Tom's Snakes & Rattlesnake Rescue

10/29/2024

10/29/2024

Photos from our classes for Murrieta Fire & Rescue

04/24/2024

Pictures from today’s classes at Olivenhain Municipal Water District

01/19/2023

Please help EcoVivarium if you can. My wife and I are two of the co-founders and this is near and dear to us.

EcoVivarium has 300 rescued animals that need YOUR help! Our electric bil… EcoVivarium EcoVivarium needs your support for Save EcoVivarium and Their Animals!

01/17/2022

Join me at Hawkwatch and see birds of prey. I'll be there every Saturday at the SD H**p Society booth.

10/15/2021

Yesterday I was asked a question about milking snakes and if it damages the venom glands. I couldn't answer the question. I suggested that this person query KRZ (Kentucky Reptile Zoo) since they milk hundreds of venomous snakes a day. This is the response from Kristen Wiley of KRZ:
If done properly, snakes can easily live for decades while being extracted from on a regular basis. Extraction should not damage the venom gland at all- if techniques are being used that damage it, there will be cellular debris/ blood in the venom, which is obviously undesirable from a research perspective. To use the species you are asking about, we have well over a hundred western diamondbacks that were captured in the wild (nuisance snakes, accumulated over several years and ones that could not be relocated to a safe place) that were collected 15 years ago and are still here, producing venom every 2-3 weeks during the active season. We also have some individuals of the same species live into their 20s and be just fine the entire time.
Keep in mind that venom release is a voluntary thing for the snake- so while we do 'massage' the glands during the extraction we are NOT forcing venom out. Trying to force it would injure the snake. You can see a further explanation for what is done here in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJfln1DKgNI (edited)

See close up and in slow motion how the venom really gets expelled from the fangs.

10/14/2021

This morning Tom gave his presentation on “The snakes in your backyard “ to The Poway Valley Garden Club.

08/31/2021

We were called to rescue these two males and the female they were fighting over. When we arrived, all three snakes had disappeared. They obviously didn’t want Tom to relocate them!

07/24/2021

Found this little Southern Pacific chilling in a coffee plant, I think trying to get his caffeine fix for the night.

04/23/2021