Venomous snakes.

[rbegley0012]

I been wondering how many of the users here own poisonous snakes, I have seen plenty of people on here with a black widows but does anyone have any experience with Rattlesnakes or horned vipers? I been pondering on having a rattlesnake but I feel like it would be way too dangerous and too much trouble. Any experiences here?

 

[carlson]

I don't own any but I have a buddy who's been dipping his toes into pigmy rattlers as his first hot snake. From what he says there's no know reported deaths from them, they'll make you uber sick tho. Where we live there isn't any professional to teach him, so he picked the least deadly to work with. He's had snakes for like six years. If you wanna deal with hots from what I've been told the best way to get into it is have a pro help you learn the ropes, some states before you can legally own them you need to go through training (so many hours) an then you get a card stating its cool for you to have them. That's what I've been told bout them at least not sure if its helpful tho haha

 

[The Snark]

You've never kept poisonous snakes and are considering getting rattlers? Rough analogy: rattler; loaded gun sitting on coffee table in a room full of curious clumsy people.

 

[Najakeeper]

Let me start by looking like the a..hole and pointing the terminology mistake: "There are no poisonous snakes, but there are venomous snakes. Poison is ingested, venom is injected."

I make this correction because this simple mistake usually indicates that people who make it are not ready to take on this challenge, as anyone that does the proper research about venomous snakes, learns this terminology first.

As a snake bite survivor, I urge you to not to take this decision lightly. I love this hobby and I love the interest people have for venomous snake keeping but caution is the first step here. My advice for you to find an experienced keeper, convince him/her to mentor you for a while. If you think you can manage after working with the animals under supervision, then start considering the first hot snake with your mentor. The best option would be a local species as antivenom will be available for it and the hospitals will have experience with bites.

I am here to help with more questions.

 

[Entomancer]

I agree with Najakeeper.

I've been keeping snakes since I was about 7, but I'm not messing with venomous; at least not yet.

You should find a more seasoned keeper to show you the ropes. If you are bitten, and do not die, then not only will you be paying out big bucks to the hospital, but you risk bringing in more bad press about reptile keepers and how they're a "threat to the lives of everyday people".

There are (unfortunately) some species of venomous snakes that I really, really like, and would love to become more acquainted with someday. There's a couple of places in my state (Oregon) where you can get venomous snake training "classes", and I'm going to enroll in them when I get the chance, before I even consider taking the risks involved in keeping venomous.

 

[cantthinkofone]

Def with najakeeper. I HATE when someone says poisonous. My number one reptile pet peeve it makes me feel like I should just hit them. True story I have been really mean with this one. One time a friend asked if it was "poisonous" I simply responded you can eat it not me. Have you ever owned a snake? If not then go get an aggressive snake and raise it for a couple years. Every time you get bit write a note to self I could have died there. Then decide. I'm guessing if you are calling it poisonous you may not have seen a gaboon a** over head explosion or a strike inches from your face. Put it on the back burner for a bit.