Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello all,i have been keeping snakes(non-venomous)for almost 20years.i have kept all kinds,started with yellow rats when i was eleven.currently i am keeping a texas bullsnake,a northern pine,and a green anaconda.
recently i have started noticing how beautiful some venomous snakes are,and it appeals to me.believe it or not,i am really interested in copperheads,i live in south eastern PA so they are native,but i have never seen one in the wild.and i spend alot of time looking.
so what i am after is someone to teach me the ropes,suggestions on a good first venomous snake would be appreciated.obviously i am not naive,the suggestions i am looking for,are what is a "durable" snake?of the three i own now,the bull and pine are garbage disposals,not easily stressed,and just plain old simple.the conda on the other hand is very shy,will stop eating at the slightest stress,you get what i'm saying...
thank you for your time.
rob the cowboy.

ome snakes to look into for a good starter venomous would be eyelash viper southern copperhead or idk bout good starter but i started off with 2 western massasauga rattlesnakes ...maybe even try a rear fanged to start off with.....popular belife is gaboon vipers are good starter they are NOT good starters they may be docile but have a nasty bite and you still have a chance of dieing even after reciving antivenin just some tips -josh

There are some really good keepers in PA.What I would do is get with one up there and start working with some of his or hers and get comfortable with working protocal of venomous snakes.Then after you get some experience you will know what you might be happy with.I do not like the idea of getting a snake just so it can be your first hot.Once you have dealt with venomous for awhile you can then decide what is right for you.This topic is very very old so I may be stealing someone elses Ideas so I apoligize now.A copperhead will not prapare you for a mamba or a cobra,You must become comfortable with the protocals of what you like.I keep mostly small pitvipers but I have kept and worked with most available species these are what I like.Copperheads are by far my favorite snake transpecos being my all time.Yet I keep other snakes I also like.I have 35 years of experience and I still ask questions and learn every day.Always be open to new ideas as this hobby is expanding daily.Good luck.............
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Archie Bottoms

i live in pa around pittsburgh. northern copperheads are not legal to keep here but you can keep the others i have southern and osage. like the other two said find someone to help ya out.

Only you can decide whether or not you are ready to keep a venomous snake. A good "hot" to start out with is always a copperhead of any type, although young copperheads can be difficult eaters. Copperheads are a native species and antivenom is usually readily available, not to mention copperhead bites are rarely life threatening. In my experience, rattlesnakes are good eaters and hardy snakes, but their bite is a bit more serious than a copperhead. In any case, great care and caution should be taken no matter what venomous snake you decide to get. Hope this helps.

My thought is you should go with what is really appealing to you, but be safe as well. You mentioned your reason for getting interested is because you noticed how beautiful some of the venomous are. Well, I would say go with one of those, but stay on the smaller side.

All the other advise about working with someone elses collection still apply too.

But I also want to add...remember there are LOTS of species of beautiful non-venomous species. If you are interested in beauty and you want something a little bit more on the difficult and "edgy" side, you can still get that with a non-venomous snake and not have to deal with the extreme consequenses of mistakes.

Thank you to everyone for the advice,i will be trying to make a friend,with someone who has experience with hots.to clear a few things up,i am not just interested in the venomous because of their beauty,the animal it-self,as with any other animal i keep is just quite interesting to me.i would venture to guess,my first will most likely be a copperhead(i agree with whoever mentioned the trans-pecos).

u should do a copperhead first i just caught one a week ago i live in florida and took a vacation to connecticut and the copperhead was actually so calm i could have probably just held it not by the tail o and by the way im only twelve he was my first venomous

Be careful young man snakes can fool you.
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Archie Bottoms