A Few Questions?

[Drevj12]

I've always been fascinated by venomous snakes. As odd as it is for me to fall in love with a brown and tan sidewinder when my favorite kinds of nonvenomous snakes are the big and colorful caramel Burmese Pythons and Vietnamese blue beauty snakes, etc. But anyways, I was wondering if anyone here may know of someone in the southern Indiana/Kentucky area who would be willing to be a mentor and teach me to handle and keep venomous snakes. I wouldn't get one anytime soon. After all, I still don't even have the two nonvenomous dream snakes I mentioned earlier. And even in the case that I never own a hot snake of my own, I'd just love to learn and experience what goes into keeping these gorgeous animals. Lastly, and this is more hypothetical than anything because it'd be years before this could happen, but could I reasonably pick a species of rattlesnake as my first hot if I had proper training? I know Diamondbacks tend to be very short tempered and defensive, but what about other species like Blacktails or Sidewinders? Rattlesnakes are what got me intrigued with snakes in general when I was younger. I'd be just as happy to start off with a Copperhead like most people recommend, cause more snakes always means more smiles. But rattlesnakes just peak my interest a bit more. Thanks in advance for any information.

[sattva]

I have wanted a albino western diamondback rattlesnake for a while now... Don't know if i'll ever get one; The wife won't let me go there...

What I suggest you do is get a lot of practice in with non-venomous snakes and see how long you can go without being bit... I'v definitely been bitten by being stupid... I was polishing the inside of the glass once, with a white paper towel, with Fred my Taiwanese beauty snake in the tank... I might as well have been waving a rat in front of his face... He tagged me on the back of my hand...

Your not planning of holding or milking the snake are you? :no:

[sattva]

Check this guy out!
http://market.kingsnake.com/image/1634340.jpg

[sirtalis]

I had a mentor for a little over a year, basically he gave me his most aggressive king snake and I kept as if it was venemous. you could practice by yourself that way. I now handle his rattlers and gaboons with very little supervision and plan on buying a gaboon for myself sometime this summer. you'll definitely want a good set of snake hooks haha

[TRD]

The thing with venomous is that they are easy to keep, like non-venomous snakes, besides the handling of course. BUT...

Things start to get hard with force feeding, stuck shed/eyecaps, illness, and so on. Not to mention when your taipan or whatever thinks that today is the day to take a leap and get out of the enclosure and ignore the mouse on forceps, or your forest cobra wants to have a closer look at you. The unpredictability of these animals and their potential danger to your health is something you need to seriously consider. Also, your willingness to lose a finger/hand/arm/your life for your hobby, because you happen to like a species which has venom that literally rots your limp off or high potential to kill you even with administration of AV.

The amount of care around keeping venomous goes far beyond knowledge of the species and the way to make a snake room for hots. Just think about the need to always have someone around, even if in another room, when you need to handle them - just in case you get bit. Then there's the keeping of AV at home which has to be procured and for some species is very hard to import to the US, or export from the country of origin. Then there's the need to have consultation with nearby hospitals to prepare them for the possibility of you coming in with a serious Gaboon bite. Everyone needs to understand in full what to do, because you might not be conscious. Then there's also that thing called girlfriend/family/neighbors, who may not be comfortable living with or next to your snakes... and this list will go on forever.

I too, would love to keep some hots, but all those things combined with my busy job, and family, has made me realize it is a path set for disaster. If I would be living alone, with a normal job, I might of considered it.

PS. Also look into the price of CroFab AV which you will need for many species native to the US. If nothing puts you off - that will.

[Scubadiver59]

PS. Also look into the price of CroFab AV (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-10-28/price-drop-for-57-000-snakebite-drug-may-arrive-in-2018) which you will need for many species native to the US. If nothing puts you off - that will.

"...Martin Dickinson of Gainesville, Florida, said he required nine doses after getting bit by a water moccasin after stepping off his porch. The 66-year-old said his total hospital bill was $97,000 -- including $57,000 for the CroFab alone -- though insurance covered all but about $4,000. He said he later visited his dog’s veterinarian and told him about the cost. “He said, you should have come by me,” Dickinson recalled the veterinarian saying. “I only charge $1,500 a dose.”
While Rare Disease’s Anavip, also known as Antivipmyn, would require more vials initially, the company has promised that the total cost of treatment would be cheaper than BTG’s, though it wouldn’t say by how much. Its drug is made through a similar process as CroFab, using horses instead of sheep."

That's enough to put me off of fanged reptiles!

[Drevj12]

Your not planning of holding or milking the snake are you? :no:

Definitely not. I would just like to keep the animals out of interest for all types of snakes. If I were to get something like a pygmy rattlesnake, I'd consider handling one but only with thick gloves and arm protection like this old archery sleeve thing I have in my closet that has a metal plate covering the forearms. I've heard some people on other forums bare hand their pygmy Rattlers and don't find it that dangerous but I'm gonna stick on the safe side regardless. Better to be too safe than dead. 😂 Although now that I've got some ideas, I've been looking into getting something like a Mexican Black Kingsnake or something else kinda small to satisfy my craving for more animals but lack of space at the moment. So I think I'll take this opportunity to find a little feisty snake to practice with. Even if I never get the rattlesnakes and Egyptian cobras I stare at on the internet, it'll be good to get better at handling animals more aggressive than my pet rock...I mean ball pythons. 😂

[Drevj12]

Also, thanks as well for all the other information. As I mentioned, this would be a distant future type of thing. Who knows, maybe by the time I get into these venomous snakes, they'll be captive bred to puppy dog tame levels. As unlikely as that is though, I'd definitely be saving up money for awhile before investing in a venomous snake. I figured it'd cost a lot more than most snakes to care for after the cost of equipment and tank setup. So I'll probably be looking into cost for anivenom too. Plus finding a vet willing to touch the thing in the case that there was an emergency. I appreciate the feedback so far.

[TRD]

I've seen people sitting with West African Gaboon viper on their lap. Just because the snake allows it, doesn't make it a bright idea.

CB animals aren't any less dangerous as WC. WC will stress out easier, but either of them will put you in a world of misery.

MBK is not feisty by a longshot :) There's a world of difference between venomous and non-venomous in terms of attitude, and I don't think there would be a single snake able to properly prepare you for it besides the real deal. Everything comes down to safety procedures in terms of handling, movement, maintaining, and a lot of it also in how well you know the snake, does it trigger on heat, smell, movement, touch. How can I see it is firing up (f.e. how do I know a Gaboon viper is getting ready to strike). Can I grab it if I have to, or do I need to hook it. If a Mamba goes for the great escape, can I grab it, should I? How does it respond? Can I tail a brown snake, what strike directions does a cobra have, what to do when cornered by a taipan, what if my cobra unexpectedly jumps out of the cage and into my lap, how do I respond?

Those things you need to learn from an experienced person who has handled them for many years. It's almost like ancient knowledge passed from generations and not something you can read in books or forums. This is why you need to be educated by someone and not jump in the deep by yourself, even venomous snakes which likely won't kill you can do a hell of a lot of damage to you and to the hobby itself.

PS. I dont keep any venomous, but I did hang out around those snakes for extensive periods in my youth and still follow that hobby almost on daily basis. So please do not take it as fact, but those are just observations I gathered, and explanations I have received from people that do have the experience. But it's not first hand.

[Andy_G]

My advice is to find someone who will mentor you for a long while and show you all the correct procedures. I would definitely keep hots very comfortably if I didn't have kids and had a proper facility to do so but it's not something I really feel I am missing out on myself. There's no real way to prep for keeping them aside from mentoring...but perhaps you may want to look into getting one of the few long, fast and slender neotropical colubrids that are nervous and defensive and try to bite in the face in order to get some hook training in even before you do that. ;)

[Drevj12]

Thanks for the input TRD and Andy G. Even if it won't really help prepare me for a venomous species, I'm definitely gonna look into getting something nonvenomous with a bit of attitude just to practice hook handling and get better at not getting bit. And hopefully somewhere down the road can find a mentor to teach me how to properly keep hot snakes. Thanks for all the information.

[TRD]

Call a breeder that has a large collection of snakes and ask to take over the ******* in his collection :)

There's also rear fanged snakes that are less risk to you, like Boiga's, which are absolutely gorgeous and may have some attitude issues as well. They can be difficult to keep though...

[Catherine]

I've always wanted one too. All I have right now is a ball. And they're probably the most docile snakes in the hobby. *sigh*