Meet the Animals
Jessie & James
Western diamondbacks · Crotalus atrox
Double trouble from the desert. Jessie and James are a pair of western diamondback rattlesnakes, both born in July 2024. Jessie is super defensive, while James is super inquisitive and sweet.
Jessie
James
Built-in warning
That famous rattle
A rattlesnake's rattle is made of keratin, the same material as your fingernails. Each shed adds a new hollow segment, and shaking them together makes the famous buzz, a warning that says “back off.” Segments can break off, so counting them won't tell you a snake's age.
Hidden genes
What “het” means
“Het” means a snake carries one hidden copy of a recessive gene. Jessie and James are both het for albino, hypomelanistic (less dark pigment) and hypermelanistic (extra dark pigment). They look normal themselves, but they can pass those genes on to their babies. All three are recognized color forms in western diamondbacks, though published genetic data for the species is limited.
Mealtime
Rat fans
Both Jessie and James love to eat rats. In the wild, their species ambushes rodents, rabbits, birds and lizards, finding warm-blooded prey with heat-sensing pits between the eyes and nostrils, even in the dark.
Field notes
About western diamondbacks
- Western diamondbacks are born, not hatched: females give birth to live young in late summer.
- Adults typically reach about 3 to 5 feet, and a few grow to about 7 feet.
- They live across the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, from deserts to grasslands and rocky hillsides.
- Like all pit vipers, they have heat-sensing pits between the eyes and nostrils.
- Their rattle grows a new segment with each shed, and babies start with just a single “button.”
Cared for by
Braxton “Gilly” Gilbert
Jessie & James is cared for daily by Gilly at Jefe and Friends (Gilly's Exotics LLC). Questions? Email gillysexotics@gmail.com.