Nice to see a well thought out question. Sounds like you've been considering all of the angles and the bottom line is that only you know if you are ready. Unfortunately, many who think they are ready really aren't but by the sound of it, my guess is that you have done your homework. Working with a species you are interested in is very important. Although I normally don't recommend keeping exotic venomous unless you have access to antivenom, eyelash vipers are actually a very easy snake to keep and to manage. They ride a hook very easily and a fairly straightforward to keep. Just make sure you have the proper equipment - proper length hook with a narrow end for ease in manipulating small arboreals, long hemostats for feeding and for removing sheds, debris, water bowl, etc.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center


>>Greetings,
>> I am new to the Forums here. I have a few questions that I hope can be answered for me. I have been keeping various species of snake for several years, most of them have been the Srub python and the Green Anaconda. Some nice and some not so nice. I am not going to ask if I should or should not keep venomous. I believe that the keeper is the only one who can answer that for him or herself. Only you can know if you are ready. However being that some are more dangerous than others I decided to see what is good to start with. I am looking into rear fanged to start with, mangrove and then move to a copperhead for my first front fanged. I have young children so my safety is of the upmost priority and concern. I want no accidents nor do I need an escapie and have the possibility of bad press adding any more damage to our all ready rising herp issues and regulations. I have looked into venomoid as a possibility for my childrens safety however after dooing much research have decided to pass. Not only unethical but too many possibilities of the ownknown,. I do not want to teach myself bad habbits knowing that in a last ditch effort I can always just grab it to retrive it, better to just learn the proper techniques and leave no question on what to do. I realize the best way to learn these techniques is with a trainer or mentor but that is not an option for me at this time. I have read that to learn with fast non venomous like racers or coachwhips. I really do not want to own something that I have no interest in keeping but only as a teaching aid. However if that is the best way then so be it, I want to keep eyelash vipers but need to learn the proper handling techniques and use of the locking hide bax and the hook. Do not want to handle them just keep them to enjoy for what they are,. I am looking to get some positive feedback on keepers of venomous and what may be the best to start with or non venomous species to learn to be able to responsibly keep these reptiles. My apologies for the long post just wanted to give a little background as to why the posting.
>>
>>
>>Peace..............
-----
Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

[ Show Entire Thread ]