Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ive noticed a few posts by people who own venomous snakes, and im very interested.

are there any venomous snakes that are docile enough to be handled like a nonvenomous snake

can you get the fangs taken out of a snake?
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my addiction:
2 ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
1 amelenistic corn snake (maizy

Don't ever consider "free handling" a Venomous Snake. They never can be trusted to not bite. Yoy may get away with it for a time but you'll end up getting bit at some point.

Never consider a Venomous Snake a "pet". If you want a pet get a cat or dog.

You can take the Snake out of the jungle but you can never take the jungle out of the snake.

Al Coritz
www.neavb.org
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"Fighting on the forums is like competing in the Special Olympics, even if you win, you're still retarded."

DH June 2005

>>Don't ever consider "free handling" a Venomous Snake. They never can be trusted to not bite. Yoy may get away with it for a time but you'll end up getting bit at some point.
>>
>>Never consider a Venomous Snake a "pet". If you want a pet get a cat or dog.
>>
>>You can take the Snake out of the jungle but you can never take the jungle out of the snake.
>>
>>Al Coritz
>>www.neavb.org
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>>"Fighting on the forums is like competing in the Special Olympics, even if you win, you're still retarded."
>>
>>DH June 2005

Pete...who is my pet Sidewinder, is as much a "Pet" as Plum my big cichlid (fish). Neither one would I touch bare handed but I have to admit that I do feel an affection for both and love the limited interaction.

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

Frank,

You can pretty much consider "pets" to be whatever you wish. Pets however are technically referred to as "companion animals". There is no possible way that a venomous snake can be considered a companion. I dont consider my alligators to be "pets". They are something that I love and have an intense interest in. However, the bond that I would share with my golden retriever is not even remotely the same as I share with a crocodilian. You cannot trust these animals, and these animals would just assume bite the hand that feeds it. They are predators, and should be viewed as so at all times. While it is your opinion that you can refer to these animals as "pets" that is certainly up to you. But I dont feel that twisting the definition of "pet" is going to help matters much in our hobby.

Just my .02 cents.

Best Wishes,
Chris

>>Pete...who is my pet Sidewinder, is as much a "Pet" as Plum my big cichlid (fish). Neither one would I touch bare handed but I have to admit that I do feel an affection for both and love the limited interaction.
>>
>>Frank
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>>"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

In my opinion, they are pets. Why else would you keep them (putting aside those who keep them for business, etc)? Out of respect? Out of awe? Out of intrigue? If one had all of these for such animals, or any animal, for that matter, they wouldn't take them from the wild. We put our snakes in tiny little boxes, in our homes. Why? because they're our pets. Just my opinion.

Twisting what?

I take it your definition of a pet-is only that which you can touch. WRONG.

Plum (my cichlid) plays tag games with me and my wife and demonstrates jealousy when we don't pay attention by bouncing his tank lid. There is a definite level of intelligence there that most people fail to notice because they don't take the time to observe. I don't have to handle him to enjoy the relationship.

While there is not a lot of interaction with a Sidewinder, it still qualifies because it can respond in its own way to you. For exampleete has the sense to know me vs a stranger which he will buzz at. When I enter his cage to clean or move him (with a hook) he is calm.

Of course there are contact limitations based on what the animal is, but then as keepers we have to be aware of those limitations and special needs to properly maintain them.

If I were saying that you pick up and free-handle Pete like you would a boa, then I would say you have a point Chris.

However, I have never said that in any post on any forum. Your reaction is definitly over-stated. There is a difference between having a pet, knowing what the limitations are and ignoring those limitations.

I think the people out there are not going to start cuddling cobras because they happen to think of them as a pet. If they do, then nothing that is said here will matter anyway.

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

Most reptiles are not for handeling anyway. One cannot handle day geckoes...for the safety of the animal, not the keeper. But, the keeper still enjoys the fact that they are living with him or her. The same goes for hots, or mantellas, or finches, or whatever. I would like to say, though, that my opinion will always stay the same with hots: free handeling them is the most stupid thing you can do. It relates alot to jumping out of an airplane without a parachute... AND having the venom glands removed it even worse. You gotta love the people who want to take an animal and have it marred and maimed just so they can look cool holding a once dangerous animal. Keep in mind that this is my opinion. For those of you who wish to bring up the age old 'well people neuter dogs' static...its not going to change my mind. So the moral is: if you want a hot, leave it hot. If you want to free handle it, keep in mind you will most likely be bitten. eventually. And if you wish to handle hots in a state where they are illegal or unregistered, youre probably gonna die.
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"Brains for dinner, brains for lunch. Brains for breakfast, brains for brunch. Brains for every single meal; why can't we have some GUTS?"-Misfits

1.0 ball python- Azazel
1.0 red blood python-Hiss
1.0 peach phase thayeri-Sancho
0.1 creamsicle corn- Pandora
0.1 partial stripe ghost corn- Raven
1.0 Sunglow motley corn-Ernie
1.1 hognose- Pricilla and Odd
0.2 leos- Boji and Kodama
0.1 beardie- Indie
1.0 BTS- Griffon
0.1 Iggy- Sunny
0.0.1 gray tree frog toadlet
0.1 pacific parrolet- Mishka
1.1 cats- Cairo and Oberon

I agree and disagree witht he above posts. A pet is anything you keep, the person that said it is anything you keep for companionship AND that you have to be able to cuddle with it to be a companion, has in my eyes shown total ignorance. I don't have the same relationship with my cooks tree boas, or ATB's that i have with my dog, or boas or savannah monitor, but i love them all the same. I never handle many of my scorpions free hand because it could get me killed, but that dosen't mean they are any less pets to me then my other animals. Part of the definition of a pet may be somethign for companionship, but the other half of it is any animal that you treasure. And i treasure all of my animals.

Yes you can have the venom glands removed, the fangs can be pulled, but they grow back. Most venomous snake keepers frown on devenomized snakes, refered to as venomoids, because removing the venom is like declawing a cat, if you didn't want a pet with claws, or venom then you shouldn't have gotten one. There are plenty of snakes that you can handle without maiming. If your looking for something different, I would suggest that you consider rearfanged snakes, there are many species, that are basically harmless and yet as impressive as any venomous snake. Vine snakes, false water cobras, mangroves to name a few.