Is this man being responsible with these hot snakes?

Praireboyfarmer · 05-27-15, 08:24 PM

There is a man on Youtube who goes by the name "Viperkeeper" and he keeps a large collection of venomous snakes >https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtkM70AX2Ks (If you trust links)

The man treats his snakes like toys. He gets in their face, let's king cobra snap at his ankles, teases them, etc. He isn't some crazy snake wrangler, he's just a hobbyist.

What he does strikes me as being ridiculously careless but he's only been bit a few times in the 30? years he's done it. (once on video if you care to find the video) so he must be doing something right (or just incredibly lucky).

I watch him anyway because if he gets bit and dies that's his problem, not mine. I'm just curious as to what some experience snake enthusiast think.

**Minkness** · 05-27-15, 08:40 PM

All I could do was stare like O_O and go "omg...no...nonono" the entire time of that clip....

Jim Smith · 05-27-15, 08:50 PM

Eventually, his reckless and foolish behavior will catch up with him and his name will be added as a Darwin Award winner. The man is a fool!

FWK · 05-27-15, 09:09 PM

I've been watching Al for a long time and while I do not necessarily agree with everything he does, I have learned a tremendous amount from him about the herpetoculture hobby in general. He takes risks that I never would (particularly with Elvis, the King Cobra you mentioned) but he definitely knows what he is doing and is very experienced. He says himself that he is one to push the envelope at times. I very much agree with his no-nonsense attitude about the hobby as well. In fact I agree with his no-nonsense attitude on many of the subjects that come up in his videos. I see Al much the way I saw Steve Erwin, if you take the videos in with a grain of salt (realize that some of the things they do are for the camera) there is a lot to be learned from them. They both love the animals they work with and want to share that passion. I owe much of my love of wildlife, and snakes in particular, to the influence Steve had on me growing up (and I suspect I'm not alone). And even though the snobbier members of the herping community despise people like Steve, without those willing to push the limits a bit in the name of entertainment in order to share that love kids such as myself would never grow up to even care about wildlife.

pet_snake_78 · 05-27-15, 09:10 PM

He certainly does a lot of things I wouldn't want to do, but I believe he said he's been keeping venomous for over 20 years, so I guess it's worked for him thus far. Personally, I'd hire out some of the work he does rather than take the risk myself (tubing for force feeding and/or medications, etc) but then again I suppose when you have a large venomous collection that sort of thing becomes less practical due to time and financial constraints. I'm not a big fan of saying if X does Y, it's going to cause legislation, though. A human being should be able to make some choices for himself and if a law is passed it has more to do with us needing to fix our societies urge to ban things that are seldom dangerous based on knee jerk reactions than anything else. The number of venomous deaths in the US is not statistically significant, it makes more sense to ban french fries than venomous snakes.

I would also agree that people who put on a good show do encourage many to go on and have more legitimate interests in wildlife later on if done in a way that is respectful toward the animals.

prairiepanda · 05-27-15, 09:11 PM

One hand handling camera, one hand handling hemostats, no snake hooks in sight, 3 separate enclosures open simultaneously(and all 3 snakes occupying separate lines of sight!!!)...how is this guy even alive??? I've seen a lot of photos and videos of people being reckless with hots, but this one is over the top. I wonder if this is his regular feeding routine, or just the way he does things for YouTube?

**Minkness** · 05-27-15, 09:25 PM

Best line yet.....

'*The number of venomous deaths in the US is not statistically significant, it makes more sense to ban french fries than venomous snakes'

However, doing something 'your way' behind closed doors is different than plastering it on YouTube. Someone with little or no experience migt see that snd not take the venomous seriously. This doesn't justmake society see them poorly, but potentially puts some poor idiot in a very bad place.

"One hand handling camera, one hand handling hemostats, no snake hooks in sight, 3 separate enclosures open simultaneously(and all 3 snakes occupying separate lines of sight!!!)..."

I wouldn't do this with non-venomous!!!

MDT · 05-27-15, 09:33 PM

Viperkeeper has been the mentor of at least one person on this board. He knows his stuff.

**Minkness** · 05-27-15, 09:43 PM

I don't think anyone is saying he doesn't know his stuff, just that doing what he does then showing it off is iresponsible.

Perhps to some that might mean the same thing....But I can't speak for them. ^_^;;

KyleKennedy · 05-28-15, 12:26 AM

That man is a damn fool. Atleast keep a machete near by.

eminart · 05-28-15, 05:28 AM

Personally, I wish we herp people wouldn't post everything we disagree with all over the internet. If something really bothers you, contact that person. Publicly fighting among ourselves just gives ammo to the anti crowd.

**Minkness** · 05-28-15, 05:39 AM

Good point Eminart.

MDT · 05-28-15, 05:40 AM

so...based on observation of a couple of YouTube videos, he has been written off as a fool. his wife typically is the one taking the video...that's a "buddy system". Snake hooks/tongs? they're present, you may not see them (he uses hooks frequently). And then we have the admonition to keep (and by inference, use) a machete on the snakes if one gets wonky.

Viperkeeper videos plainly state that "just because i do it this way, you don't need to try this"...he may be showy, but he is def one of the more responsible hot keepers/handlers (with years and years of experience) I have seen. It's not my cup of tea, I have no desire to own hots...but I have respect for this guy.

eminart is on to something folks...contact the dude if you have issues. leave a comment on one of his videos...you don't dig what he's doing? great, glean what is applicable to you and move along. no need to bash the guy on forums, especially when he's not present to refute your accusations.

Pirarucu · 05-28-15, 06:32 AM

Al is well aware that some people (meaning a large percentage of the hot community) disagree with his handling methods. If you tell him so, he will rather impolitely tell you that it's none of your business what he does with his hots.
He used to be better. He used to follow good handling procedures, and that's how he never got bit. As more and more small kids/people who have never kept or been around hots started watching his videos and idolizing him, he got a lot more reckless and seems to view himself as invincible to the mistakes that kill hot keepers. Look at his first videos, and you will see a responsible hot keeper. Look at his newer ones and well... You see a dead man walking. It's only a matter of time before he becomes a part of that "insignificant" statistic.

prairiepanda · 05-28-15, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MDT

so...based on observation of a couple of YouTube videos, he has been written off as a fool. his wife typically is the one taking the video...that's a "buddy system". Snake hooks/tongs? they're present, you may not see them (he uses hooks frequently). And then we have the admonition to keep (and by inference, use) a machete on the snakes if one gets wonky.

I'm not trying to judge his character based on one video, but you have to admit that what he's doing in this particular video is foolish. That doesn't mean he's a fool all the time, but he's certainly being a fool here. There is no "buddy" taking the video for him this time, and if hooks are present in the room they are not in a location that is easy to reach on short notice, as we had a view of pretty much everything arm's distance around him in the room.

I looked through some of his other videos and indeed his videos are perfectly fine. Very educational, some of them. But a lot of the newer ones make me cringe. I think this one is the worst of them, though. While some of them are just missing some precautions here and there, this one is suicidal.