Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just a simple question from someone relatively new to venomous snakes. What's your favorite rattlesnakes to work with and why?

Personally I think Crotalus Atrox is my favorite. They never refuse a meal, they don't get too tremendously large, they are active, they come in all kinds of great morphs, they do wonderful in captivity, and they never cease to perform when they are on center stage. On the downside, their venom is extremely tissue destructive, but hey, we all knew that coming into this hobby.
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Dustin Smith

lEPIDUS, DO YOU HAVE TO ASK. Always feed well many forms it takes thousands of hours of herping to find a few,.Just the most awsome snake.If you field collect not road hunt you find the best ones .They put me in the eliment at one with nature.2 atrox they started it all for me easy to find a challenge to catch a big one over 5 ft hard to find.In 81 found one 75 inches over 13 pounds.In 2006 found one over 6ft what I liked best was watching it crawl away in the dark to breed again what a feeling.
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Archie Bottoms

anyone working with captive bred lepidus? I have actually seen one at a guys house when I was picking up a trio of blue beauties. Guess I forgot about it because the guy was kind of foolish. Had an adult gaboon viper just sitting around in a rubbermaid tote on the floor...failed to mention that until I almost tripped over it. Definitely some interesting people in the venomous world...ALL THAT ASIDE, my point was I remember that snake being gorgeous, and I'm glad someone reminded me of it!

I know a bunch of breeders of lep .
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Archie Bottoms

Crotalus cerastes...I know they are ussually a dime a dozen.... but if any rattlesnake can be termed "cute" these definately apply... they are pretty active, mine are REALLY arboreal and they ACTIVEL hunt and eat small food which doesn't hurt my wallet

There's just something special about Crotalus willardi. Rare in captivity, a unique look, good personality. Just make me drool...

Here's mine:
- Timber Rattlesnake
- Eastern Massasauga
- Eastern Diamondbacks
- Willards
- "ivory white" speckled rattlers

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center

>>Just a simple question from someone relatively new to venomous snakes. What's your favorite rattlesnakes to work with and why?
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

The only two I've ever worked with (and only in the field, not captivity) are viridis and atrox. Of the two, I like atrox more. Bigger but less cranky than our local viridis. Easier to hook and tong.

That said...I want so bad to work with polystictus.

Yes polystictus are sweet although I have never worked with them. My favorite rattlesnake is definitely Blacktails. Absolutely gorgeous and easy to work with. Large but not too large. I also like Canebrakes. Very beautiful. Eastern Diamondbacks were also up there. Very big and beautiful. Honorable mention must go to the C. durissus tzabcan. The Cincy zoo has a huge display of them and it was impressive.

Dan

It's the RED DIAMOND of course. They get very large, beautiful, and are known for their gentle nature. They rarely rattle and are a free handlers dream. Got to just HUG them! IT'S REDS FOR SURE. S.

It is not wise nor advised to go on about telling people a certain specie is a "freehandlers dream" Freehandling in general is a poor choice in the venomous community as a whole due to safety but more concerning about our imagine, laws and AV supply

Mine would be canebrakes followed closely by eastern diamondbacks.