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This is a artical I wrote for venomousreptiles.org

What to do before you get your first hot

As the number of people wanting to keep venomous snakes ( hots) grows so dose the need for a step by step by step guide to help you prepare to keep hot snakes in captivity.

First, no snake is predictable they are all wild animals, even harmless corn snakes will bite, therefore you should not EVER think you can just pick it up because it has never attempted to bite before.

Now think real hard, why do you want a hot snake? Do you really love venomous snakes or do you want to impress people, if you want to impress people you should just buy a muscle car not a snake! Plus do you want to keep something that will NEVER be truly tame, that all you can do is observe it in its cage and would not think twice about killing you? Well if you are determined to keep a venomous snake then you need to prepare, don't rush into this, waiting a wile to get your first hot wont kill you, not waiting might!

You will need a mentor to help you with the hands on experience, look around on this sight for some one in your state, or maybe at a zoo. Once you find a mentor ask him/her if you can help out, offer to clean cages and do all the dirty work if they will help, offer to cut there grass and clean there house if you have to…lol.

You will also need a “hot room”. YOUR BEDROOM WON'T WORK! You hot room should be a separate room or building, this building will need to be escape proof. Put double layers of screen around windows, seam under the door with weather striping and seal off vents and other openings. A light switch out side the room so you can turn the lights on wile still out side, a 1x1 square cut into the door and then covers with plexy glass sealed with good silicon will allow you to make sure snake snakes have escaped before you enter.

Caging should be VERY sucure (this is you first line of defense agenst escapes) I do not suggest aquariums, you should probably use either a commercially made cage or home built one, either way it MUST lock.

You will need tools, go to www.tongs.com and order the following (other tools may be needed, depending on what you plan to keep)

1- standard snake hook- $30

1 or 2- mini hooks- $25

1- 40” standard tong- $60

1-set of restating tubes-$30

1- LONG hemostats- $35

I know it seams like a lot but you will need these tools. You will also need to make.

1 for every snake- capture box, hid box with a securable door.

1- shield

Now you should have been working with your mentor about a year so you know the ropes. You should now get a aggressive non-venomous snake, if you plan to start with small bodied hots get a black racer, vipers get a northern water snake…etc. Keep this snake for atleast a year and act like it is hot, clean its cage, sex it, soak it if it has a bad shed all the normal husbandry procedures. If it manages to bite you sit down and think, I have just been bitten by __________ (what ever snake you are acting like your non-hot snake is) and I may DIE, if I live I will possibly lose a arm leg finger etc plush I will owe the hospital a ton of money, if this thought isn't sobering then maybe you should stick to corns and kings.

If you have made it this far and have followed ALL the steps and your mentor believes you are ready and YOU believe you are ready the Congratulations.

Randy Conner AKA snake boy

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1.0.0 albino okeetee corn
0.1.0 red tail boa
0.1.0 sinoalon milk snake
0.0.1 green snake
0.0.1 green igauna

i didnt read all of it... and im not really even sure what kind of response your looking for..

but.. my FIRST suggestion would be to spell check it,

best
agkiztro

With a little punctuation it is a pretty accurate article.
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Sean McIntyre

Currently have:
0.1 Antherystic Elaphe Guttata Guttata - Corn Snake
1.0 Elaphe Vulpina Gloydi - Eastern Fox Snake
0.1 Leucistic Elaphe Obsoleta Linheimeri - Texas Ratsnake
1.1 Morelia Spilota Cheyni - Jungle Carpet Python

Saving for:
Agkistrodon Contortix Mokasen - Northern Copperhead
Epicrates Cenchria Cenchria - Brazilian Rainbow Boa

n/p

Sounds like a reasonably good article. I do agree though...You need to spell check this as it will definitly add to the credibility of what you say if there are no glaring spelling errors.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

To keep my mind busy this summer I gave it a shot at editing this. Some of the errors were kinda strangely worded, so I had to change a few things. Can't gaurentee that everything is perfect because I did it in notepad...

What to do before you get your first hot:

As the number of people wanting to keep venomous snakes (also known as “hots”) grows so does the need for a step by step guide to help them prepare to keep hot snakes in captivity.

First, no snake is predictable, they are all wild animals. Even harmless corn snakes will bite, therefore you should not EVER think that you can just pick a hot snake up because it has never attempted to bite before.

Now think real hard, why do you want a hot snake? Do you really love venomous snakes or do you want to impress people? If you want to impress people you should just buy a muscle car not a snake! Also, do you want to keep something that will NEVER be truly tame, that all you can do is observe it in its cage, and would not think twice about killing you? Well, if you are determined to keep a venomous snake then you need to prepare! Don't rush into this, waiting a while to get your first hot won't kill you, not waiting might!

You will need a mentor to help you with the hands on experience. Look around on this sight for some one in your state, or maybe at a zoo. Once you find a mentor ask him/her if you can help out. Offer to clean cages and do all the dirty work if they will help, offer to cut there grass and clean there house if you have to...

You will also need a “hot room”. Your bedroom is not a good place! Your hot room should be a separate room or building. This building will need to be escape proof. My suggestions to do so are to put double layers of screen around windows, a seam under the door with weather striping, and seal off vents and other openings. A light switch and peep-hole outside the room is a good idea so you can see if any snakes got out without putting yourself at risk.

Caging should be VERY sucure (this is you first line of defense against escapes). I don't suggest aquariums, as they are hard to make escape-proof. You should probably use either a commercially made cage or home built one, either way it MUST lock and be escape proof.

You will need tools. I suggest going to www.tongs.com and ordering the following (other tools may be needed, depending on what you plan to keep).

1 standard snake hook - $30
1 or 2- mini hooks - $25
1 40” standard tong - $60
1 set of restating tubes -$30
1 long hemostats - $35

I know it seems like a lot, but you will need these tools.

You should also make:

1 capture box and hide box with a securable door for every snake
1 shield

You should now get a aggressive non-venomous snake. If you plan to start with small bodied hots, get a black racer. If you want to work with vipers get a northern water snake. Keep this snake for at least a year and act like it is a hot. Clean its cage, sex it, soak it if it has a bad shed, and all the normal husbandry procedures.

If it manages to bite you sit down and think, "I have just been bitten by a venomous snake and I may die. If I live, I will possibly lose a arm, leg, or finger and I will owe the hospital a ton of money."

If this thought isn't sobering then maybe you should stick non-venomous snakes.

Once you have made it this far and have followed all the steps, your mentor believes you are ready, and you believe you are ready, then congratulations and good luck keeping venomous snakes!
-----
Sean McIntyre

Currently have:
0.1 Antherystic Elaphe Guttata Guttata - Corn Snake
1.0 Elaphe Vulpina Gloydi - Eastern Fox Snake
0.1 Leucistic Elaphe Obsoleta Linheimeri - Texas Ratsnake
1.1 Morelia Spilota Cheyni - Jungle Carpet Python

Saving for:
Agkistrodon Contortix Mokasen - Northern Copperhead
Epicrates Cenchria Cenchria - Brazilian Rainbow Boa