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Venomous snakes

I stumbled upon a website last night and it had my attention for over an hour. It was a site that was dedicated to the hobby of hot herps...venomous snakes...complete with a classified section for people selling and trading venomous snakes...rattlers, mambas, bushmasters, taipans and even cobras!

I've always been fascinated by these animals and even had a 7 1/2 foot boa constrictor...by venomous snakes...in your house?

If there is anyone in the chat room that has this hobby please enlighten me on this topic...it just totally blows my mind that someone would take such a risk.
 
not really that big of a risk if you have a good head on your shoulders and can keep your testosterone under control. the big risk with venomous snakes comes when you milk them for their venom(which the average hobbiest doesnt do) in fact other than the large vipers(hard to deal with just cause their large size and bulk) and the true cobras(Naja) do to speed and short temper, king cobra do to size and intelegence and mambas due to their speed, most venomus snakes arent that difficult or dangerous to care for if you take precautions. death adders, small rattlers, copperheads and most small vipers can be kept with a fair amount of saftey to their owners and the general populace. however if your going to keep medically significant venoumous snakes you should have a seperate secure snake room. not hard to do and can probably be done with minimal expence and time.

personally i dont keep venomous at the moment, infact Montana recently banned front fangeds and boomslangs. however i have kept a number of non-medically significant rear fangeds such as false water cobras(Hydrodynastes). venomous snakes have there own attractions just like CPs, though on a more limited basis ofcourse. some keep them cause they like the macho feeling of keeping hots, some are just interested in rattlers or cobras, some keep them for their beauty. there are few snakes that can compare to the colors of some of those aboreal vipers.
 
I agree that they are quite beautiful. I would love to go to a facility to see a real live King Cobra, Taipan, Black Mamba, Bushmaster, etc and see them handled and just appreciate them for the truly magnificent animals they are. There is really nothing like that here in New England that I know of. I wouldn't want them in my house but I wouldn't be against the opportunity to work with and observe someone who is experienced with them.

I emailed a guy who specializes in Bushmasters to find out how they would ship it to you...I would certainly think one would not roll up to the post office with one...the guy hasn't gotten back to me and must think I'm an idiot. I think it's a fair question, I'm not trying to break the guys stones or anything.
 
how do they ship hots? very simple, via Delta. strict packing protocals MUST be followed. the seller drops the boxed snakes off at the airline and you must pick them up at the airline at your end. if they are shipped almost* any other way they are breaking the law and you could also get in serious trouble.

im not sure whats in you area as far as going to see these species. have you checked out any of the large zoos over there? the St. Louis zoo had a decent collection. if your ever in Rapid City, South Dakota, they have an absolute world class collection of venomous snakes at Reptile Gardens.

Sheridan S.

*there may be one or 2 other similar ways but i am not sure
 
Check out this topic from earlier this year about my trip to Cape Fear Serpenterium. It's awesome.
Cape Fear Serpentarium

It has almost every snake you mentioned.
I am thinking of volunteering there very soon.
 
Also, make sure they're not wild collected. And make absolutely sure you can take care of them. That they won't escape or anything. And I'm sure you wouldn't do this but don't release them if you can't take care of them for some reason. There's a big problem with these kinds of things. They escape/are released and then little kids are finding them in garages or something. I think even reticulated pythons have invaded the everglades.
 
Oh believe me, I have no intentions of purchasing a venomous snake for 2 reasons...I would like to stay married and I enjoy breathing. I just find them interesting. Is there an official certification one can get to handle venomous snakes, I guess sort of like the equivalent of Q School for the PGA Tour?
 
depends on the state. some make you do an apprenticeship of sorts before giving you a licence. some states, like montana up until a few months ago, had no licencing at all, anyone could own them. personally i think it should be a bit more twords the first. not necisarily an apprenticeship, though if it is availible i would VERY highly recomend it, i would think more along the lines of a permit from your state Dept. of Fish and Wildlife or Dept of Agriculture type thing. basically an annual fee of $100-$200 that covers paper work and an yearly inspection showing that you have proper caging and a seperate, secure reptile room. anyone who wants one can apply and get the licence if they want. simple, miniml red tape and should keep the public in general saticfied
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (TheAlphaWolf @ July 09 2005,10:10)]Also, make sure they're not wild collected. And make absolutely sure you can take care of them. That they won't escape or anything. And I'm sure you wouldn't do this but don't release them if you can't take care of them for some reason. There's a big problem with these kinds of things. They escape/are released and then little kids are finding them in garages or something. I think even reticulated pythons have invaded the everglades.
Almost a bullseye! It's Burmese pythons. Check this url our...

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/06/0603_040603_invasivespecies.html

Cheers,

Joe
 
  • #10
actually last i heard there was a small but stable boa constrictor population there
 
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