Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey there,

I am new and I have a very dumb question. I will be working at a new petstore in the herp department. I have a little experience with lizards and turtles but virtually no snake experience. my question is this how can you tell the difference between a venomous snake and a non venoumous snake. i know that we cant sell venomous snakes at the store but i would like to be able to tell the difference in case of some sort of shipping mix up or in case someone walks in with a snake they no longer want. any help will be appreciated greatly. i will be getting some in depth training with the snakes we will be selling to start off with however I would like to have as much knowledge as possible before i start ordering. ( i will also be doing the ordering as well as caring for the animals.) thanks alot guys!

matt

Best way I can think of is to know the names of non-venoumous and snakes. There's the old "if it has a diamond shaped head it's venoumous" rule - but that only applies to snakes native to the U.S.
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depends on where you live. Best way would be to get a field guide

See if there are two puncture marks or a horseshoe shaped row of tiny marks.

Obviously I'm kidding...
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First of all I'd like to congradulate you on your new job! I'm sure you will take your new responsibilities in stride, please keep in mind that you are often a new pet owners only source of info... be humble and suggest they buy a book about there animal (more sales for you too).
It's great that you have an interest in herps and are seeking info above and beyond your job. There are numerous encyclopedias of reptiles and/or snakes that can be found at a good book store or university supply store (often need special order). These may cost 100-200 dollars so your pet store may decide it's a worth while investment to purchase for everyone's use.
ps, as you will soon find out, that diamond head shape thing is all bs. It took me two secs to think of some USA native exceptions

You know, that's not really a simple question. Some snakes have recently proven to be dangerous even though relatively new books say they're harmless. Most of these are very very rare and most people dropping stuff off will just have common animals. (A tip- boas and pythons are never venomous).
I hate to say that it HAS happened that relatively dangerous snakes get into exotic shipments by accident. Usually the importers sort that out before the pet store gets the snakes. But if you get something that you didn't order and that you can't identify, better safe than sorry. Put it somewhere safe and don't handle it until you can get a positive ID.
On the bright side, if your store sticks to healthy captive bred stock, you have a 0% chance of getting a dangerous snake by accident.
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