Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Any close calls that you all wouldnt mind sharing? Ive had a couple that I have really learned from. Never get too comforatble. Thats all I can really say about that.
-Michelle

not THAT close! o_0;
I think our closest was our rattler struck while on a hook and came within a foot of my husband's leg. Other than that we've had pretty decent 'luck'. It's hard to elicit a strike out of our horned adder anymore, even for tease feeding purposes.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

A couple years ago I had recieved a new canebrake and placed him into a locked wooden, plexiglass front cage. A few hours later i went to see how he was doing and he was gone. I couldn't figure out how he could have got out of a locked cage! I took the snake hook and went through all the bedding, removed the hide box with the hook and was convinced he was gone. I then reached inside the cage (Stupid alarms should be going off now) to remove a small piece of driftwood and he had managed to wedge himself between the lip of the cage and the door. How I will never know, but he struck with no warning and hooked onto my thumb. Then he fell into the cage coiled and started rattling. I took all tyhe precautions, and calmed myself down with phone in hand. An hour later the most damage was a small tingling sensation in my thumb and a tiny bit of swelling. I was convinced it was a dry bite and thought no more of it. The moral is...NEVER underestimate your snakes. I was prepared to evacuate the house and start turning over funiture, but there he was hiding in a place that I would not even had thought he could reach. BE CAREFUL. LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES, IF YOU GET A SECOND CHANCE.

This happened to me at a nearby rattlesnake roundup last spring. I got sprayed!

Despite herping and snaking for over 30 years, I had never held a live venomous snake. Remembering the ever-present admonition to never mess with a hot unless you've had professional training, I posed the quiestion to the guys in the "pit": So just where does one get professional training?? Their answer was, "C'mon in!" (to the pit, that is) . So I did. Whereby one of them demonstrated the procedure for pinning and grabbing a Western Diamondback behind the head. I then performed the procedure myself, and ended up holding a hot for the first time in my life - a sizeable WDB, I might add.

All was well, and I felt no concern. I had him solidly behind the head, and had his weight well supported by the other hand and arm. Then it happened - with his mouth wide open, a slight hiss left me with several spots of yellow venom on my hand. If I had had an open sore or wound on that hand, the result could have been as serious as being tagged. Luckily I didn't. I lowered and released the snake, per the method I was shown, and immediately went to wash the venom off my hands.

I don't know if this is something particular to WDBs, or whether any of the Crotalus or other pit vipers are capable of doing the same thing. But I subsequently learned from multiple sources that rattlers can indeed "spit" - or more accurately, spray. Most of the locals double-screen their lock boxes for that very reason! I doubt that it happens by design (a la spitting cobras), but rather it's just something that happens under the right (or wrong) circumstances.
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MichaelB

Then the "sizable" WDB had its head lopped off to further the decimation of the species?

Yeah Michael your the man.

Why dont you do the snakes a favor and help end rattlesnake-roundups ?

Let me clarify. I was not a participant at this roundup, other than the brief opportunity to step into the pit and gain some experience in handling. I was there simply as a member of the public. I had never been to a roundup before. I do NOT endorse these events, or the abusive treatment of the animals. I was not pleased with what I observed, and in fact was appalled at the brutal decapitation, skinning, butchering, and yes, the sale of various internal organs (gall bladders, etc. - apparently for ancient mythical medical remedies!?) that occurred.

In my many years of admiring snakes, I have managed to stay away from the roundups - mainly because of the horror stories and what I figured I would see. But I finally decided to go, just to see if what I had heard and read was true. Regrettably, it is.

If I left anyone with the impression that I was promoting or otherwise endorsing rattlesnake roundups, I deeply and sincerely apologize. I do not! I was simply responding to the question in the original post, and pointing out that envenomation need not be accomplished through injection.
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MichaelB

I never hold my rattler behind the head. The fingers get way too close the pointy end for my comfort. I think it's completely unecessary unless you're actually milking the snake.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

Holding them behind the head is still very dangerous from what I've seen. One of my buddies and myself had quite a collection going on but one of the pigmys would not eat. So my friend was trying to force feed her a pinky when something slipped and the snakes fang went through the side of it's mouth or cheek or something and stuck right into my buddy's thumb. Luckly the only thing resulting after the bite was some pain and a black dot about the size of a small finger nail. I unfortionatly got a full on bite from a C. v. oreganus which sent me to the hospital. I only spent about seven hours in there but that is seven too many.

Jeremy

"Remembering the ever-present admonition to never mess with a hot unless you've had professional training, I posed the quiestion to the guys in the "pit": So just where does one get professional training?? Their answer was, "C'mon in!"

I hope you don't consider yourself professionally trained now because a knuckle dragging hick showed you how to pick up a WDB at a roundup and you only mentioned to get sprayed with venom.
Don't put these idiots on a pedestal, they are just as clueless as you were (they're just too stupid to know better).
There are much safer ways to handle rattlesnakes using proper tools (restraint tubes, hooks, gentle giants, etc). In addition to being dangerous, pinning/grabbing can do serious damage to the snake (especially crotes) if it's done incorrectly.
I dont mean this as an attack on you...I just hate seeing rattlesnake roundup guys portrayed as professionals.
Chris

Your point is very well taken. I certainly don't want to suggest that anyone seeking training in the handling of venomous snakes should run to the nearest and next rattlesnake roundup to get it! That was simply a one-time experience of mine. No, I most certainly do NOT consider myself "trained" !

I'm still interested in getting professional training, tho. This may be an age-old question, but what the heck, I'll ask: So where DOES one get that kind of training?
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MichaelB

I would talk to everyone you know that keeps reptiles and try to find a responsible, experienced venomous keeper in your area. When I set out to get my permit, I was mainly interested in keeping Heloderma. I contacted the SHHS and they referred me to a great guy in south FL who let me work with his collection. I also solicited help on the venomous forums and met someone who lived in my area who had a large venomous collection that I was able to learn from. Usually when you do a venomous apprenticeship, you start out cleaning cages and helping with general husbandry. Once the keeper sees that you're serious they will usually invest more time in you and teach you the skills you'll need. There are plenty of really competent keepers that are completely self taught but I'm still glad I learned this way. I was exposed to a large variety of venomous herps that I'll probably never keep myself but it was still a great learning experience.
I'm sure your roundup experience was educational as well. You got to see this atrocity first hand where most of us have only read about them.
Chris

Thank you very much for the info! Problem around here is that I can't locate a local herp society. But there are a few potential resources I'll check with, based on your ideas.

Yeah, the roundups are atrocious - but surprisingly, not as utterly horrible as I expected. The snakes in the "pit" are kicked, grabbed, and placed under stress that I would consider unacceptable. And as for the butcher shop, I won't even go there. But they bring in quite a few nonvenomous native species, and I was actually surprised at how often people - mostly children - not only were allowed to handle the non-hots, but really seemed to enjoy the opportunity! So despite the terrible mistreatment in general, there indeed are some opportunities for folks to learn to appreciate snakes!
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MichaelB

see my post in venomous forum if interested...mine was a pure accident in the wild though!