is amazing considering the house is raised up one meter from the ground with a crawl space under it.

[media]

Yes Rimmer they can climb walls, drain pipes or anything all they need is 1 notch to wedge against or push from or clamp on, I had a pet Boa Constrictor in the 90s, it would climb the living room door and plot up on top, (boas like to be up high) it would clamp its body around both sides of the door. whilst keeping the clamp tight at the bottom then moving up a few feet and making a new clamp. they are amazing creatures considering no hands or feet and slippery scales yet they can get anywhere!

I also had a 13 foot pithon that I had from a tiny baby, it would sleep in my shoe, curled up in a ball. 18months later he was over 10 foot long, fat and very heavy it got difficult to let him out to exercise because he would trash the place, he would climb up on shelfs and knock everything to the ground his weight and bulk was tremendous. in the end I had to donate the pithon to the pet shop that had a female in a large vivarium with a tree in it.

Both snakes were not venomous and enjoy being handled they were never agressive.

As for Thai snakes my only knowledge is about malayan pit vipers for some reason in Jomtien/Pratumnak its all we seem to get, nothing like the variety you guys on the dark side are seeing.

I am used to bumping into pit vipers they dont scare me, the only time I am scared is if I am planning to handle one or disturb one. when you first find one it will sit there it will not move it will only bite if you had trodden on it or hurt it, you have time to think about what to do you can go to the shed to get tools and when you get back it will be right there still they seem very calm and not scared as long as you havent started prodding it or anything, If you put your hand right in front of its face and it will not move or strike.

The fact that malayan pit vipers are fairly small they are much less scary to me, If I had to see & deal with those huge powerful Cobra's like RIMMER I would be petrified beyond words.

My friend on the dark side has a pit bull dog that eats snakes or anything that comes in the garden, cobras the lot, somehow without getting bit !? he showed me several pics of dead snakes and cobras with bite holes in it form his dog. amazing.

[mr.buffalo]

Soundman it Sounds funny but "Cobra in the Kitchen" is quite common I met 2 other people who said they had the same as you

I wonder if there is some way of preventing them? a smell they dont like or something they dont like to slither over.. Shame we havent had any REAL experts on this topic im sure there is loads that we could learn.

If you can get tobacco leaves or tobacco liquid leave them/it outside your front/back door and no snake will come within several meters. Old African bush trick.

[gmac]

Soundman it Sounds funny but "Cobra in the Kitchen" is quite common I met 2 other people who said they had the same as you

I wonder if there is some way of preventing them? a smell they dont like or something they dont like to slither over.. Shame we havent had any REAL experts on this topic im sure there is loads that we could learn.

If you can get tobacco leaves or tobacco liquid leave them/it outside your front/back door and no snake will come within several meters. Old African bush trick.

I was in Truevalue the other day and saw some bottles of some form of snake repellant, didn't notice what it was called or the price as I don't have a reptilian problem in my current abode but made a mental note for the future.

[Gary A]

Once you hear a cobra hiss, you are not likely to forget it. If you hear that hiss, try to get away from it. Cobras are quite shy and can generally get out of your way before you see them. They will hiss before they spit or bite and they won't hiss or bite unless the snake is cornered and/or feels like it is in danger. What they really want to do is to get away from you.

Be especially careful around the green snakes. Most are not venomous but some are and they are dangerous. Many people die from those green snake bites because they hide in the leaves of low hanging tree branches, so most people bitten are bitten in the face.

[patrickinpattaya]

Im paranoid as it is after reading alll this but, the wifes just told me Thailand also has rattlesnakes. I just googled it and its true. Think I need a lie down

[media]

So RIMMER you dont kill the snakes ?

Nope never! We re locate them, They have a place in this world as well as us.

RIMMER I think we can all learn a bit from you, RIMMER THE COBRA HUNTER

I see the hood is up on that one in your photo, at what point did it start doing that and did one ever advance at you?

would you share with us what the Cobras that you encountered were doing?

example: where they were found, time of day, position they were in when you discovered them (curled up or laying out straight) and what they did when they saw you, how they reacted when you caught them, how fast were they?

[wellred]

At what age do cobras become dangerous? Could that baby harm a human adult?

[gmac]

At what age do cobras become dangerous? Could that baby harm a human adult?

I believe that the babies are more dangerous than adults as they are born with a full quota of venom but do not develop the ability to regulate how much is used in a bite until a later age, thus any bite from a baby will give a 100% dose of venom.

[Rimmer]

So RIMMER you dont kill the snakes ?

Nope never! We re locate them, They have a place in this world as well as us.

RIMMER I think we can all learn a bit from you, RIMMER THE COBRA HUNTER

I see the hood is up on that one in your photo, at what point did it start doing that and did one ever advance at you?

would you share with us what the Cobras that you encountered were doing?

example: where they were found, time of day, position they were in when you discovered them (curled up or laying out straight) and what they did when they saw you, how they reacted when you caught them, how fast were they?

We find Cobra's usually in the daytime, they are pretty shy and I quite often see them in the CCT cameras when they think no one is watching them. I think they move most of the time unless they have just eaten, I have only once or twice seen them curled up and I suspect that was after a meal.

I had a 1 1/2 meter one in the cats enclosure one day, the cats had it surrounded and he was standing up but neither would attack the other. We were unable to get him out and he slid into a pile of building blocks but emerged the next day for location to a nicer place.

If they are under say half a meter it is relatively easy to put a pool leaf net on a pole over them then slide a flat pool net under, they can then be re located outside the wall. The big plastic paint cans are good for putting them in whilst you move them.

They will hide under anything at ground level so best to be careful when you move or pick up anything off the ground if you know one is there.

For the big ones we have a three meter aluminium pole with nylon rope inside, a loop at one and and a pull at the other, when the cobra stands up or even moves along the ground it is relatively easy to slip the noose over his head and pull it tight, a net can then be put over or under him.

They are quite strong and quite heavy and I have had them slip out because I did not want to hurt the snake and did not tighten the loop enough.

A snake hook seems to be not much use as it catches on the grass and unless the hook is in the correct place on its body the snake easily falls out .

They are quite fast in their efforts to get away from you and you have to be quick, I have not seen any actively try to attack unless they are cornered, so best not to do that.

They don't like to attack and I think it takes a lot out of them when they spit and they only seem to do that as a last resort.

Give them a nice hole to go into or an escape rout and they will go there rather than attack or face you.

[fakename]

Rattlesnakes in Thailand? I dont think so, unless someone illegally imported it into the country, and it got away. Just like the Green Mamba's that escaped during last years flood, and dont know if they were ever caught.

[media]

Lets say you live near some empty land fields or trees, and you have a garage or room that has junk or old wood stacked up in it, this could become a home for snakes.

buy one of those cockroach smoke bombs from the supermarket (located with other anti cockroach and rat products)

toss one of these smoke bombs into the pile of wood/junk, close the door & wait a while, leave a small gap if you want..

If there is a snake in there it will try to find its way out to the door the toxic smoke will make it unbearable for the snake to stay in there he will want OUT

It will also kill any small rats, cockroaches, Mozzys and anything else that was in there. if its a large room you may need 2 or 3 of the smoke bombs I will attach a pic later.

[jbrain]

Why would one stack up wood in his garage. Fire places in the living room are not so in favour araound here .

Any way good advice about the smoke bomb, have never seen them but will have a look for it next time.Do they sell them in any supermarket ?

You don't mean those green wicks from Bayer do you?

[media]

Why would one stack up wood in his garage. Fire places in the living room are not so in favour araound here .

Any way good advice about the smoke bomb, have never seen them but will have a look for it next time.Do they sell them in any supermarket ?

You don't mean those green wicks from Bayer do you?

No Jbrain not the green wicks, its a round pot similar size to a coke can but shorter, you put 1 cm of water and stand back, it gets hot and toxic smoke fires out for about 1 minute.

You can buy them in friendship, foodland etc

im getting some more so I will post a pic asap

[wpcoe]

Soundman it Sounds funny but "Cobra in the Kitchen" is quite common I met 2 other people who said they had the same as you I wonder if there is some way of preventing them? a smell they dont like or something they dont like to slither over.. Shame we havent had any REAL experts on this topic im sure there is loads that we could learn. If you can get tobacco leaves or tobacco liquid leave them/it outside your front/back door and no snake will come within several meters. Old African bush trick.

The back of my townhouse faces an open lot with tall, overgrown weeds, which is great hiding ground for snakes. There is also a big old tree nearby which is a favorite hangout for golden tree snakes.

My kitchen was originally an outdoor patio/Thai-style kitchen that was later walled in and covered with typical roof tiles that had air gaps. (It is still separated from the rest of the house by a wall with screened windows and a screen door, so all snakes were confined to the kitchen.) First thing I did was get expanding foam and fill the roof gaps.

Still had snakes.

Saw one exit through the very far side roof gap which I couldn't access, so when the fire department came one time, they went out back and filled all the gaps from the outside with concrete (for free!) The landlord also had someone slather thick cement around the edges of the roof to cover any gaps there.

Still had snakes.

Next one I saw left through a gap in the wall where an exhaust fan was. Pulled out the fan, and placed a simple plate of glass across the opening -- it doesn't look good, but that's what the owner wanted. Also, and this I think was the coup de grace, the owner had someone cover the top third of the exterior wall with aluminum. Apparently snakes can't grip on it to climb.

Haven't had a snake now in over a year since the aluminum went up.

I'm sure there are still plenty of snakes roaming the 'hood, but they have (so far -- knock on wood!) been effectively locked out of my house. I'm a "live and let live" person regarding snakes. They have a valuable place in the ecosystem, and I mean them no harm. I just don't want them in my house.

[jacko45k]

We called the Sawangboriboon South Pattaya (Emergency) Phone1: 0-3822-2474, when I chickened out of dealing with a king Cobra recently!

They were pretty respectful too!

[lonewolf99]

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls.....Please don't try any of the hair brained madness listed above about catching snakes......

I have read and studied extensively about snakes. First in Africa and now here in S.E. Asia. I also read many strings like this and the bottom line is more than 90% of snake bites happen when humans "interact" with the snake. In the U.S.A. they also found that in over 50% of fatal bites alcohol was also involved.

The basic rule of thumb is stay well away. Although I admire Rimmer's actions and trying to move his local snakes away, he may be wasting his time as snakes are territorial and just come back to where they live, or others just move into a vacant location. They may be chased away from the new home they are moved to by bigger or deadlier snakes. Kraits and King Cobras feed almost exclusively on other snakes.

So if you want to avoid lots of snakes around the house keep 1 King Cobra and the rest will stay well away.

Some snakes here are only known from less than a handful of specimens.

The Pit Vipers, Cobras, Kraits, Keelbacks and Sea snakes are all deadly. Many "non" poisonous snakes do actually have venom it is just that humans are rarely bitten and these snakes maybe "back fanged" and would have to chew on a person to invenomate.

I have been lucky in that most of the snakes I encounter here have been to quick to go the other way apart from one Malayan Pit Viper sitting sunning itself and 2 Green Tree snakes that sidled past me at about 4 feet and ignored me.

Sadly, every Thai I meet thinks that every snake is deadly and should be pounded to death. Wrong !!! nearly 80% are not dangerous at all and help keep down rats and mice.

I have heard that snakes do not like the feeling of raw wool on their skin. Shepherds in desert countries lay a circle of plucked wool around themselves when sleeping out at night to stop snakes coming near. Not sure if that is an urban myth...

My last comment on this - leave them alone and they will stay well away from you.

[Wat dee]

I consider it better for me to stop reading this thread, especially after the last post, as I don't feel very comfortable anymore behind my keyboard.

You have to understand I'm in East Pattaya in the country side.

I killed a snake in my garden a 4-5 days ago and a quite large spider a day later after walking into her web while cutting the lawn.Didn't take the size of the spider, but if you can see it clearly from a 35 meter distance, I consider it large.

Oh and by the way, when I look at my security camera's right now , I notice that a couple of them have spider webs in front of the lenses.

Incredible! In 10 years here I've only had two small green tree snakes in my garden. No spiders, scorpions or centipedes. I've once seen a fairly large cobra and at another time a small pit viper, but both were fortunately in the other end of our village. Many people people here have cats or dogs, I suppose that helps keeping critters away.

maybe time to see eye doctor ...or not,if you wanna leave your house...ever.

[Jayman]

I will be having wall to wall wool carpeting installed this week.

[topt]

I will be having wall to wall wool carpeting installed this week.

After reading all of this I think I will as well!

Glad I am not back for three weeks so I can forget about reading it by then - I hope.

[Potosi]

Here's a pic of a poisonous centipede in Thailand, this one was about 8" long. They're rare, was the first I've seen for many years. My house borders 25 hectares of jungle in the middle of Pattaya, and I see many critters. Snakes, tarantulas, many species of scorpions.

I don't think many people bitten by a snake manage to bring it along to the hospital, No big problem, there are polyvalent antivenoms effective against many species.

[jbrain]

How about a Tokay, is it dangerous ? Reason I asked is when I was in the garden shed this afternoon on the inside of the door was hanging a Tokay at least I think it was.It was kinda grey blue of color with stripes, and it scared the hell out of me as it surprised me being so close to me.

[media]

How about a Tokay, is it dangerous ? Reason I asked is when I was in the garden shed this afternoon on the inside of the door was hanging a Tokay at least I think it was.It was kinda grey blue of color with stripes, and it scared the hell out of me as it surprised me being so close to me.

you should have got a photo of it

[jbrain]

How about a Tokay, is it dangerous ? Reason I asked is when I was in the garden shed this afternoon on the inside of the door was hanging a Tokay at least I think it was.It was kinda grey blue of color with stripes, and it scared the hell out of me as it surprised me being so close to me.

you should have got a photo of it

Why, you've never seen a Tokay?

Anyway my question still stands.

[Rimmer]

I have lots of them around the house walls, they eat the ghekkos, they wont bite you unless you try to pick them up.

[pinfold]

Not a believer in live and let live,not with poisonous snakes anyhow, Seen and read too many incidents of young children presenting themselves with falling blood pressure/breath,throwing up etc with the medical staff treating them for just that,only when death occurred and stripped down did the puncture wounds become evident around their ankles. Off with their heads,the hardware stores sell a long handled chopper that I keep razor sharp for meetings.The birds reduce the snake in no time at all

[media]

I went to my neighbors house last week to catch a snake outside his front door.
Turns out to be a non venomous Brown Kukri Snake. quite small about 50cm, so after catching it, identifying it from SIam info website
http://www.siam-info.com/english/snakes_poisonous.html

we let it go in the garden to continue its travels.

Worth noting that the colors and markings are slightly similar to the Malayan pit viper which has deadly venom, but the head is totally different

Edited July 11, 2013 by media

[DD13]

All of you snake lovers are blinkered

The only way if you have the misfortune to encounter one is to kill it or get somebody to do it for you

These creatures are as dangerous as a maniac with a gun...you cannot reason with them

Don,t risk a child's life

[DD13]

Something else to back up what I am saying

There is a young Thai guy who is often .at Nong Ket Noi market whom I had seen at times ... Usually in terrible distress having had his leg amputated below the knee, his nervous system is shot to pieces..I enquired about his accident, and was told.

no not an accident he stepped on a snake and was not able to identify it...therefore they could not give him the appropriate anti.serum

the rest is there for all misguided people to see.

[jbrain]

All of you snake lovers are blinkered

The only way if you have the misfortune to encounter one is to kill it or get somebody to do it for you

These creatures are as dangerous as a maniac with a gun...you cannot reason with them

Don,t risk a child's life

I agree with you there. I always have to smile whenm I read those comments of posters that say, you have build your house on their territory so you should respect their presence.

When I built my house I constructed a perimeter wall around it, and it's my territory now, and everyone that enters uninvited does so at his own risk.