Maybe someone can help me with this (since this topic fascinates me to a degree)...snakes will always be wild animals. IF you handle (or keep) them long enough, venomous or nonvenomous, you're bound to get struck. I realize this as an above average herp keeper and take on that responsibility. However, I don't (&never will) keep anything venemous (or anything over 6-7 feet, where you need multiple people to help with the animal)...but thats just me. A while back I volunteered in a top zoo's herp dept for about 2 years which taught me many things (but by all means I am NOT an expert).
1) I may be wrong so don't quote me...Once a zoo gives up antivenom for an animal, they can not enter or open its enclosure for any reason until a new supply of antivenom is in stock. (this means the snake can go for a while without any care). I may have heard this wrong but someone told me once that some zoo's require the antivenom source to be from the country of origin of the species.
2) and no matter how experienced a keeper is....they ALL seem to show some fear or nervousness (& respect) when dealing with anything venomous. I mean, honestly, who wouldn't be...most all venomous species are very intimidating to even look at. One of the scariest-most adrenaline producing things in a zoo is to watch them go through snake bite drills and not knowing if its a false alarm or the real thing.
3) Herp keepers in zoo's deserve a lot of respect and credit for what they do, b/c you REALLY have to love snakes to put your life on the line for them...and only get paid 30-40K/year.
4) Venomous species in a zoo serve many functions...mostly education. What I don't understand is what function do 'hot' snakes serve in a private collection unless the keeper is contributing to cutting edge research or for antivenom.

I think once someone decides to keep venemous, its no longer a hobby but a serious risk & dangerous profession, & even if you are skilled and on top of your game, everyone, and I mean everyone has bad or off moments. Do private collectors keep additional life insurance policies?

Please note that these are all just my opinions and observations and I do not wish to offend anyone. PLUS, I just watched Discovery channels show where the guy almost died from a rattlesnake bite.

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