Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I fully agree Justin, I too have spent a life time working with hots - though I never maintained exotic elapids - I worked mostly with North American crotalus, water mocs, and corals. I became known for having some knowledge about them and other snakes and was known as "Snake Man" by my colleagues. From the time I sold snakes to the Miami Serpentarium (and volunteered) to having the honor of spending time with the late Joe Slowinski in the field, I have always been fascinated by venomous snakes and have the utmost respect for them. I consider myself to be an "old timer" when it comes to reptiles, but I would have never thought that the snake hobby would become what it has in the last twenty years.
Access to venomous reptiles has increased so much that it is quite easy for a person living in my neighborhood to acquire a Black Mamba as a pet, and yet not have the experience to warrant such an undertaking. I would be seriously surprised if half of the people who maintain animals of that caliber actually have "disaster plans" in place in case of problems.
Aside from the tragedy of an accidental bite, the repercussions of any accident with a venomous reptile make front page news and that makes for BAD press. With America becoming more and more a police state, you can be sure they would not hesitate to take away the freedom of keeping a venomous snake or lizard.
I would hate to see that come to pass.
Anyway, Im not against people keeping venomous, rather I would ask them to be ABSOLUTELY SURE they are CAPABLE of doing so, that they will give the animal the very best care it deserves and that they have thought about the CONSEQUENCES of a bite (to themselves and others).
I currently keep one female yearling C.cerastes, after 28 years its still my favorite spp., in a locked tank, in a locked room, I have phone #'s, hospital, and protocol for a bite listed at door to room. I keep 3 extractor kits in various parts of house (in case of earthquake and escape). I use protocol for this snake as if it is capable of killing me............
my 2 cents on the topic
Brett

I agree with you 100%! I for one am not agaisnt anyone who is CAPABLE of owning one. By CAPABLE I mean someone with 20 years of keeping reptiles,someone who has been out in the field and has seen these animals up close and personal. Now just because someone has handled a copperhead in the wild and not been bitten doesn't mean that same person has the dedication to keep one as a pet!Keeping a hot requires a steady nerve,dedication and some guts really.It also requires someone who is organized and knows what to do in case of an accidental envenomation. I feel only a true expert in venomous snakes should own one. Some one here in PA bought some kind of African bush viper at a reptile expo without any knowledge of the snake at all. Needless to say the teen was bitten,rushed to the ER and actually lost the finger. Now the parents say they weren't told the snake was venomous and what not and are trying to sue the dealer and everything else saying he never told them it was a venomous reptile. Now this teen is going to suffer because he thought the snake looked beautful which I am sure it was but he should have done research before going to this expo and buying a snake on impulse.

As you said it is common to get a black mamba now in the US. Mamba's are fast and deadly and their bite without anti-venom is 100% fatal. Hell most experts do not want to handle a black mamba! Me personally I love snakes but I would never own a hot reptile. I know I can not handle it because I would be a little to nervous and not really take proper care of the snake. I will admire these snakes from afar

I liked both of your posts and have never posted in venomous before. I myself have a natural fear of keeping king cobras and black mambas and I am glad to see I am not alone on such a topic. I think the parents of the teen are playing an ignorant card in that case. I am sure the teen was fully aware of what he was buying. At least you have 9 more fingers and things could have been a lot worse. I remeber a conversation over the net I was reading about venomous keeping and one person was telling other keepers their snakes were not venomous (ex. copperheads and rattle snakes) as to sound he was more "macho" for keeping a deadlier collection. My response was "are we not venomous unless we are an elapid now?" I do not know about 20 years experience in venom being the cut off mark but the point is well taken. I remember talking to a man in a pet store a while back who said he used to milk 100 rattle snakes each morning when he lived in Kentucky. This man informed me about how snakes can be "affectionate" and how they "got used to him" and did not bite when he reached his hand in...but they would have bitten me "since they didn't know me". I am sure this man would have thought himself to qualify as an experienced keeper. He was in the store asking about buying a snake for his 9 year old mentally handicapped daughter when he asked me (Who cannot remeber why I was in there in the first place) where he could get an anaconda at. My response was in a few parts "If you do not know where to get one, odds are you really don't need one" and "Why would you want one? I live with them and they never pay rent and just make a mess and don't eat what you want them to." Sorry I posted a message so far away from the topic but the point was...there are many people who can mark off a checklist of qualifications before buying something without truely being ready. 20 years experience...saw a rattle snake 20 years ago. Field experience...cousin got bit when walking in a field. handling...picked it up with a stick. education...read a book about extracting venom (8th grade level). Qualifications to move youself from corn snake and ball python keeping to Naja Naja met. Why can't people be happy with the very pretty, much more room for error, eyelash vipers if they must have a venomous in the collection? I feel elapids just like large constrictors are for people with a true dedicated heart for a species. I would love to add a Naja n.kaouthia to my collection but at the moment I feel a little too dedicated in other places to give that animal everything needed to maintain safety