The Rufous Beaked Snake will strike if overstressed, roughly handled, have the smell of prey on or near your hands, or placed in a situation it feels that it must do so in defense. These cases are very rare and I admit to only being bitten by a Corn Snake. I have handled the Rufous Beaked Snake the same way and have yet to be bitten.

My reasoning for the lack of reaction (at a realistic stand point) is the simple fact of the following: They have almost the same eyesight of the average Cobra (who can see you as far away as the length of a football field). They know their surroundings and have the great ability of a “Racer”. In addition to this, they are more likely to run from danger than to attack it. This by no means should be any assurance that they will not strike.

Think of it this way. Most of us who got into keeping Snakes, jumped into it blind and learned the hard way. We started with Corns, Pythons, and others that are very forgiving and yet we all have different stories behind our “first snake” that may be very different. Even if it was the same species of snake we learned from. This is what sets us into different views and beliefs.

My experience and knowledge about this snake out weighs my beliefs. Through my knowledge and experience, I am confident in handling a Rufous Beaked Snake bare handed and short sleeved. I have only accomplished this from knowing the background and habits of the individual snake. All snakes have bad days and times when they should not be bothered. This can only come from a Knowledgeable Background of the snakes habits from the last month or two. I will handle the each snake based on my background knowledge of the individual snake.

There are many more qualities I have noticed. In addition to your write up, The Rufous Beaked Snake (at times of stress or hunger) act much like the African Boom Slang. It will hide all of himself except his tail. I have personally noted that upon encroachment or the introduction of prey. It will calmly move it’s tail in an attempt to lure the prey into “Grab” distance (I use the term “grab” because they do not “Strike” their Prey).

In addition, Do Not Feed a C.B. (Captive Bred) Rufous “Live Prey” unless properly introduced. Most C.B’s are fed with dead prey and are not accustomed to “Live Prey”. While I will admit feeding mine live prey, and it is amazing to see the strength and ability of this Snake, The feeding of live prey must be introduced by starting with small rodents and working to normal size. This helps to adapt the snake to live prey and helps to keep the snake from gaining “battle wounds”.

I certainly do not claim to be the expert in the area of the Rufous Beaked Snake, However, I would be delighted to collaborate with others to create an extensive “Care sheet” for this magnificent and beautiful creature.

Last about my beliefs (my hypothesis) about these snakes is that they are certainly great snakes to study and learn from. They are the most forgiving in the transition between those that, Own a snake and those that really take the time to learn about the snake they possess.

I have seen my first Rufous Beaked snake (a pair in fact) in
the last few days. It really acts like a Cobra and is very
inquisitive of its surroundings. It’s really NEAT! It Is a
big snake-5′ to 6′ and they’re not full grown yet I don’t
think. Myke took them out of their cage and showed them and
they move all the time, but never attempt to bite.

you forgot to mention the Mole Snake, Africa’s version of the bllsnake, a large heavy bodied constrictor that reach lengths of 7 to 8 feet.

the red spotted beak snake gets larger then the rufous and is a mch prettier snake, then there is the western beaked snake and the beatiful striped beaked which has 2 subspecies all are just as nice as the rufous.

the red and black striped snake, bothropthalmus lineatus is by far one of the most beautiful of the rodent eating constrictors of africa, this species gets 4 feet and is about the size of a corn snake bt mch prettier and feeds solely on rodents, there is also a suspecies of this species which is pure black!

I would aslo include the the hook nose snake, scaphiophis, extremely heavy bodied snake that also feeds exclusively on rodents.

if yo want to speak of underated snakes, I would list these species on the top of my list.

the olive sand snake or the mossambic sand snake, the largest of the psammophis species are by far the nicest of the genus, they get huge, and make awsome captives. These big snakes kill their prey with a mixture of constrictiona nd envonmation and their venom is not really harmful to humans, causing mild skin irritation in worst case scenerio.

of course the many species of house snakes make excellant captives, only a few species have proven difficult.

there is also the cape file snake which is made up of 3 subspecies.