All about lizards in the world

by Hayden, Stage 2, Penrith Public School

Dedicated to the memory of Steve Irwin

Corn Snake

One of my favourite kinds of snakes is the corn snake. Corn snakes are better when they are babies. You can feed them pinkies. These are mice. The frozen pinkies are put into hot water. When they are in the hot water, the water melts the ice off it. Carefully take it out of the cup then place it where the snake’s mouth is. Then wash your hands after. When you come back out it will be eating the pinkie then when it goes down it goes down very slowly, as slow as a snail.

 

Now let’s get going to another snake...

 

Red Belly Black Snake

 

The red belly black snake is very venomous. It eats frogs, rats, mice and other small things like twig snakes and green tree snakes.

 

I am going to tell you a story about a red belly black snake and my cousin. My cousin was only one year old. He was riding his little push bike but then he was riding over a red belly black snake. Luckily it had a frog in its mouth. His Pop ran over there with a shovel and hit it.

 

Now let’s get going on a new kind of snake...

 

Viper

 

The viper is as long as a bus: five metres long. When they are born they are 30cm long, as long as a 30cm ruler. They eat other snakes like baby anacondas and baby vipers. The mum or dad think they are strong snakes then the mother eats the babies they had. But the late ones survive. When the mother and dad come back they are gone. They have run away or something has taken them. When you reckon that’s great then wait for the next one. It is even better than that one.

 

Let’s get going to another snake...

 

Anaconda

 

The anaconda is the deadliest snake in the world. 2,000 people die in one year. Think in your whole life how many people die; then 2,000,000 people die. So did you know that lizards eat peas? But that’s it for that one.

 

Let’s get going to another snake. This is the last snake I can think of now:

 

King Cobra

 

The king cobra lives in a tree. It is one of the most dangerous snakes that live in Africa. One bite - you don’t have a chance to survive and any people that have venom vials with them you do not want to know what happens to them! They are dead as anything but that is not all. If it is an adult you would be eaten! That is it for that one.

 

Let’s get going to another one now. Who wants to get another snake? It is called the...

 

Twig Snake

 

What is a twig snake? Wait till I tell you next. A twig snake is a snake that pretends it is a vine. They are green if it is a boy and yellow if it is a girl - and be careful, they have sharp points on top of their face. They can really hurt. Don’t touch them because they are really amazing. If you don’t touch them, snakes are really fascinating.

 

Green Tree Snake

 

The green tree snake is a good snake. They make good pets. But feed them crickets if they are babies. If they are adults feed them mice once a week and try to make the green tree snake eat pinkies. The pinkies help them to grow.

 

If the snakes are all puffed up they shed their skin. If they don’t have enough room in their stomach they tear it in half then after an hour they shed their skin. The bigger it gets the better snake skin they get. If you label a snake skin put it on the wall with a pin. A green tree snake grows up to 100cm long. That’s it for that one.

 

If you want to see another snake then it is...

 

Tiger Snake

 

Let’s get going to the tiger snake. The tiger snake is the king of the desert. Once a king cobra died by a tiger snake. They live in the rainforest and the jungle. Some little monkeys got eaten by them.

 

The tiger snake sometimes goes up in trees. If a prey comes along: ‘"WACK!" They strike. They take their prey gliding to the ground then they put some venom into the animal. After that they wrap around it so it doesn’t move. After that they eat it but if it moves in the mouth: "Slap! Slop! Wack! Gone!" The animal is down in the stomach through the tiger snake. It shrinks through the tiger snake. When it is full its body is fat and it sheds its skin. After that it is a little bit bigger and as fat as it was before. After that it starts all over again and then again and then again.

 

So let’s get going to another snake...

 

Black Headed Python

 

The black headed python lives in the desert. It has a painful big bite so don’t touch it if it is stirred up. It will get very puffed up and look like a cobra. Sometimes its fangs stick out of its mouth and, if there is blood coming out of its mouth, it is hurt - but sometimes it is trying to trick you. That’s it for that one.

 

Brown Snake

 

The brown snake even comes with a story. The story is about a boy and a snake. Do you want to hear it now? All right.

 

Once there was a boy. The boy was walking in the bush early when he saw a snake. He picked it up and then the snake bit him. They rushed him to hospital but it was too late. He was already dead. It all happened in Doonside. It only took him 19 minutes to die against a brown snake, so never go near one of the kinds you don’t know. For a pet you want a python. They are the ones that aren’t venomous so let’s get going to another snake...

 

Sea Snake

 

The sea snake is the most venomous snake in the world. It can easily kill 70 people in one bite and that’s nothing. Listen to this: The water cobra is dangerous because if you are bitten in the water you’re OK but when you go up above you immediately die so you be careful because you can’t stay under the water forever. If you get bitten in the water and you don’t know what to do carry  a shock with you. Stab it right in your heart. If you want to live it’s like having a tiny army in your heart. They kill all of the venom that comes from the snake and that is the only way to survive. So don’t reckon you don’t have enough answers. You don’t want to know what is the other side of the story. If you do, you can hear it a dozen times if you want.

 

Once upon a time there was a boy. He was looking for mud crabs. He lifted a couple of rocks. He counted all of the rocks. He picked up one, two, then he found a snake. The snake was just peaking out. You could just see its head. He was just sticking out of the sand. He walked away. The snake came out of its hole. He slithered into the water. The water was dark. The boy’s name was Jaden. Then suddenly he felt something in the water. He stuck his hands under the water and wriggled around. Then he felt something around his finger. He pulled his finger out of the water then he saw a snake. He didn’t feel anything when it bit him but he took one step and then he got a really bad pain in his legs, then he took another step then he felt another really bad pain, but then he took his last step and he dropped to the ground. His dad called the ambulance and the reptile service to see what it was but it was too late. He was already dead and that is how the water cobra got its name.

 

Now let’s get going on to Part 2. That is my other book.

(© Hayden, Stage 2, December, 2008)

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