Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Out of the copperhead, timber, canebrake, pygmy, and massasauga. Which is the easiest to care for as far as husbandry goes? I'm thinking they're all pretty similiar, but what do I know. I'm especially interested in feeding. To me, scenting and starting off with frogs falls into the pain in the butt catagory. Also, heating, lighting, humidity, space required, etc. Temperment and toxicity I can find out on my own. Captive care seems to be a little more difficult to reference.

All are pretty easy to care for except for the handling part. As far as handling, I think the copperhead is the best choice from that group for a beginner. The timber and canebreak get a bit big for a first hot, and some pigmys are easy to handle but at least half of the ones I've worked with have been nearly impossible to keep on a hook.

Just my 2 cents, where's my change?

Use two hooks. Works pretty well, especially for large adults.

~~Greg~~

Yeah, it's the smaller pigmys that can be like hooking an eel on crack sometimes.

What about younger copperheads? Do you have to scent or will they take F/T fuzzies or pinks without much problem? Because those are the ones I thought started on frogs when young.

In my experience, baby CAPTIVE BRED copperheads(if purchased from a reliable breeder that is)are not hard to start on pinks. It's the adults,especially wild caught that present the feeding problems. The baby Northern Copperheads that I owned took pinkies from the get go and they were shipped all the way from PA to SC!

I had some copper babies that took baby mice from the get go. That's my only experience on the topic.

The timber, canebrake and massasuaga are wrapped up in legalities in many places.
Man I can't wait until I can start hots, I"m thinkin of a big King, what do you think? lol, jk. If only experience came in a pill.