I agree you seem to know what you're dealing with. With venomous snakes the important thing is not to get lulled into a false sense of security. Many vipers seem to be so laid back and will just sit curled in a corner of the cage and the thought crosses the mind that surely it would be fine to just reach in and pull out the water bowl by hand... but you can't do it. Snakes are just unpredictable and you have to treat it like it could snap at any moment.

I'm fairly new to hots as well. I've caught copperheads for a while and found them pretty laid back. The good thing about them is they are small and therefore don't have the strike range of the larger cottonmouths or rattlesnakes. Right now I'm keeping a western cottonmouth and a timber rattler. The cottonmouth is extremely laid back and I've never seen it strike at anything. It barely strikes at the mice I feed it (dead). I think they make good first hots as well as copperheads, though go with a smaller one. Like was previously said, keep a native venomous as a first one so you can let it go if you have second thoughts.

The rattlensnake I have is nearly as laid back as the cottonmouth. It has never struck at anything but mice (but boy is that a fast strike) but will coil up and rattle if disturbed. They are a bit faster moving than copperheads and cottonmouths from my experience, so they keep you on your toes a bit more when you are handling them with hooks. The one I have is only around 2 feet but a large one would be harder to deal with.

I choose to keep venomous for a couple different reasons. A simple one is that I find them fascinating, but this wouldn't normally be enough to make me put myself at risk. I mainly keep them because I give educational talks to the public and having the snakes there to point to is much more beneficial than pictures. That way they can compare coloration, body shape, thickness, and size. So the snakes have a purpose.

One recommendation I would have is to make sure you have the tools to handle the snake WITHOUT having to touch it. Though on tv the experts are always pinning the heads, this is very dangerous because if you are unsure of how to do it the snake can wriggle loose and turn and bite you. Even the scrape of one fang can be deadly. To remove my snakes from their tanks for cleaning I use a hook along with a small net that has a long bag. That way I just maneuver the snake into the net and I can twist it up and keep it in there until I'm done cleaning. This works well so far, but I'm also probably going to get some tongs for these purposes.

For getting experience... I don't really thing aggressive nonvenomous snakes have given me any practice dealing with venomous ones because I'm so used to getting bitten. Sure I can handle them without getting bitten, but there's always the comfort that if I need to I can just grab it. And you don't have that with venomous snakes. You could try a rearfanged snake, though I don't think most of these have the same movement patterns as vipers. They are more similar to elapids I think. But that is just my opinion from the little knowledge that I have on them.

Again I am not an expert but thought you might like another opinion.
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1.0 sumatran short tailed python
0.1 ball python
0.1 rosy boa
0.1 corn snake
1.0 mexican king snake
1.1 buttermilk racers
0.0.2 broadbanded watersnakes
0.0.1 yellow bellied watersnake
0.0.1 ribbon snake
0.0.1 western cottonmouth
0.0.1 rattlesnake
1.0 broadhead skink
1.0 bearded dragon
1.0 leopard gecko

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