For the second year in a row Bio-Ken has been awarded a certificate of excellence by Tripadvisor.

Thanks to everyone who visited!

We are occasionally asked for our opinion regarding the use of pressure bandaging in snakebite first aid. Our current position at Bio-Ken on its use is described below.

Many publications on snake bite treatment continue to advocate the use of pressure bandaging. This was first found to be useful in Australia where all the venomous snakes cause neurotoxic symptoms (which cause paralysis).

Even so, it was found that most people did not have sufficient stretchy bandage available within the first few minutes after a bite (it is useless if applied later as the venom spreads rapidly), and seldom knew how to apply it at the correct tension. As a result precious time was wasted which would have been better used in getting the patient to a medical facility.

Bio-Ken offer a free 'remove-a-snake' service for people in Watamu and the surrounding area, which of course does extend to all manner of reptiles (including crocodiles!).

We recently received a call from Ute Goodwin, a Malindi resident, informing us that she had a Monitor Lizard in her house, and asking if we were able to remove it.

Below is a write up from guests who recently experienced a 12 day snake safari. They were a great couple and we all had a really good time together. Thanks to Leslie Polizoti and Craig Ransom for the following review:

'My boyfriend and I just returned from a 12-day “snake” safari with Kenya Snake Safaris run by Royjan and Clare Taylor. Although we are both keenly interested in snakes, we also wanted to see other Kenyan wildlife, including birds, as well. Royjan and Clare planned the perfect trip for us, which took us from Nairobi National Park to the Naibosho Conservancy (a private, unfenced conservancy adjacent to the famous Maasai Mara game reserve) to Lake Elementeita (in the Rift Valley) to the coast of Kenya, including Tsavo East and the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. We saw everything we hoped we might see, and much more...

CNN Travel have published an article titled '10 things you probably didn't know you can do in Kenya' written by their correspondant, Phillippa Stewart.

Alongisde such iconic Kenyan adventures and activities such as the Rhino Charge, Classic Safari Rallying, fostering elephants, breakfasting with giraffes, and indulging in a Carnivove feast; are Royjan Taylor's Kenya Snake Safaris.

All currently available presentations from the recent 8th Bio-Ken Snakebite Seminar can be found on our Slideshare account.

Further content and discussion generated from the seminar will be uploaded over the coming weeks, so please look out for updates on our blog and social media accounts.

Following the recent Bio-Ken Snakebite Seminar, we have a host of fresh, informative content, thanks to our visiting speakers and a weekend of networking and discussions among the 150 seminar attendees. Over the coming months we will consolidate and share much of this content online, please keep an eye on our Social Media accounts for links to the content as and when it goes live on our website.

A snippet of such content comes from the very informative lecture given by Professor Warrell on The Correct Management of Severe Scorpion Stings in Africa. As many of our readers are aware, there was a recent severe scorpion sting in Meru National Park. This case provided the basis for one of the lectures at the seminar.

A phone call from a local Watamu resident alerted the Bio-Ken 'Saving Snakes' team that a Green Mamba had been seen in a tree.

Royjan and Godana soon arrived to find a gathering of builders peering into a bush thicket.

The snake was indeed a green mamba, and the video below show the capture and removal of the snake.

An outline of the seminar programme, speakers, and lectures being held over the course of the seminar.

Tuesday 6th November 2012 - 1:05pm

While working on plans for the Snakebite Seminar (which is being held in Watamu this Saturday) we got a call from our Farm Foreman, Boniface reporting that a lady had called Bio-Ken to say that she had two snakes in her kitchen. Anna Karimi, who runs a small farm in Mijomboni, had recently visited Bio-Ken Snake Farm in Watamu and took note of our SAVING SNAKES initiative. She decided not to kill the snakes and rather called us to catch and remove them.

A recent news clip aired on local Kenyan TV and uploaded to You Tube (shown below) shows a harmless Speckled Sand Snake being killed.

I can’t believe that in 2012 this is the situation on the ground in Kenya. A harmless snake (the Speckled Sand Snake Psammophis punctulatus) was butchered unnecessarily on TV. It wasn’t even in a house or compound…it was sitting up high in a tree and it was brought down and killed.

Royjan Taylor and his team are called to Mida near Watamu where a Python recently killed a goat.

This video shows them capturing the python, and gives an insight into the work done for the Saving Snakes campaign.

Yesterday, the Bio-Ken team received word at 6.30 pm that a large snake had just eaten a domestic cat at an Arabuko Sokoke ranger post near Gede.

Director, Royjan and Foreman Bonficace immediately made their way to Gede from Watamu where they were directed to some scrub behind the rangers accommodation building.

Bio-Ken Snake Farm has been awarded a Certificate of Excellence by Tripadvisor.

The vast majority of independent visitor reviews were Excellent or Very Good.

Bio-Ken Snake Farm will be hosting the Eighth International Snake-bite Seminar on Saturday 10th November 2012 at Turtle Bay Beach Club in Watamu, Kenya.