# Fierce Snake or Inland Taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus)



## ashley_morris22 (Jan 13, 2005)

Fierce Snake or Inland Taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus ), Australia. The most toxic venom of any snake. Maximum yield recorded (for one bite) is 110mg. That would probably be enough to kill over 100 people or 250,000 mice. *These rare snakes are virtually unknown in collections outside of Australia.*


are they that rare in collections?


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## soulweaver (Jan 13, 2005)

if you look hard enough they turn up around the $250 mark.


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## moosenoose (Jan 13, 2005)

This is from a collection a breeder has that a few members from here had recently attended. 







Not only are they the deadliest in the world, they look damn fast! I think you'd have to really be into them to keep one :lol: That's probably the main reason they are rare in peoples collections :lol: - PASS :wink:


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## ashley_morris22 (Jan 13, 2005)

how come only $250


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## moosenoose (Jan 13, 2005)

ashley_morris22 said:


> how come only $250



*DEADLIEST SNAKE IN THE WORLD* :lol: :lol:


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## herptrader (Jan 13, 2005)

A very beautiful, intelligent and well mannered snake. The "fierce" label is not one they deserve

You don't often seem them at the $250 mark. The few that have come up on the Herp Trader have sold for at least that much and quite quickly.

They might be the most venemous snake in the world but they hardly qualify and the deadlies as very few deaths have been recorded. In Australia it is probably a serpent like the King Brown that is responsible for the most deaths. World wide there are species in India that claim thousands of lives every year.


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## bigguy (Jan 13, 2005)

Moosenoose, hate to dissapoint you but your picture is not a Fierce Snake, but is actually a Coastal Taipan. I am currently purchasing a female Fierce Snake and its costing me $500, which is about the average price people have been charging the last couple of years.


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## bigguy (Jan 13, 2005)

Herptrader, I don't think there is even one recorded death to the Fierce Snake due to the isolated region they live in away from humans. As for the King Brown, it hasn't caused many deaths either. The Eastern Brown(worlds 2nd deadliest snake) now causes most of the snake deaths in Australia as its numbers appear to be increasing. In the old days it was mainly the old Tiger Snake that caused most of the deaths, however these snakes are starting to become very thin in numbers.


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## Mr.K (Jan 13, 2005)

I have read in quite a few books that the fierce is the most deadly snake in the world, although it is a very shy snake and will not anger up anywhere near as much as the coastal. whatever is true, it will not be included in my collection 8)


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## peterescue (Jan 13, 2005)

The poor King gets all the bad press because most people who see a large eastern wont believe that its not a King. Well, on this side of the fence anyway.


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## bigguy (Jan 13, 2005)

Theres always confusion when talking about which is the worlds deadliest snake due to peoples interputation of the word deadly. Deadly refers to poisons or venoms. Dangerous refers to causing harm of any sort.

So realising this you can put snakes into 3 catorgories.

The worlds deadliest(venomous) snake. No doubt about it. The Fierce Snake

The worlds most dangerous snake(the snake you have the least chance of surviving from without antivenom. Simple again. The Coastal Taipan with just about 100% death rate prior to antivenom.

The snake that causes the most human deaths. This is caused due to the fact they are found in large numbers besides large numbers of humans not wearing shoes or protective pants(ie Asia) . You have 3 candidates here. Saw Scaled Viper, Russels Pit Viper or the Common Cobra. These 3 species alone bite nearly a million people a year in Asia causing tens of thousands of deaths every year.

Hope this explains it a little better.


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## moosenoose (Jan 13, 2005)

bigguy said:


> Moosenoose, hate to dissapoint you but your picture is not a Fierce Snake, but is actually a Coastal Taipan. I am currently purchasing a female Fierce Snake and its costing me $500, which is about the average price people have been charging the last couple of years.



:lol: Oh dear  Looks like some egg on my face for me today :lol: :lol: Hee hee. 

Not disappointed Bob old buddy :lol: I'm just a little more wiser :lol: :wink:


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## bigguy (Jan 13, 2005)

Moosenoose, its a nice Taipan though. Tell me, was the picture taken at Roys place.


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## moosenoose (Jan 13, 2005)

bigguy said:


> Moosenoose, its a nice Taipan though. Tell me, was the picture taken at Roys place.



It was indeed!


ps: I've seen some pictures of inlands with blackheads on them also (is this correct?) Here was a quick one I found just having a surf around.


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## soulweaver (Jan 13, 2005)

Yeah that pic is from roys house.

If you are talking deadly snakes (venom) is the inland no.1 in the world and coastal taipan no.2??


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## bigguy (Jan 13, 2005)

Sw, no. It goes Fierce Snake as no 1. Eastern Brown at no 2. and Coastal Taipan at no 3. Then the Tigers snakes for the next few places.


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## craig23 (Jan 13, 2005)

i just sold some inlands for $1000 a pair, adult female, sub male. and they went very fast with alot of interest... i suggest this is a minimum price for such animals. I have heard a few people over the last year or so say they are worth $250... I dont know when or where they sold for this. I have seen a few for the $500-600 mark each. They are not for sale very often, and from my knowledge there has probably been around 4 or 5 advertised in the last 12 months not including mine. More than this have been sold, but usually spoken for well in advance.


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## indicus (Jan 13, 2005)

Yes, "they", demand 'a great deal of respect'; but as my mate said when one of my carpets slammed him while reaching in a snake - bin; "my bloody Tiapans would never do that". Having said that its not a game keeping them, thats for sure.


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## bigguy (Jan 13, 2005)

Moosenoose, now thats a fierce snake. You don't see too many as nice as that one. I would say thats a SA specimen. They are susposed to be far more yellower in SA than the Qld specimens.


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## Ricko (Jan 13, 2005)

i must say both pics moose are nice. i am a big fan of taipans, and in the future i would love to be able to keep some but thats many years away.


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## herptrader (Jan 13, 2005)

herptrader said:


> You don't often seem them at the $250 mark. The few that have come up on the Herp Trader have sold for at least that much and quite quickly.



Herp Trader #1 informs me that a trio sold last year for $1740 in 4 days and an individual for $450. The second sold on the day it was listed ;-)


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## indicus (Jan 13, 2005)

What a "nightmare", one would have to be careful, who you sold one to.............are they capable?, sain?........'big' responsiblity', how would you feel?


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## hugsta (Jan 13, 2005)

They are certainly an amazing snake and one that comands respect, I would love to be able to have a pair, but the missus won't allow vens, baby on the way, and doesn't want to risk anything by having them.

I was out at Dubbo on the weekend where my mother-in-laws blind boyfreind told me about how they had this massive 7ft mulga snake(he knew this because his mate shot it :evil: but being blind on a farm doesn't help). While I was out herping around the place as you do, I came across it's remians. A small 4ft max eastern brown. As sad as it is for them to kill them I understand, they are 50k's from Dubbo and the only person that will help will only shoot them. Unfortunately life comes first and the m-in-laws better half is blind and has just missed being bitten on more then one occassion. Thank god they are going back to NZ.


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## herptrader (Jan 13, 2005)

bigguy said:


> Herptrader, I don't think there is even one recorded death to the Fierce Snake due to the isolated region they live in away from humans. As for the King Brown, it hasn't caused many deaths either. The Eastern Brown(worlds 2nd deadliest snake) now causes most of the snake deaths in Australia as its numbers appear to be increasing. In the old days it was mainly the old Tiger Snake that caused most of the deaths, however these snakes are starting to become very thin in numbers.



I did think the number was zero but I was not sure. I think I am remembering that excellent doco that was half hosted by Bredl. I had similar hazy memory on the Brown snake... which is why I worded my comments the way I did.

It is a sad story on the tigers. They are another beautiful elapid. I remember a presentation by Tim Nias at one of the VHS meetings ages back talking about how he estimated the numbers of venemous snakes had halved evey 10 years since the begining of last century based on snake bite statistics. To me this is a frightening statistic.

I ride home from work on a daily basis through prime snake country. Being Melbourne it is seasonal but in 5 years I have only seen 4 herps excluding frogs. This includes a tiger snake in Jells park. It is good to know that they are there but sad that they are now so few.


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## ashley_morris22 (Jan 13, 2005)

thanks everyone.


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## Hickson (Jan 14, 2005)

bigguy said:


> Saw Scaled Viper, Russels Pit Viper or the Common Cobra. These 3 species alone bite nearly a million people a year in Asia causing tens of thousands of deaths every year.



The Common Cobra reportedly is responsible for more than 15,000 deaths per annum in India alone.....




bigguy said:


> The worlds most dangerous snake(the snake you have the least chance of surviving from without antivenom. Simple again. The Coastal Taipan with just about 100% death rate prior to antivenom.



The King Cobra also has that title. Because they inject such a massive amount of venom in each bite (average venom yield is 421 mg), most people die before they get to the antivenom. Those that get to it usually die anyway because by then the venom has done so much damage.



Hix


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## bigguy (Jan 14, 2005)

Hix, there have been many people who have survived the King Cobras bite without antivenom. Just a few weeks back on Foxtell there was a good show on these snakes. They interviewed a man who had been bitten on the face by one and he had survived without antivenom. Mind you his face was a mess.


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## Hickson (Jan 14, 2005)

OK, cool, my information must be out of date. Ta.



Hix


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## Linus (Jan 14, 2005)

Do you keep coastals bigguy? I can watch coastals for ages when I see them in a zoo. They seems more aware than most snakes. I don't know if you could call it more intelligent but they just seem to have a better idea of whats going on.

I also saw the king cobra doco. It was interesting at the end when the cobra was staring at mark o'shea. Unless it was just trying to fina a way out of the enclosure  Awesome sankes though.


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## Ricko (Jan 14, 2005)

coastal taipans are very alert snakes, they move with such precision if you know what i mean. they are stunning snakes. also i believe the deadliest snake is the one that just bit you if you are that unfortunate for that to happen.


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## bigguy (Jan 14, 2005)

Linus, yes I have 4. One very old male who you can do anything with , and 3 young females ranging from 6 to just over 7 ft long. They move with incredible speed when they want to so you always have to be on guard when working with these snakes.


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## Ricko (Jan 14, 2005)

if you dont mind me asking bob would we be able to see a couple of pics of them if you have any? im so interested in them they are one of my fav reptiles


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## Linus (Jan 14, 2005)

Thanks bigguy,

so do you get them out often or are they just left and fed in the enclosures most of the time. Would you consider them to be more intelligent or more "self aware" than other snakes?

Would love to see some photos too.


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## bigguy (Jan 14, 2005)

Ricko, heres a few I just took.


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## moosenoose (Jan 14, 2005)

I see the light :lol: :lol: :wink:


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## Ricko (Jan 14, 2005)

thanks heaps Bob. the first one tickles my fancy the most but they are all nice. in regards to the age of taipans how long do they live? as fang is 20 and roy pails has a 21yr old female and 23yr old male so they have a long life span. were these shots taken with the cage open or closes?


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## bigguy (Jan 14, 2005)

Ricko, taken with open doors. Just lifed off their hide boxes and snapped away.

As for ages, Taipans rarely get of 15 years of age. Anything over that is very geriatric indeed.


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## Ricko (Jan 14, 2005)

you have any luck with them this season just gone or are you waiting til next season? do you keep inlands at all?


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## Linus (Jan 14, 2005)

Those young ones are nice  . They look a bit darker than most other taipans (or photosof taipans) I've seen.


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## bigguy (Jan 14, 2005)

Ricko, the 7ft+ girl dropped 20 slugs nearly 2 months ago, and dropped 2 more slugs just yesterday, so not looking good again. The other girl in the pic laid 18 just over a month ago and I am hoping she will double clutch. The 3rd girl laid 14, but these went off at 4 weeks into the incubation. Again I am hoping she also will double clutch.

As for Inlands, yes I have 4 of these also with another coming in a few weeks.

Linus, this colour phase is what we call the Cairns Reds. Very pretty indeed.


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## Ricko (Jan 14, 2005)

thanks for spending time to reply to all these questions and answers. do they double clutch easily? is it wise for them to do so? do you double clutch pythons as well? and one last question if they all hatch are they all going to peter mirtschin? if not what will you be selling them for?


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## ashley_morris22 (Jan 14, 2005)

very nice bigguy


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## bigguy (Jan 14, 2005)

Ricko, Taipan and fierce snakes, if in good condition often double clutch natually from just 1 mating. Just depends on the individal. I actually put my girls back with the males after the first clutch was laid to try and ensure a healthy 2nd clutch. However, the big girl seemed to be ignored by all the males she was with. Have no idea why. 

It does not hurt the girls to double clutch, as long as they are in good condition which mine are. I have never heard of any python double clutching which is a pitty. And you guessed it, the young are all spoken for before they even hatch.


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## Ricko (Jan 14, 2005)

Thanks Bob, are they all spoken for by venom supplies? and yes they are in great nick. is the 20yr old male you have the only male you use or do you have another? do you combat them?


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## bigguy (Jan 14, 2005)

Ricko, my old male would need Viagara to be able to mate. Poor old boy. I used another keepers males for the matings.


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## indicus (Jan 14, 2005)

"Good looking 'female', Bob!!!"


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## bigguy (Jan 14, 2005)

Yes, I think she is very nice also. Show the pic to Brian and see what he thinks of her.


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## soulweaver (Jan 14, 2005)

bigguy, sorry to ask questions too, you seem to be getting bombarded atm, but i was wondering in captivity do you find the elapids to live longer then the pythons? 20yrs seems like a good run for the old fella.


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## bigguy (Jan 14, 2005)

SW, I have a few pythons here that are well over 20 years of age. My B&W BHP was sent to me in 1985 from Gow and was easily 3 to 4 years old back then, and is still looking great. Knock on wood.


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