First let me reitterate a little about coppers. While coppers are not cinsidered to be a deadly species, they are, none the less, venomous and dangerous. Copperhead venom generally causes intense swelling, SEVERE pain, and perhaps necrosis. While i am unaware of any copperhead related deaths, I am told that the bite may make you wish you were because of the pain and many a person has lost fingers to them. Not a snake to be taken lightly.
Now onto the actual information.
Coppers are one of my favorite snakes. Theya re beautiful and inquisitive. There seems to be a broad range of temperaments. Many are calm as they can be, others strike repeatedly. But as a general rule, I have found them to hook nicely and one of the easier hots to tube. Try to get an established snake of about 8 - 10 inches. This should help eliminate some of the feeding issues. With a first hot, the last think you want to have to do is force feed and/or pin. For substrate, i use Cypress mulch or Euceliptis (sp) mulch. I try to keep the hot side in the mid 80's and offer a cooler side with multiple hides if possible. At the very least, some cover for them. If your enclosure is large enough to allow, you can ge the hot spot up to about 90, but only if you have an enclosure that would allow for a cool side of the mid 70's. Now if you use an aquarium (not recommended for hots without modification), it doesnt matter too much on water bowl placement as you can poor it through the top. I use all Precision Caging for my hots. These are front opening with internal heat, stackable, and one of my favorite features, the vent hole is in the back so some idiot doesn't lay their hand on top of the screen and get a fang in the palm! Seen too many instinces like that and alot of people luck out that the fang missed! Another advantage to the front opening cages is changing the water. This is about the only thing i still use Pilstrom Tongs for (removing water bowls and cage deco) as they can easily injur the snake. When moving into hots, always have a set of tubes. They ar there for the original purpose, but they come in very handy. When water gets a little low, I can open the cage and run water down the tube to the water bowl. No pulling out the snake, no stress on them or me, and a pretty safe method as you are 3 feet away. Just remember that ANYTIME a cage opens, you should have at least one hook nearby. I will convey the Holy Grail of Copperhead hooks as far as i am concerned, The Midwest Ultralight Hook. I rarely use anything else for coppers and it is probably my most frequently used piece of equipment with a Midwest Standard Hook coming in second. The Ultralight is less than 20 bucks at
Midwest Products . With a little practice you will get to know where on each snake to place the hook. Some are worms and will slide off in a matter of 3 seconds, some will perch nicely for an hour. Be sure to have a good secure holding container, preferably with a handle on the top for safety's sake.
As with anyone interested in hots I highly recommend joining the Southeastern Hot Herp Society, It is the largest venomous community in the world. The homepage is
HERE and dont be fooled by the site. The site contains for info than anywhere else ont he net about hots, but it is just the tip of the iceburg, membership gets you so much more.
Also here is a link to a
Copperhead Caresheet by Mardi Snipes. Mardi is a really good keeper and has some great advice in there.
Well, as usual, I am work, so I cannot spend too much time on a long thread (this is not one of my long ones
). If anything else pops into my mind i'll add it, or if you have any specific questions just ask. We have several good hot keepers here to help.
For Copperhead owners and all other experienced hot keepers...
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