I don't know that on a subconscious level I think that my venomoids can't hurt me. Hell, for all I know they could kill me! A big bitis has fangs large enough to inflict puncture wounds large enough to sever an artery. If that happened I know it would be a race to the ER. I also am aware of what a secondary infection could do to me should I take a hit. I keep all of my venomoids in the same cages I do my hots. My venomoids still get a keyed padlock which is in addition to a latch that clamps down as soon as the cage lid is slid shut. I keep all of my enclosures even more secure by laminating the glass. Should the glass be hit hard and shatter it will be retained by a sheet of laminate and not allow an escape. I don't take risks, as I know that a venomoid on the loose is just as scary (and as stated earlier, potentially as dangerous) as a hot should it manage to find someone other than myself!
I have kept venomoids in the same enclosure as hots. I try to keep this a very rare occurrence, as I prefer to keep one animal to an enclosure (It helps me should an animal get sick, as well as to help me keep the cage more accessible for cleaning, feeding, etc). I am then forced to figure out which snake is the hot one later on as well. Also, don't jump on me for pairing up snakes...I am very careful as to what species can go together. As a general rule, if really crunched for space I will resort to a custom enclosure that I have, which is plenty large to keep two smaller snakes together, and the cage is large enough to keep a nice spectrum of environmental aspects into it. If I must, I don't feel bad keeping a puff adder and a gaboon together for a few days (the snakes being under 2.5 feet in length due to the size of the enclosure).
I have known Yasin for a while, and I am sure when he does decide to step into a hot that is hot he will do it right. I know that he is not going to rush the decision, and I am sure he will look into the animal and research it extensively.
And as for my idea on a good small starter hot...an eyelash is nice. I would stay away from the trim species just because of the fact that there is no antivenin. The sand vipers are cool, but antivenin will be very hard to locate here in the US. I think the key to starting with hots is to find a small one, and assume that all of their venoms are just as potent. You don't want to think "what if", and rather "it won't tag me", but at the same time you need to check up and get all of the local antivenin stock lists and keep them updated! Personally, I have found that it is a good habit to get into of making a set of index cards for each cage. I keep one taped to the back of the enclosure, and the other on the lid. The cards are updated with every animal, and kept current. The cards have the common and scientific name on them, the typical signs of envenomation, what antivenin should be used if envenomation occurs, as well as a list of antivenin banks and contact numbers. If more than one snake is in one enclosure than I may also include a tiny picture on the card showing the skin pattern of that snake. Another key bit of info I list is how many snakes are in an enclosure! Heaven forbid I get tagged and somehow 2 snakes get loose...the emergency/animal control crew goes and locates one animal...then another worker gets tagged by the remaining animal they didn't know existed!
Sorry about all the rambling guys, just something to think about, as some do hold venomoids up to the same standards as their hots. Take care everyone, be safe.
-Steve Clark
TurtsAndTorts
