Are snakes really as dangerous as they seem to be?

Snakes are one of the most beautiful creatures in the world. They come in many different colors and patterns. Many people think that snakes with bright and attractive colors are poisonous, well thats only true for frogs. Snakes have a very low chance of being poisonous. There are snakes like cornsnakes, milksnakes, and ball pythons that may look poisonous but are not.

Contrary to common belief, snakes don't usually attack people unless they feel threatened. Put yourself in a snake's position, would you attack a predator 3 times your size unless you need to defend yourself? No, right.

Did you know that snakes can live up to 25 years? Although, that varies with the type of snake. They can survive 3 months without food or water. Snakes have no bones in their bodies, and are completely made up of muscle and skin. Snakes can give birth to 6-30 eggs, which are called clutches. but not all snakes give birth to eggs, 70% of them reproduce by laying eggs, and 30% give birth to live young, like rattlesnakes, vipers, boas and most of the sea snake species.

If you've ever seen snake skin before ( formally referred to as shed), you may think that it's the left overs of a dead snake but it's not. It is similar to how human skin flakes off, the only difference being that for snakes it comes out in one long shed. A healthy snake should shed once every month and the length of the shed determines how healthy the snake is. If its shed breaks to many pieces, it indicates that the snake is unhealthy.

This might shock you but snakes only have 2 front teeth. They swallow their pray as it is and they don't bite it to pieces. Moving the muscles throughout their body in a wave like motion moves the prey along the body until it is digested. You can actually see the prey moving through the body of the snake.

When it comes to feeding snakes, it naturally consumes the plasma found in their eggs. this is a white slimy substance which gives them the protien required to grow. After that they move on to Pinkies, which are small hairless mice. As they grow they start to eat larger prey, like rats then chickens and sometimes rabbits depending on its size. Snakes eat once every week, so they do not require constant attention.

Personally, I have been interested in reptiles (mostly snakes) for more than 5 years, and have dedicated my free time to researching about them to have a better understanding. I have owned a sun kissed corn snake for about 4 years now and a tarantula. I really hope to expand my collection as I grow older and hopefully become a breeder one day.

I hope you have a better understanding of snakes and are able to admire its beauty rather than being scared of it.

If you want me to get into more details on how to know if a snake is poisonous or not and how to take care of a snake, leave a comment below. Thank you.