Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have asked this question before and i get the same response,the response is dont try it and its stupid to try,the question is how exaclty do people tame venomous snakes. I have been racking my brain. They have highly modified heat pits so they know everything is going on and your there, if you use gloves it doesent totally protect bits and if he got used to handling with gloves what would happened if you tryied to hold it without gloves the snake might be jumpy over the new body heat coming from your hands.Also if you try to pin his head and hold it wouldnt you not gain any "trust".I just wanted to here some solid advice from people who has had exsperience making these snakes handleable. I hope i made sense in my theorys and ways of thinking.Well happy Herping!!!!!

I dont ctually know of anyone with a handleable venomous snake, unless the snake is a venomoid and even then they arent that predictable. If you want a tame venomous snake it unfortuantely will be a venomoid I dont agree with keeping venomoids as the surgury is just taking away from not only the snakes natural defenses, but also take away the fact that it is indeed a venomous snake, if you have a venomoid rhino viper(Bitis nasicornis) its like having a blood python with fangs and no venom. I must say the venomoids i have dealt with have been mean except for one. I have seen handlable venomoid rattlesnakes. I wouldnt know about the gloves as the snakes with heat pits use them almost exclusively. I would say to make a venomous snake would take aot of time and probably wouldnt happen. venomoids are more handleable since people can work with them as the person owning the snake doesnt have to worry about envenomation. Hope this helps

Aaron

I have had a few crotalus that were not venomoids that were handlable and I have free handled them which was a dumbass thing to do beings it eventually got me bit when I tried to "tame" a new snake. I no longer practice free handling but I just wanted to say that it can be done without a the snake being a venomoid. I really hope you dont go and start trying this, because it hurts, med bills are expensive and it's just one more thing to urge the government to ban venomous reptiles in the home. Also just because the snake let you hold him a few times does not mean that it is "tame". I do not believe that any wild animal can ever truly be tamed. You may be able to hold them sometimes but they do have an instinct and their fast, so if they decide your a threat while your holding them chances are your gonna get bit.

Best of luck,

Jeremy
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Freehandling hot is just about the dumbest think a hot keeper can do..... Like Alkee said it will get you nothing but bit..... Freehandler take advantage of the already plasid nature of most hots.... Just because a snake is venomous does not mean it will be a nasty snake...... The thing is if the snake does have a bad day and bites there will be big problems..... Freehandling hot is frowned uppon by most hot keeper because it is just an act of machoism and can cause problems for the hot keepers that do everything right...... Freehandling hots is like a time bomb waiting to go off in a persons hand and in some cases it is the same end result.....

>>I have asked this question before and i get the same response,the response is dont try it and its stupid to try,the question is how exaclty do people tame venomous snakes.

The short answer is they don't. You have most likely seen people handling venomoids (venomous snakes with thier venom glands removed). That makes it possible to handle that snake often enough to make it "tame" just like any nonvenomous snake, and these people often don't let on that their snake is actually harmless...

There are also people who free-handle venomous snakes, but in general, they are doing this for short periods and relying on their reflexes, an intimate knowlege of the snake's behaviour, where they can put thier hands, and warning signs that the snake is about to strike. These snakes are NOT tame and these people are taking a risk that they consider acceptable.

If you've kept non-venomous snakes for very long you probably know that even a very tame snake can bite every now and then. I have a burmese python that I've had for at least 5 years and he has bitten me exactly once. I don't think you could reasonably expect any animal to be more tame than that, but if it had been a rattlesnake that once would be enough to ruin me financially if not kill me. Please think about that if you are seriously thinking of doing this.

I have to agree with whoever told you this was a dumb idea, although I would just say it was a "bad" idea. If you fully understood the risks and still decided to try it, then I would call it a "dumb" idea. However, it certainly isn't a dumb question...
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Larry D. Fishel
Side effects may include paralysis
and death but are generally mild.