Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am a new intern at an agriscience center, and we have a total of twenty snakes that I have been put in charge of. So far there have been no major problems, but it has not been easy. These snakes are not used to be handled other than for feeding time, so taking them out of their enclosures puts them on edge.

I have heard a lot of great advice on dealing with this and other techniques of picking them up. This website has been an amazing resource!

My main question now is is there anything that could serve the same purpose as a snake hook/tong? I know they aren't exactly really expensive, but the center doesn't have any extra money in their budget. I am currently earning $0 a day, so I can't purchase one. Some of the snakes are fine with being handled now, but others bite every time. If there is any common household item or anything of the sort that anyone has used to pick up fiesty snakes, I could really use the info! I am currently using a school ruler...not that effective.
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2.1 Ball Pythons
1.0 Boa Constrictor
0.1.2 Red-Tailed Boa
0.0.3 Corn Snakes
1.1 Bull Snakes
1.0 Baby Sand Boa
0.0.1 Pueblan Milk Snake
0.0.6 California Kingsnakes

When I was a kid, I made hooks out of:

1. a shelf bracket screwed to an old sledgehammer handle
2. an old hoe (the garden kind, not the streetwalker kind) with the blade broken off, leaving only the L-shaped bracket that holds the blade. It would've worked better if I had ground the bracket down to allow it to slide under the snakes.
3. coat hanger wire looped around and bent into the proper shape and duct taped to a handle.
4. one of my mom's metal barbecue skewers, heated over a flame and bent into shape.

I don't remember using these much, but if you're resourceful and broke, you can always find something. See if anyone you know works with metal; they may be able to help you piece something together.

You might also try dropping a cloth, such as a pillowcase, over each snake before you lift it. I used to do this all the time with aggressive wild caught snakes. With a little technique and practice, you can lift even large aggressive colubrids without getting bitten.
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1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Pueblan Hypo
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.1.0 California King Blue-eyed Blond
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

AS a kid looking for snakes, we used old golf puttres for hooks.

Boneiface

While it isn't free unless you happen to have the items, I have had good luck with a wooden mop handle (cut to length if needed) and a rubber coated bicycle hanger. These hangers are just hooks that are designed to screw into a wall or ceiling and are "almost" shaped perfect. You will probably want to heat it up and bend it a bit to get it just right (this isn't good on the rubber of course). Total cost was less than 10 bucks at Wal-Mart, no shipping charges obviously, and took about 10 minutes to make. It is extremely strong and can not only lift a full grown colubrid easily, it can withstand quite a bit of field use turning rocks and fallen trees. I would suggest pre-drilling a hole for the hanger since those handles are made of really hard wood and I was unable to get the hook screwed in without a hole drilled. Don't try to bend the hook after it is in the handle, it will split the wood if you put that much force on it.

Good luck.

Another cheap alternative I have used is aluminum gun cleaning rods. You bend one end to a hook shape and flatten it out with a hammer and you have a decent three part snake hook.

You can also buy cheap steel rods at most hardware stores. You might need a vice to bend the hook shape into it then cut it to length and wrap tape around the end as a handle.

If you want something fancier, try making the aluminum/steel hook by bending the rod then buy a cheap used golf club at the Goodwill store or pawn shop (usually cost about $1-$2). Cut off the club head then use JB Weld to glue your hook into the shaft. Those hooks can really take a beating.

There was an interesting thread about this on another website recently.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

I have seen some cheap hooks made by bending extra heavy gauge wire or thin metal rods into hooks and then using plastic handle dip to make the handles by dipping repeatedly. They work great and cost next to nothing.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

I actually just bought an aluminum rod from a hardware store for (I think) around 3 dollars and just bent it using an old metal pipe.
After that, just wrap the other end with duct tape or whatever is on hand.

Its worked great so far.

1" or so diameter dowel or broom handle. Drill a pilot hole and screw in one of those right-angle screw-in utility hooks. Then you can coat the exposed hook with plasti-grip liquid tool handle coating if you want to go that far.

You can also paint the wood dowel camo so nobody sees you snake hunting
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Mark

Alternative hooker and hoes, oh my. I had to double-check to see what forum I was on.

Go to Wal-Mart and buy a camping fork (used to roast hot dogs, etc,). Ozark Trail makes one that can easily be converted into a nice snake hook for a total cost of $4 - $5. Here's the link to a "How to" webpage: $5 Snake Hook

Have fun!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

www.natures-signature.com

Thank you everyone for all the ideas!

This was really helpful, and I greatly appreciate the tips. I must say a special thanks to HappyHillbilly. The website made a huge difference. I've never been much of a DIY kind of guy (not because of lack of interest, just because I haven't really needed to be), so some of the materials mentioned in posts I had never heard of. The pictures and instructions on your website were perfect for someone as DIY-defunct as me.

Thanks again!
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2.1 Ball Pythons
1.0 Boa Constrictor
0.1.2 Red-Tailed Boa
0.0.3 Corn Snakes
1.1 Bull Snakes
1.0 Baby Sand Boa
0.0.1 Pueblan Milk Snake
0.0.6 California Kingsnakes