which would be the "best" hot to start o - Experts Forum at VenomousReptiles.org

which would be the "best" hot to start o	Reply
by azazel418 on May 26, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
Of course this falls into personal opinion, but Iwas curious and had to ask... I've heard copperheads and pygmy/timber rattlers were good because of them not being lethal... I ve had and handled boas for a LONG time, about ten years now.... my current variety includes Five, two adults, both at about 10 feet, two youths, both about four feet long, and a Brazilian rainbow, about 3.5 feet.... with that experience, I was really interested in the "larger" breeds of rattlers, E. Diamondback, and into some of the south AMerican eyelash vipers. I know theyre more venomous, but I have plenty of experience with snakes in general... Just have to hash out the licensing permits for FL...so its a year before I can get em anyways...I need to start thinking of caging, equipment, and the such, it doesnt hurt to get informed also!

RE: which would be the "best" hot to sta	Reply
by Buzztail1 on May 26, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
Whoever told you that "Timber Rattlesnakes" aren't lethal was not your friend. Crotalus horridus can and will kill you in a moment of carelessness. "Milking" pigmies or even Copperheads for their venom to inject into their food animals may not get you killed but I would say you will eventually not have all of your fingers. Nonlethal snakebites still tend to do a lot of painful tissue damage which may lead to digit or even limb loss. A better plan would be to offer food items with very long forceps/tweezers/tongs (perhaps not a good idea with elapids but certainly fine with what you have listed) and induce a strike by wiggling the food item near the snake. All of these things should be entry-level information from whomever you get your 1000 hours of experience for your permit. Good Luck, Karl

RE: which would be the "best" hot to sta	Reply
by elapidking81 on May 26, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
well in my opinion the best first hot is a snake you feel most comfortable and confident handling,the snakes you mentioned like the pigmy and the copperhead are good starters cause there not as hot but the timber/canebrake are very toxic snakes and are very fast expecialy the younger ones, but there also a good heavy and long snake. but to go back to the copperhead and pigmy one thing you might run in to is when you first start out and finally get that fist snake your going to be a little nervous and a pig/copper they can be very aggressive, some can be down right scary so think about that be for you buy research some snakes get some help from a experianced person learn as much as you can, cause when you get in to hots its a very big responsablity!!! so have as much fun as you can good luck shane kissinger

RE: which would be the "best" hot to sta	Reply
by azazel418 on May 26, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
Wow, I was tired when I posted this/// I didnt' mean to list Timbers as non lethal, I MEANT to say that I was under the impression they are a bit less aggressive, and easier to have in captivity, compared to some of the others I am interested in (E.Diamondback, Eyelash viper). I have two posts right now, and have gotten the two somewaht muddled together, so I think thats what spawned my lil mistake, outside of it being almost 4am when Iwas writing them..... my BAD. I'd be interested to find out what peoples first venomous snake was...

RE: which would be the "best" hot to sta	Reply
by agkistrodude on May 26, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
My experiance has been that timbers/canebrakes are agressive and pretty much stay that way.Espesially wild-caught specimens.The pygmies that I've had can be either way.They're all agressive when caught, but some tame down and some don't.I love copperheads and that would probably be my recomendation for a first hot.All of mine are easy to care for compared to some other species. (Neonates can be difficult to get to eat sometimes)But I agree you should get what you feel comfortable with.My 1st hot was a cottonmouth I caught in 1976.Been hooked ever since.Do alot of research and good luck, Marty

Page 1 of 1

Next Topic: buying feeders in Charlotte NC
Previous Topic: using milked venom on 'feeders'

Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to this topic.

Check our help page for help using , or send questions, comments, or suggestions to the Manager.