Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I WANT TO GET A RATTLESNAKE, BUT THERE IS SO MANY SPECIES OUT THERE I DON'T KNOW WHAT WOULD BE THE BEST TO START OUT WITH. PLEASE HELP!!!! I DON'T WANT SOMETHING HUGE AND I DON'T WANT SOMETHING TINY. I AT LEAST WANT TO HERE IT RATTLE. ANY SUGGESTIONS?

Okay, jakethesnake.
Just a few things to think about.
1) You are asking for advice from people you don't know about getting something that can kill you.
2) Staying alive while you keep these things requires a great amount of attention to detail and safety.
3) Typing in all capitals is equivalent online to yelling. A small detail but an annoying one.
4) All of the diamondbacks (Eastern, Western, Red) are large.
5) All of the pigmies, massasaugas and sidewinders are small.
6) All of the non US rattlesnakes are very deadly.
7) Mojave (Crotalus scutulatus), Southern Pacific (Crotalus helleri) and Canebrake (Crotalus horridus) Rattlesnake populations have very virulent and deadly venom.
8) No rattlesnakes are safe to keep.
9) If you can safely keep one type of rattlesnake, the procedures for keeping that rattlesnake will probably work with any other type of rattlesnake if you make the required adjustments for size differences.
10) Specific questions about specific types of rattlesnakes can be answered by the folks who have kept those rattlesnakes. General questions are fair game to anyone with an opinion whether it is based in fact or not.
11) For background info, I have kept Eastern Diamonback Rattlesnakes (Crotalus adamanteus), Timber and Canebrake Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) and Dusky Pigmy Rattlesnakes (Sistrurus miliarius barbouri) over the past 29 years.
I hope that at least some of this information is useful to you.
Karl H. Betz
Buzztail1@hotmail.com

np

If you go to wal-mart, they have some rubber snakes available. then you go to the baby isle and get a rattle and duck tape it to the end of the fake snake, then shake!!

This post actually scares the hell out of me, have you ever owned a venomous animal let alone a fast reacting rattler? This is the kind of post that screams "BAN ALL REPTILES"

you think long and hard about just why you want a rattlesnake...no offense, but frankly, and I'm sure others share the sentiment, your post really scared me. It appears that you simply want a rattlesnake because it is a rattlesnake, with no forethought to the immense responsibility on the part of the keeper when keeping such animals. Small or large, rattlesnakes are VENOMOUS animals and can and will hurt you (or worse) if you do not know what you are doing.

Are you prepared to put your safety as well as your FAMILY's in possible danger?

Do you have health insurance? Will your insurance company cover a bite from a CAPTIVE venomous reptile? If not, do you have the $30,000 in your bank account to cover a bite if it happens?

Do you know a doctor who has experience treating snakebite? Most doctors in the U.S. have ZERO experience with any venomous snakebite, and often times perform procedures when they are not warranted (i.e. fasciotomies), or otherwise incorrectly treat bites. This can lead to disfiguring scarring as well as other nasty side effects.

And most importantly...

Do you have any prior knowledge and experience with venomous reptiles? You post leads me to believe no, you don't.

And lastly...

Are you prepared to risk serious injury/death just to keep a snake?

Ask yourself these questions...and think long and hard about the consequences of getting a venomous reptile on impulse. These animals are NOT tame by any stretch of the word, and if you give them a chance, they WILL nail you. A bite from some species is not too severe, but others can kill you rather easily. Take the advice you've been given from the other posters and myself and take baby steps in this hobby, you will be happy you did.