So glad that Hissy has found a good temporary home. I've always loved snakes and have had them as pets since I was a child. Later, when I was in grad school and living in an apartment just off campus, my much younger brother brought a rat snake home from scout camp. Unfortunately, my father, who was terrified of snakes, announced that either the snake went or he would go, so naturally I took him off my brother's hands and installed him in a nice herpetarium in my apartment (at which point I discovered just who my friends were and weren't!) Kaa (as I named him, from Kipling of course) stayed with me until I had to move to another location, at which point I found a new home for him.I would love to have a snake pet again, but now I'm in a New York City apartment and haven't the room it would need. I'm hoping that Hissy will find a wonderful new home. Thanks to you for being so kind in rescuing him even though you weren't familiar with snakes!

I was deployed to Iraq in 2004 threw 2005. Saddam Hussain collected exotic animals. I mean exotic animals that killed people and he used them to torture citizens and enemies. I was first stationed at his sons hunting palace. Mainly saw huge fish there but have heard stories of different animals they found and had to clear out. Never saw a python there but did see two cobras. One was alive and was a tan color which was 4 to five feet long and the other was a long black snake that was at least 10ft long. It looked dead and was in a shallow stream. I did not get that close to it. The biggest camel spider I saw was in Camp Arifjohn Kuwait. It was the size of my boot. So it was like ten to 12 inches.

Anyone living or playing outside the concrete jungle in Tx should learn to id the 4 venomous snakes indigenous to Tx because there are so many different kinds that are harmless. Two are easy. Coral will never be confused with others if you remember "red touch black,friend of Jack,red touch yellow kill a fellow". Rattler,,,,,,,,,you will know him when you see him,nuff said. That leave's Copperhead and Cottonmouth which have hundreds of look alikes. Unlike imposters,both have elliptical eye pupils like a cat. If you have someone show you pits in both their heads and lack of in imposters,that will help also. BTW,most Texans call all large harmless species "chicken snakes"but that's because so few know the proper names.

You don't say exactly where you are - for reptiles and amphibians, the locality tells which subspecies, but it is a baby Rat Snake. Rat Snake, WIkipedia Where you are is important to know what it will look like when it is grown. Totally harmless BTW, and can be picked up and played with.