The mangrove snake and Janus Sanders
I was bored. It’s not like I had to write something I promised months ago, anyway.
Yes yes I will talk about Orange, I swear.
So, while I was lurking around instead of doing my job, I found this post from Joan:
Uh, so Janus is based on a specific snake. Interesting, I’ve never heard of this one. What kind of snake is it, anyway?
So I did some research and this is the mangrove snake:
As soon as I saw it, the first thought that crossed my mind was “That's the quintessential of a snake”. There are something like 3000 species of snakes in the world, but if I have to pick the one that is the most “snake”, I would definitely choose the mangrove snake.
Then, it’s extremely elegant. I’ve never considered snakes “elegant”. Beautifully dangerous? Yes. Sinuous and deadly? Also. But not “elegant”. And not only this one is strikingly beautiful, but also very, very elegant.
And that’s when I realized that, oh, that’s why Joan & Thomas chose it for Janus: he’s basically how a mangrove snake would look like, if humanized.
I mean, just look at him:
Mangrove snake: black dorso, yellow bands and yellow belly. It’s basically what Janus wears: black outside, yellow inserts, yellow gloves and yellow inside (of the capelet).
And the eyes! Janus has a cat eye, because the mangrove snake’s eyes have slitted pupils like cats - that’s also the reason why the mangrove snake is also known as the "yellow-ringed cat snake".
And the more I searched, the more interesting things I learned. So here I am, spreading these crumbs of knowledge to you, to use them as you please.
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1. A dangerous beast! Or maybe not.
The mangrove snake is a rear-fanged species. That means it doesn’t have two huge fangs like other snakes, but two little tiny fangs in the back of its mouth. Aww, how cute. And usually these tiny fangs are full of venom.
Does that mean the mangrove snake is dangerous? Actually no. It seems dangerous, but it’s only mildly venomous. Its venom can cause pain, swelling and skin discoloration, but there has never been a confirmed human fatality.
So… it’s a snake that looks more dangerous than it actually is. An eeeevil snake, when it’s actually just a snake boy.
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2. It’s not easy to deal with it
This snake is considered “potentially aggressive”. The captive ones are very nervous and even if some species may calm down and allow their owners to take them, the handling should be reduced to a minimum: the snakes can still get easily stressed and, if provoked, they won’t hesitate to strike or bite - even the owner themselves.
So, considering the snake’s nervous nature, the owner must be extremely careful in handling it.
Guys. Gals. Non-binary pals. It's exactly Janus.
He’s potentially aggressive: you do something wrong and he strikes back (just see how he reacted to Roman mocking him in POF). He’s not used to being handled by someone else (aka, to give control to someone else). And dealing with him won’t be a walk in the park - just like dealing with Virgil isn’t.
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3. It eats frog and it’s already hilarious like this
The mangrove snake eats frogs. Yes, it also eats other small animals like lizards, fishes and especially birds (and their eggs)… but frogs.
But hey, we kinda saw it already? We saw him fighting Patton in POF, while he was in the Lilypadton form. Can we consider that a figurative fight between a snake and its prey?
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To my utter surprise, we actually don’t know a lot about the mangrove snake. We don’t know its threats. We don’t even know how many of them are in the world! If you see the conservation status chart (that shows which animals are risking extinction and which not), the mangrove snake is NE, not evaluated. Why? Because there aren’t enough studies about it.
That’s so freaking Janus. A mysterious boy full of secrets, who evades all ways for us to understand him. Is he good? Is he bad? What is he hiding? We might never know.
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Is Janus tall? Considering that all sides have the same height (Thomas’ height), this question makes no sense.
But hey, since someone might need this, the mangrove snake can reach 231 cm in length (7 ft 7 in). So yes, Janus should be pretty tall.
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6. It says “stay hydrated”
Mangrove snakes like water. A lot. In nature, they live in humid places, so they always need water around - like a body of warm water in which they can soak in or just water to drink.
That means Janus enjoying bubble bath is valid and I’m extremely happy about that because nothing screams “self care” more than the snek enjoying some spa time.
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Mangrove snakes are nocturnal animals: they hunt, feed and breed at night. But they also spend most of their daylight hours basking on tree branches 30 meters (100 feet) or higher.
Just imagine the possibilities: the sides searching for him everywhere, while Janus is sunbathing on top of Thomas’ roof, not giving a single damn.
Writers and artists of the fandom, use these information as you please.
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