Griffin is a false water cobra, also known as the Brazilian smooth snake. We obtained him from a local pet store in January of 2018 at an estimated 4-5 months old. He was returned to the store by someone else, and we took him home. We were told he was a female and originally called him “Freyja,” but after some distinctly male food-refusing and territorial behavior, and the subsequent shed of hemipene casts, we determined him to be male.
Having a false water cobra has presented some keeping challenges unique among our previous species kept. He is quite long, at a respectable 6 feet, and requires a higher humidity than that of our ball and green tree pythons. Because of this we decided to keep him in a shorter PVC enclosure that would allow us to heat with heat tape, conserving humidity. He also gets soaks in a shallow tub once or twice a week, which he seems to really enjoy.
Griffin is very curious, thoughtful, and probably one of our smartest snakes. He often sits and observes for long periods before making a move. Sometimes he will stare at the computer or watch TJ chop vegetables. When he had a mouth infection, Griffin was very tolerant with our treatment, even when it was painful.
One thing that makes Griffin unique is the expression he shows with his hood. Since he’s a false water cobra, Griffin can hood like a real cobra—and he does so, whenever encountering doors, computer monitors, or other shifty-looking objects for the first time. He will also hood when someone tries to stop him going somewhere he likes, or when he is uncomfortable.
Once, Griffin darted after me while I was cleaning up a poo at the far end of his enclosure. When he realized I was not food, nor another snake, he slunk away, hooding as he went. Then he retreated as far back into his hide as he could go. It is the closest to “embarrassed” I have ever seen in a snake. He is incredibly expressive.
Like other snakes with a strong feeding response, Griffin can make mistakes sometimes. Most of the time, he will wait to see whether the thing being presented is handling, food, or a cleaning invasion. We offer food on tongs outside his hide entrance; for handling, we start lifting the hide with a snake hook and can usually handle him from there. If he’s watching, Griffin will usually quickly figure out what we are doing and is very tolerant of handling.
