Reptile & Amphibian Forums

does anyone know of any type of certification or licensing that would make someone an official snake handler? i guess animal control officers go through formal training and are licensed, but their training goes well beyond snakes to include all animals that may need to be safely removed/relocated. what about all of these snake removal services popping up? i am asking for liablity reasons. for example, if someone on the job removes a snake, can someone say, "but are you a certified snake handler?" or, "have you been through formal training?", or, "what makes you perform this task the proper way?" anyway, if anyone has heard of any type of formal training for a snake handling please let me know, thank you.

I don't know that there is an actual school or agency that teaches a course in snake handling/removals, but I know that some states issue wildlife service permits which allow you to legally catch, hold, and relocate native species. Every state is different, however, so my advice would be to contact your game and fish department.
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Diego

Diego & Tiffany's Zoo:
SNAKES
0.1.0 Boa Constrictor
1.2.0 Corn Snakes (Different morphs)
1.1.0 Hypo Everglades Rat Snakes
1.1.0 Trans-Pecos Rat Snakes
1.1.0 Salt and Pepper Bull Snakes
0.1.0 Amel Pacific Gopher Snake
2.1.0 Sonoran Gopher Snakes
0.1.0 Amel Sonoran Gopher Snake
1.1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnakes
1.0.0 Gray Banded Kingsnake
0.1.1 California Kingsnake
1.1.0 Thayeri Kingsnake
3.2.0 Rosy Boas (Mexican, Temecula, & Mid Baja)
1.1.0 Kenyan Sand Boas
0.1.0 Indonesian Dwarf Pacific Boa
1.1.0 Cape York Spotted Pythons
1.0.0 Ball Python
1.1.0 Western Hognoses
0.0.1 Lyre Snake
0.0.1 Glossy Snake

LIZARDS
2.0.0 Bearded Dragons
0.1.0 Eastern Collared Lizard
1.0.0 African Fat-Tail Gecko
0.1.0 Merauke Blue Tongue Skink
1.4.0 Leopard Geckos
1.0.1 Yellow Niger Uromastyx
1.1.0 Chuckwalla
1.4.0 Banded Gecko
0.0.1 Gold Dust Day Gecko
0.0.5 Sandfish

AMPHIBIANS
1.0.1 Green Tree Frogs
1.0.0 Bubbling Kassina
0.0.1 White's Tree Frog
0.0.2 Gold Frogs
1.0.0 Fire Salamander

nuisance wildlife removal permit covers snake removal. you can acquire one thru your local DNR