Mexican West Coast Rattlesnake | Will Nace

Will Nace: What is going on, guys? Welcome back to another episode. As you can tell, we’re here in the snake room. Today we’re going to be learning about one particular snake. I’ve been saying I was going to do these videos again. It’s been a little while, but today we’re learning about the Mexican West Coast rattlesnakes, also known as the Mexican green rattler. These guys have a scientific name, which is Crotalus basiliscus. I think I’m saying that right. Not really sure. I’m horrible with scientific names. We’re going to jump into this video. I’m going to teach you guys a little bit about these certain rattlesnakes. Hopefully, you guys do enjoy it.

Okay, guys. In this cage, I do have two of these wonderful snakes. I have my female, which doesn’t have a name and I have my male, which his name is Wasabi. These guys both originally came from the same person, which is Tom Crutchfield down in Homestead, Florida. The female was given to me. The male was given to somebody else, which I had acquired the male a couple of years later because he was very aggressive. These snakes are relatively large snakes. The two I have are a good size. Let’s see. Normally, they max out at about around five feet. There are some snakes that do get close to almost seven feet, so they do get rather large. I have not handled them in quite some time, but I do need to spot clean their cage. I figured it’s the perfect time to talk about them. I also do need to feed these beautiful snakes as well.

Come here. This one here is the female. Let me go ahead and put her in a garbage can for right now. You’re okay, baby. Now I’m going to go ahead and grab the male out. You’ll see a huge difference in color between the male and the female. The female has more of a brownish color, while the male here has an olive green color. I like to call him Big Blondie, but he does have a new name and it is Wasabi. Oh, you’re not happy today. Again, it has been quite some time that I’ve handled these snakes because I’ve been working so hard on other projects. Come here. Pretty cool little fun fact about these guys. These guys are the only snakes in their particular range that actually have diamonds on them. Are you going to be mean towards me the whole time? You’re okay. I know it’s been a little while. It’s funny. The last time I pulled them out, they didn’t even rattle for me, but then again that was a little while ago.

I do need to quickly spot clean their cage now. These guys are active and do start breeding right now, during this season. During the summer seasons, where it gets very rainy, they’re very active during those times. It probably sounds funny in here, because I am inside of the cage. These guys are diurnal. That means they do come out during the day. They are very active during the day. They are sometimes seen in the morning, basking like most snake species do to get warm in the morning. Let’s see. Yes, I just spilled their water bowl. What I’m going to be doing also is raising the humidity in their cage, because it is summertime. Also, where they come from it is very wet and rainy right now as well. Got some mulch in there. I want to get that out. I’m basically just going to be filling up their water bowl and taking the rest of this pitcher and dumping it around their cage to raise the humidity up in there. It’s not bad for them. Where these guys do come from is, yes, the West Coast of Mexico, like I’ve seen on the screen there. These guys do have a very large range of that West Coast as well.

Now that the cage is all clean, we’re going to go ahead and put them back. I am also going to be feeding them in this video as well. I’m just waiting for those rats to defrost. Oh, I’m sure that’s very loud. Where these guys come from, they live in coastal plains, areas like that, but they don’t live in foresty areas. They actually live in tall grass areas, thick bushes. Particularly, they’re a lot of the times found in thorny bushes for some reason. You’re just all types of grumpy today. I’m going to try and show you these diamonds on his back a little bit better. Right now I’m just seeing what his mood is. These guys are relatively nasty in the wild, but they are known to tame down very quickly in captivity. Right now, again, just feeling out his temperament, seeing what he’s like. You can see those beautiful diamonds on his back there. Beautiful, beautiful snake. Where are you going? Do you want to go back in your house? I absolutely love this snake.

When these guys are actually babies, they’re almost a red color. Very beautiful red color. As they get older, they become that beautiful olive green like this one here. The males always have more of a predominant olive green color than the females. The females usually tend to stay a little bit more of a brownish color, with sometimes highlights of red. I’ll show you that on the female right here. These guys are ready for meals. That is for sure. I’ve been waiting to feed them to do this video for you guys. This here is the female. As you can see, her color is much different than the male itself. Again, a beautiful diamond pattern. The only snake from its range that actually has diamonds on it. She’s stunning now. I love these snakes. I absolutely do love them. Where are you going? You got to stay in there. Perfect.

Like most rattlesnakes, these guys, every time they shed, they get an extra bead on their tail. That bead grows over time with shedding, not with age. It’s a very big confusion. A lot of people think that rattlesnakes, as they get older, their tails grow, which, yes, is true, but it’s not true for the right reason. Oh, they’re all cuddled up over here. Come over here, guys. Look at this. They’re all cute and cuddly right now. They’re actually both very angry right now. I can tell they’re hungry by their tongue flicks; very fast, going in and out. We’re going to go ahead and check up on their rats and then when we come back, we’re going to talk a little bit about their venoms and probably about their bite too because it’s not a very pleasant one. We’ll be right back.

All right, guys. We’re back. We do have the famous red bowl that everybody absolutely loves on my channel. I do have a jumbo rat, or a large rat, for the male and a medium-sized rat for the female, just because their size is a little bit different. Something I did forget to mention earlier too, their scales. They don’t have smooth scales. They have keeled scales. That means they have little raised ridges in the middle of each scale too, which is actually a really interesting feeling. If you ever have a chance to feel a keeled snake, coolest feeling in the world. Yes, normally they do feel like thumbnails or toenails, whatever you want to consider because it is keratin just like your fingernails, but the keeled scales is something like you’ll never touch before. I promise you that.

We’re going to go ahead and feed these guys, talk a little bit about their venoms as well. They both stopped rattling now, which is a good thing. I wish one of the other snakes who’s in a bad mood today would stop rattling too, but it’s okay. Now their venom is actually highly toxic. They are usually very fatal bites when people do get bit by these snakes. Not much is actually known about their venom. Who should we feed first? Let’s probably feed the male first, because he is usually more of aggressive eater than the female. You guys just look so cute right now. Too bad my camera is being used to film this. Their venoms, in different ranges, have different toxicities I guess you could say. Some are hemotoxic venoms, some are neurological venoms. It depends on where they come from, but as a species in whole, it’s very hard to get a grasp on what their venom actually is. Come on, big boy. Come on, big boy. You see, I told you, he’s way more food aggressive than the female itself.

Oh, that was a good bite. Very, very good bite. He’s so cute. Now let’s go ahead grab the female now. Their venom, actually a lot of people will compare it to Mojave’s venom because Mojave rattlesnake venom is actually also all over the place in different ways. Do you want it, baby? All right. I’m going to leave it there for you since you’re not going to bite it, apparently. I’ve noticed this with her, particularly, when she is in a bad mood or wakes up on the wrong side of the enclosure, she won’t strike her food, but if I leave it in there with her, she will start to eat it.

These guys normally do only eat mammals in the wild. That’s pretty much the only diet that is known for them. I’m going to let them be. I want that female to start eating her rat before the male finishes his because he will try to eat it, if not. We’re going to get out of here and let them eat in peace. Hopefully, you guys enjoyed this video. Hopefully, you learned something new because that is the goal of my channel, to teach and educate you guys on these amazing animals, and brief you of fears that you might have.

Subscribe, if you’re not already. Smash the like button, if you haven’t already. Big thank you to everybody for watching. Big thank you to my patreons as well, because you guys are just truly awesome. We will see you guys in the next video like always. They’re just so wonderful. I love them so much. Rattlesnakes, what better pet, right? Bye.