Common Novice Handling Mistakes

Common Novice Handling Mistakes

Throughout the last few years, and especially since the introduction of my "Hots 101" articles and handling pages on my website, I've seen a great rise in the numbers of people keeping venomous species - and a correspondingly high increase in bites and mishaps among these newer keepers. Even here in my own neck of the woods (Ontario, Canada), there have been five 'accidents' in the past year alone - more than have occurred in the past five years combined. After hearing about the causes of these blunders, it left me totally without surprise, as each and every one of these could easily have been avoided. Fortunately, none of these bites resulted in serious symptoms, but it did give me pause for reflection about my own past mistakes and those made by others in what could be perceived as 'common' handling errors made through carelessness or inexperience.

Let's have a look at each problem individually - I'm willing to bet that many of you have experienced or seen mishaps such as these before…..

MISJUDGING STRIKE DISTANCE

This is probably one of the most common errors made, and usually is a result of overall inexperience and / or unfamiliarity with a particular species. Although mostly occurring with novices, occasionally even veteran venomous keepers are caught 'off-guard' with a new species that they've never encountered before. This was recently brought to light for me personally, by being almost tagged by one of a newly acquired group of Desert Blacksnakes (Walterinnesia aegyptia) - a fairly rare elapid species that is known for having a bad temper coupled with potent venom - and an unusually long strike length! As I had found almost no captive info on this species, I was quite unfamiliar with these - particularly when I saw them regularly strike almost their entire body length in distance - almost 'leaping' off the ground - something not seen with most elapids.

Here are some general guidelines regarding strike lengths: (Just bear in mind there are always exceptions to every rule!)

For viperids - all viperids can easily strike 1/3 of their body length, some can strike 1/2 with little effort, and some notables like large Bothrops and certain arboreal species can launch themselves up to approx. 3/4 of their body length! (depending on the extent of it's hunger or agitation) It's really a self-judgment call, but give what you think is a safe distance - and then add another foot or so! ;-)

Elapid strike distances are really a mixed bag. Most cobras are relatively predictable enough, but again, there are exceptions - Forest cobras (Naja melanoleuca) and King cobras (Ophiophagus hannah) are two cobra species that immediately come to mind that have been known to sometimes actually rush and advance towards the keeper with the full intention of biting. The author has personally experienced this with N. melanoleuca, and has it on good authority that this also occurs with O. hannah. Coincidentally, both these species are among the highest-rearing (when they hood) of all cobras species, along with their large sizes makes for a much longer strike. Most cobras will generally rear about 1/3 of their length, and this is approx. what the strike length is. Other elapids are quite varied. Most species will strike like most colubrids, while other longer-striking species such as mambas, taipans, Walterinnesia, Pseudohaje etc., are more difficult to predict or describe accurately - but what can be said is this: give those species much respect and space to work with!

FINGER / HAND PLACEMENT

I've heard of numerous bites that happened simply because of thoughtlessness - and were completely avoidable with a little common sense and focus. I personally know of at least half a dozen bites that were the result the keeper placing his hands on screen-mesh lids or vents - incidentally, all were with pit-vipers - which came as no surprise. The warm exposed skin at the mesh acts as a tempting target for a pit-viper, and the long fangs can make it a reality with ease. This is partly why I think aquariums with simple screen tops are totally inadequate for keeping venomous species in, they're simply unsafe.

I know of a bite case where the victim was bitten on the palm by a Okinawa Habu (Protobotrops [Trimeresurus] flavoviridis) when he inadvertently leaned back behind him and rested his hand on the cage while he was attending a herp party. Another bite happened when the keeper was sliding back the screen top on a 30 gal. tank containing a 3ft. Timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus), and actually got the top halfway off before he was promptly bitten with both fangs on the right forearm - and nearly died as a result. He could have easily avoided it by using good old common sense - and a hook to slide the lid back! One keeper kept a spitting cobra in a tank with a screen top, and then stupidly placed the tank on a shelf at waist-level, whereupon he was sprayed with venom the next time he passed by the tank.

Rubbermaid or 'shoe-box' plastic containers are often also the source of hand placement bites, their semi-opaque visibility and fumbly lids are begging for trouble! Although I still use these occasionally, I generally don't recommend them for venomous - although neonates, juveniles and small species may benefit from them as temporary housing. Just remember to look for where the animal is first, place the box on the floor, gently pop the lid tabs without lifting (or with a pair of hemostats - better), and use a hook to lift the lid - NOT your fingers!

Remember to LOOK & THINK!

UNDERESTIMATING AN ANIMAL'S POTENTIAL

In a similar way to misjudging strike lengths, there seems to be a common misconception among novice keepers and layman that certain species exhibit certain behavioral characteristics which give an overall impression of docility or physical inability. This is a dangerous train of thought to maintain, and although in most cases the keeper can 'get away with' certain maintenance functions - sooner or later, you will misinterpret that animals intentions or behavior and suddenly have a serious surprise. Some apparently sluggish viperids who specialize in predatory ambush behavior are masters of immobility and then suddenly delivering a lightning-fast strike. A prime example of such a species are Gaboon vipers (Bitis gabonica ssp.), a large, beautiful, very popular viper - whose behavior is often grossly underestimated. 'Reading' the body-language of gaboons can sometimes be problematic, as almost everything is very subtle. Often the only indications you'll see before the strike are a shift in the eyeball towards your direction, some gently rapid sniffing (watch the sides of the body), a slight muscle tensioning, then…BAM! The strike of large Bitis is among the fastest I've seen, and I guarantee that no human can dodge it if within range! And don't think that they can only strike forwards - I've seen them strike in almost every direction.

Another misconception about large heavy-bodied vipers like gaboons is that they can only crawl or move slowly. Bull! These vipers, when spooked, can seriously HAUL ASS! And can be very difficult to get under control when behaving as such, due to their large bulk, usually requiring two hooks to manipulate them back into the enclosure - along with some frantic dancing!

IMPROPER TOOL FOR THE JOB AT HAND

This seems to be a real 'gray -area' concerning potential mistakes, relying on the individual keeper's common sense, but I felt that it should at least be mentioned here. Numerous bites have happened due to the (again) classic example of using too short a hook for the size or potential strike-length of the snake to be maneuvered. A 24" hook is simply not long enough for say, a 4 ft. rattlesnake. Even using this size hook on a 3ft. snake is pushing your luck, I feel. I generally try to use a hook that is approx. the same length as the snake itself, up to about 40-48". Beyond this, and I'll still remain with a 40-48" hook while 'tailing' the snake (as longer hooks are rather cumbersome). Make sure to hook the snake no farther down the body than the length of the stick - or else this may give the snake the anchor and leverage to still whip-around and nail you while on the hook. This goes in spades for large, agile elapids, arboreal species, and viperids like Bothrops atrox/asper.

LOSING FOCUS / CONCENTRATION

It is vital that the keeper use every once of concentration and focus while working with venomous snakes, as one single lapse could be just that moment when the snake decides to take a strike at you. Keep your attention zeroed-in on the animal at all times, 'reading' it's body language, and try to avoid these common distractions:

- Cluttered floor / work area

- people talking to you while actually handling

- people/animals/things moving near you in your peripheral vision

- smoking while handling

- background music

Some people are more easily distracted than others, but I feel it's best to keep these things to a minimum, as all it takes is a second - and BAM! Having buddies yak at you, having a smoke hanging out of your mouth, or having cranked-up Led Zeppelin (or Bach or whatever turns your gears) blaring in the background is just not worth it. Never take your eyes off that snake until it's safely contained!!

INEXPERIENCE WITH PINNING / TUBE RESTRAINING

This is also an area where a lot of bites happen, and it is prudent that the keeper be fully adept at pinning non-venomous snakes beforehand. Have full confidence in what you're doing, and be familiar with both types of 'holds' before ever attempting to pin a hot snake. These would be the two-finger 'elapid' hold, and the three-finger 'viper' hold. These are explained in more detail on my "Venom 101" site. An example of a potential mistake would be using a typical wrap-around two-finger hold on a large viperid. With this fingering, due to the long fangs, all it would take is for the viper to poke one (or both) fangs from the side of it's mouth, give a sudden jerk & twist backwards and then you have a fang in your finger (a la Atractaspis - the only genus of venomous snakes that are truly impossible to hold safely behind the head!).

Mistakes made with tubing would be misjudging the snake's potential strike length in relation to the length of tube you're using, letting the snake slide back out due to improper grip, and using too large a tube diameter that will allow the snake to turn it's head around inside the tube and come back around towards the restraining hand.

TAKING ON MORE THAN YOU CAN HANDLE OR GETTING 'COCKY'

This really is more a question of experience than anything else, but after keeping say, some viperids for a couple of years, and then delving right into keeping a large elapid like large African cobras, mambas, taipans, or king cobras without starting off with some smaller elapids like Aspidelaps and then Asian cobras to familiarize yourself with their generally faster movements and behavior - is in my experience biting off more than you can chew. And this is what I've seen and believe it to be due to a bad case of the 'Novice supermanus overconfidenti' complex. I've seen animals returned to the dealers where they were puchased, simply because the keeper was overwhelmed by the apparent aggression and speed of, say, the Egyptian cobra he bought, and wasn't prepared / able to deal with it properly or safely due to inexperience with the species. Although some may disagree, I still maintain that if you are not able or skilled enough to safely control these species - you shouldn't be keeping them yet.

There is more that could be stated concerning handling mistakes made by novice keepers, but I feel these are the most common of them. Most bites by captive snakes seem to be traced down to one of these errors, and it is in the keepers best interest to be not just aware of these possible mistakes - but to avoid them in practice! ~AH

About the Author

Allen Hunter has been keeping venomous snakes for over 25 years and is the author of 3 of the most informative websites on the subject: "The Black Mamba Info Site", "The Saw-Scale Viper Page" and of course the most definitve work on the subject "Venom 101". Allen is considered by many to be Canada's leading authority on what is arguably the most dangerous snake in the world, the Black Mamba. His animals have appeared in both movies and documentaries including the Relic Hunter and "Vipers - Marvels of Evolution" - a documentary for the Discovery channel. The website address of Venom 101 is:

www.kingsnake.com/venom101

You can reach his other websites by going to the link pages found on Venom 101.

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