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What You Need to Know About Snake Safety and Pets
A snake is something we all hope our pets will never encounter, but, unfortunately in Texas, most of us have run across a snake or two. Snake bites are painful and some are also extremely harmful to our pets.
With over 105 snake species in Texas, it’s important to understand which snakes are a risk, where they tend to live, and how to help your pet avoid an encounter. That’s why Ten West Bird and Animal Hospital has compiled a list of things to watch for when it comes to snake safety and pets.
Friend or Foe?
What’s slithering around in our neck of the woods? In Texas, we really only need to know about the two types of venomous snakes that live here:
Pit vipers – Pit vipers are venomous snakes that have an opening on each side of the head, between the eye and the nostril. There are three types of pit vipers in Texas: copperheads, cottonmouths (water moccasins), and rattlesnakes (Texas has 8 subspecies of rattlesnake).
Coral snakes – Coral snakes are highly poisonous, but also shyer than pit vipers. You can recognize them by their red, yellow, and black bands (the yellow and red bands always touch). Continue…