- If you end up getting attacked by this front-fanged
elapid, your nervous system is gonna start to shut down.
("Makes Everything" by DJ Quads)
So there you guys have it, the Leucistic Monocled cobra.
("Makes Everything" by DJ Quads)
- Hey good morning everybody, welcome to the VLOG.
I hope the start of your day is absolutely incredible,
I know mine's gonna be pretty amazing.
And do you know why Lori?
- No, why?
- Because I am getting a cobra today!
(car brakes shrieking)
- [Brian] Wait a second, you can keep driving.
- No.
- We can keep driving.
- What?
What are you talking about?
- [Brian] A cobra, a Leucistic Monocled cobra.
- Nobody's getting a cobra.
- What do you guys think about the Reptarium
getting a Monocled cobra?
- I don't care-- - Let's keep driving.
Let's go!
- What anybody thinks, whatever,
you are not getting a freaking cobra!
- The truth is I've been dealing with venomous snakes
on and off since I was like 17 years old,
and more so over the last 10 years
I've had a lot more experience with elapids.
Things like black mambas, and king cobras, and taipans,
and all kinds of stuff.
As a matter of fact, some of you may remember,
I even did a show on Discovery Channel
that was about chasing venomous snakes in Australia,
touching the most insane things in the world.
Not to mention my documentary Brian In The Wild over in
Africa, where we did Mozambique spitting cobras,
black mambas, and all kinds of other stuff.
My point is, is that I love venomous snakes
and of course this is just a Leucistic Texas rat snake.
But today we are gonna get an opportunity to interact
with a Leucistic Monocled cobra.
I am absolutely excited about this opportunity.
And I've said this before, I feel the most alive
that when I'm on the end of something that can
potentially kill me.
There's just something that kinda slows down
and you just kinda are in the moment
and nothing else matters because if you let anything
else creep into your head, you may actually die.
With that being said, I've actually had this reoccurring
dream about being bitten by a venomous snake
and in particular, a cobra and actually dying.
So, every time I do handle cobras or venomous snakes,
I'm always a little cautious cause that's in the back
of my head but I think that you can't fear it,
you have to live in the moment
and you have to respect that animal.
And remember, there's no badges of honor
for being bitten by a venomous snake.
Alright guys, so in this tub right here
we have a Leucistic Monocled cobra.
But one of the things that's a little bit sketchy,
is you can see it's right up by the handle right there.
So I have to be extra careful with this thing,
cause a lot of times people actually get bitten,
like through a bag or certainly while they're
taking an animal out of a container like this.
So what I'm gonna do to start with is
I'm gonna give some pressure down here
and I'm just literally gonna release this
without ever touching it like this, right?
Cause I don't wanna get bitten, that's for sure.
Now I know the animal is not on this side so I can do this
and then, the best way to kinda remove a lid
is to actually use hooks.
Now the idea, to be honest with you,
with any cobras or elapids or really any venomous snake
at all is to never really touch the animal other than
potentially a tailing.
And with elapids, tailing is a relatively good thing.
Now you can see I have two hooks here,
this is just to manipulate the animal.
Now I'll be totally honest with you,
cobras are not great hooking animals whatsoever.
And I'm gonna be totally honest with you,
this size cobra is one of the most sketchy size cobras
because it's so short that it's easy to tail it
without some issues.
The other thing I find really interesting
about this little bugger right here,
is the fact that it doesn't wanna hood for me.
See, normally you can get them to hood
and when they hood you can actually control them
a little bit more.
This particular animal doesn't seem to wanna hood,
at all, you can just see it's just barely,
it's coming up right here.
Come on little monkey, come on you little monkey.
These guys are pretty fast too
so you have to be a little bit careful.
And again, hooking isn't always the best.
Two hooks are definitely the way to go when it comes to
animals like this because you can actually manipulate them.
And then again, when you're tailing an animal like this,
you always wanna just kinda keep a hook
about a third of the way down the body so that it can
never get back to you hands.
But I can tell you this much,
I would rather this animal hood up because without it
hooding is a little bit more sketchy.
I always say, the worst thing about a cobra
is when it's not hooded because when it's hooded
you can read in a lot more.
Look at that little monkey,
that thing is absolutely beautiful.
Now these guys actually have a neurotoxin.
So basically what ends up happening,
if you end up getting attacked by this front-fanged elapid,
is that your nervous system is gonna start to shut down.
Just gotta be really careful with this little guy for sure.
Don't wanna get in the bite range at all.
But what a beautiful animal, and again,
this is a color mutation, the Monocled cobras
are certainly something that has the most diverse colors
of any of the cobra species, I mean there's albinos,
there's purple ones, there's these Leucistics right here.
You can see right here, see how it climbs up
that hook like that?
That's what you have to be careful with
because these guys are really adept climbers.
Can I just get this guy around?
I'll feel so much better if this little bugger
would actually hood up,
then I could control it so much better.
Oh my gosh, okay little guy.
It's almost like it's so tame
that it doesn't even wanna think about biting,
but that's when you have to be the most concerned
because when they're not hooded like this
it might crawl back by your hand.
You're thinking, "Ah this thing is so docile."
And then it just tags ya.
What a beautiful snake.
Now I said that these guys are neurotoxic
but they actually have a little cardiotoxic,
even some myotoxin in there.
And this species of animals is actually responsible
for the most deaths from envenomation in Thailand.
So again, although this might be a cute,
unbelievable looking snake,
it certainly pass a little bit of a punch.
And the idea of tailing, as you can see,
my finger is right by the anal vent of the actual snake.
And if it starts to come up on me, I could just spin it.
But the thing is, as long as that snake's down on the ground
it's really not thinking about coming back up on me.
So you can really manipulate the animal a lot.
Elapids are so absolutely incredible
and what a pleasure to be able to handle this guy.
It's gonna eventually get five or six foot long
and of course it's called the Monocled.
You wouldn't see it with the Leucistic
but the normal for the orange color Monocled
cause these guys have the cool patterning
on the back of their head, oh my god.
I wish this guy would hood up cause they are so absolutely
gorgeous when they're hooded.
Oh my gosh, what a great snake.
Almost just looks like the Leucistic Texas rat, right?
(laughs) But trust me, this guy packs a lot bigger punch
than the Leucistic Texas rat.
Let's go ahead and just see what he's gonna do
on the ground right here.
Come on little bugger.
Come on little dude.
Come on, come on.
Sometimes when you rub them right behind the head,
they'll spin up.
My gosh, it's just so hard to imagine that a snake
this size could put you down.
Again, I'm not gonna say I would die
because some elapids will actually have dry bites.
But, listen, I don't wanna give it a go.
I've been dealing with venomous snakes for,
gosh, the better part of 30 years.
Not on a daily basis but often.
Some of the most deadliest snakes on the planet
like mambas, and taipans, and stuff like that.
And I am really proud to say
that I've never even been close to being bitten.
Cause like I said earlier, there's no badge of honor
for getting bitten by something like this.
I wanna take every precaution I possibly can.
And listen, my advice to you guys,
if you wanna get a venomous snake or something like that,
is to really be cautious.
Don't be a hero, don't be a cowboy.
Messing with these animals is not something you wanna do
unless you're extremely competent and extremely comfortable.
Again, the best advice I ever got was from Tom Crushfield
and he said, "Whenever you service a venomous snake's tank,
"if it's a water, or sparkling or anything,
"you never touch anything in that tank unless the snake
"is out of there."
So a lot of times people think, "Oh it's in the hide box,
"I can change the water or something."
And that's when people get bitten.
I mean don't be a cowboy,
getting bitten is bad for the hobby
and there's no reason to go through it
cause trust me it'll definitely mess your life up.
It's very expensive to get bitten by a venomous snake
if you even do survive.
So, listen, this is a beautiful, unbelievable snake
and I feel so lucky to have had the privilege
to spend some time with it.
You think I could get Lori
to let me have one of these little monkeys?
Oh my god, I love it, I need one of these in my life.
Oh my gosh, this little bugger is amazing.
So there you guys have it,
the Leucistic Monocled cobra.
What a beauty!
Ooh doggy, that was absolutely amazing.
I've said it before and I'll say it again,
I never feel more alive than when I'm wrestling with a snake
like that, and it's not like a macho thing
because I never do that stuff for macho things.
If you wanna keep a venomous snake because you think
you're cool for having a cobra or something like that,
you should not do it.
I do it because I just am so amazed by that animal
and I think the potential for that little snake
to give one bite and potentially kill someone,
or at least put them in the hospital
and who knows what might happen, that is incredible.
I respect that animal beyond belief
and what a gorgeous snake it is!
Ooh doggy, let me know in the comments
if you liked that snake, would you do that,
do you wanna eventually handle venomous snakes?
Again, be cautious because you getting bitten
by a venomous snake could literally cause legislation
that could stop people from keeping them.
So don't cowboy it up because you're cool
and then ruin it for everyone else.
Please be careful if you ever wanna do it.
But if you do, it is absolutely incredible.
With that said, I'm gonna go ahead and get ready
to open up the Reptarium.
I am on cloud nine right now
so we're gonna have a good night here at the Reptarium.
Good news Lori, I survived the cobra, I'm still alive.
- Where's the cobra?
- [Brian] Oh, we let it loose next door.
It's kinda like a Where's Waldo.
No, it's back, it left the building.
- So, if you let that loose you might as well
let the damn birdeater out. (laughs)
Cause maybe they'll eat each other.
- [Brian] No, no, it's gone, it's out of here.
I was just playing with you for a little bit.
But it was absolutely gorgeous,
I just thought you'd like to know that I'm still alive.
- Yeah, well, of all the things that you messed with
I'd like to think the little baby one didn't get you.
(laughs)
- Well actually, sometimes the baby ones are scarier
than the bigger ones.
Because they're closer, you don't have as much space.
- Yeah, I guess so.
- But it was so, it was so tame, it didn't even
like hardly hood up.
- [Brian] It was really amazing.
It's cool, so can I have one now?
- No.
- [Brian] No?
- No, of course not, no.
Plastic.
- [Brian] Black mamba?
- Plastic.
- [Brian] King cobra?
- Go away.
- [Brian] How about like a Gaboon viper?
- Go away. (laughs)
- [Brian] Gaboon viper, Rhino viper?
- Done with ya.
- [Brian] The copperhead?
- Shut up.
- [Brian] Anything?
Hey, at least I survived.
(energetic music)
- I'm gonna take a quick break from the Reptarium.
You know I am so absolutely in love with venomous snakes.
I get some of that venomous snake fix with my
Mangroves, I mean they aren't extremely venomous.
As a matter of fact, they're pretty mildly venomous.
You get bit by these and some people don't even have
a reaction, or a very minor reaction.
And other people have like a bad headache,
maybe a little nausea.
The point is, I don't know, there's just something
about venomous snakes that just absolutely fascinate me.
I don't know, maybe one day I would work with them.
I have this vision, just like with the Reptarium,
that one day maybe I'll have a bigger zoo
and if I have a bigger zoo, I would have a venomous snake
collection as well with king cobras, and Gaboon vipers,
and mambas, and all that type of stuff.
But right now I'm not in the position
to do anything like that, although I really would love to.
(snake hisses)
One day, hopefully, I absolutely will
but these little monkeys right here.
Whoa, it's okay buddy, whoa.
Calm down, calm down, you're okay.
These guys can keep you on your toes for sure.
But what amazing little dudes, huh?
But I can't stress enough the fact that
handling venomous snakes or working with venomous snakes
is not an ego trip on any stretch of imagination.
And I always say, a venomous snake is much like a
non-venomous snake.
So if you wanna one day work with venomous snakes,
my advice to you is work with non-venomous snakes.
Really understand their behavior,
get an opportunity to read what they're doing.
Because then when you are handling a venomous snake,
you have that same reaction.
Now don't get me wrong, every snake is a little different.
Obviously a black mamba reacts a lot differently
than say a butter corn snake.
And of course cobras, and rattlesnakes, and everything
is a little different.
But once you get the idea of the behavior
of how reptiles work, and in particular snakes,
if you're gonna be handling venomous snakes,
it really does help and keep you safe
when you're actually handling something
that could potentially kill you.
Certainly another thing that I would really suggest
if you wanna work with venomous snakes
is to get a mentor and actually volunteer with them.
I learned my venomous snake handling from some of the best
venomous people on the planet.
They taught me the way they think about it.
Their approach to handling,
how they tail animals.
And just the overall actions.
And I was around these people for a long time
before I ever even touched a venomous snake.
And that's what I would suggest to you.
If you really wanna work with venomous snakes,
get around someone that can really teach you.
But don't think that right of the bat
you're gonna be wrangling these snakes
because really you're probably not prepared to.
And listen, I think it's really important
that you put safety above all else.
With all that said, I don't wanna be a hypocrite
and say, "You shouldn't be able to handle
"venomous snakes, but I can."
I think that if you wanna one day work with
venomous snakes, I think you should definitely
pursue it.
It's amazing, they're incredible animals.
Some of the most incredible animals on the planet
happen to be venomous.
I'm just trying to tell you that you need
to take the proper steps for you to do it.
And I know you're saying like, "Well Brian,
"how can I get the experience
if I don't have the experience?"
Like I said, You'll volunteer, or get a mentor,
be around them, work with non-venomous snakes.
All those things are gonna aid till when you do
start working with venomous snakes
so that you never get harmed.
Okay, so what do you say we get back to the Reptarium.
("Makes Everything" by DJ Quads)
Getting to the end of the night that the Reptarium
here just have a handful of people.
We got anaconda over here.
Pinocchio, we got the madlax python over here.
Just a little bit longer to go
and it's another night in the books.
What a great night though.
Back here I BHB to wrap up the day and basically
end the VLOG, just checking some animals out here.
Then I'm home from some rest, thank you guys so much
for tuning in today, thank you for watching,
thank you for all your support.
You guys are absolutely incredible.
And I truly do love you so much.
Can you do me a couple favors, before I get out of here.
Can you smash that like button.
Turn those post notifications on,
so you know when I upload a video,
make a comment down below because I truly do love
reading about your beauty faces,
plus I'd like to hear what you think about my cobra
experience.
Be kind to someone, and I promise,
I will see you guys tomorrow.
("Makes Everything" by DJ Quads)