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Free Handling HOts
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by IanG on December 5, 2001
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These days u see these TV Progrms, where guys are going round catching highly venomous snakes without tools..
errmmm..is this for real..
ive seen mambas in captavity and they are big beastiess...surely tailing a mamba is impossible..
ive heard that some snake charmes etc sometimes cool the snakes down to make them lethargic..
well ill probably ask tons more questions in the near future..they are beautifulcreatures..but not for me as pets...
later..
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RE: Free Handling Hots
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Anonymous post on December 5, 2001
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The best answer that I can give you is that some snake captures on television are staged, and some aren't. Most handling that I see is called the hook and tail method. It's probably the least dangerous way to handle a snake, but not if it's threatened merely by your presence. Then it will come after you anyway. When a snake is grabbed behind the head, it identifies you as a predator, because that's just how most animals that predate on snakes capture them. Virtually nothing in the wild grabs a snake by the tail, so they don't seem to mind it as much. Only Steve Irwin has handled snakes completely without tools and got away with it. Some of his captures are staged and some aren't.
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RE: Free Handling Hots
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by IanG on December 6, 2001
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Yeah..ive seen some of Steve Irwins programmes, I remember in one he had a 9' mamba..surely a snake as large and agile as this would of been easily able to twist round and hit him..anyway u gotta admire his bravado..or is he just plain mad...
I and most people have read Allen Hunters page
( sorely missed by the way ), and him like all the respectable folks on here always use hooks or sometimes tongs..gotta say free handling a venmous snake seems crazeee...
Anyway it makes for good viewing i guess...
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RE: Free Handling Hots
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by BLACKSNAKE on December 8, 2001
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Ian,
That you have to be crazy to free handle is absolute bulls**t.
I keep elapids and I tail just about everything occasionally I will use a hook to lift the snake to a place where I can grab the tail or use a jigger to pin and restrain for medical/vet probs but not usually.
I do not like Steve Irwin one bit, and I don't think his handling methods are good to be shown on tv but I also use those same method with some snakes.
Maybe get your facts right when I comes to safe handling teqs.
Scott Eipper
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RE: Free Handling Hots
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by IanG on December 10, 2001
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err..easy tiger...
i wasnt suggesting for one moment that i knew anything at all about handling techniquies...
i know nothing at all about snakes..well not very much anyway..
the only thing i do know about them is that i think there very interesting...and make extremely good reading and viewing.
I joined this site to learn and speak to u guys thats all..i make no claims to any knowledge..
sorry if i offended..never meant to..
my genuine interest i hope can be seen from my joining and posting to here..
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RE: Free Handling Hots
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by NegativGain on December 17, 2001
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I have free handled 3 types of hot snakes : Dusky Pygmy Rattlers, Cottonmouths, and my Boiga Dendrophila. I have never used any tools with my Boiga, and he has never even tried to strike at me. I usually handle him the same with less care than my Spilotes Rat snake. My Dusky, well, I just don't handle her. Every time I open the cage, she's striking non-stop. I think that if you know the snake you're dealing with, than free-handling isn't THAT crazy. I wouldn't go grabbing a Mamba, or any other elapid really, by the tail, but I've also never had a lot of experience with them.
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RE: Free Handling Hots
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by IanG on December 17, 2001
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i love this site..
its great speaking to u guys...
so would a holiday to africa or oz be u guys ideal holiday..
i went to a snake farm in zimbabwe once..very cool place...
tried taking pics but they never came out that good..but it was brill seeing cobras and mambas...
well impressed..would love to go see some here in scotland..but we dont hae much in the way of herp farms in the area..lol..
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RE: Free Handling Hots
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by newggtongs on December 31, 2001
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I think you can freehandle anything if you have been trained in the art and science of snake handling.
Many people have snakes with no handling skill whatsoever and get by with tongs and hooks just fine.
I have nothing against that, I like herp capture gear, I think new tools can make herp handling easier.
I also know that you don't need new tools to handle any animal. Look at Bill Haast, I have seen him free handle cobras off the ground and grab a Naja naja behind the head with no tools but his hands and experience. I saw Bill tail a mamba on the table in his lab and pin it with the shaft of his hook.
Everyone knows that he has paid a price for his methods, with 168 bites and badly scarred hands.
Look around the world, N.Africa, India, S.E. Asia,
In All these places More people free handle than use hooks.
Do what makes you comfortable, NOT what you see on t.v.
My pholosophy prior to the introduction of GG tongs was
"If you are not confident enough to grab a snake with your bare hands, You don't use tongs or any other gear!" This keeps inexperiences herpers and snakes safe.
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RE: Free Handling Hots
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by snakenate on January 15, 2002
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First of all Scott, anyone who claims to have so...... much experience is bound to get hurt sooner or later no need to get a big head. I don't like when you rip of a new guys head for speaking whats on his mind. When I first came her if anyone would do that to me I would'nt be here now. So take a chill pill dude. Anyway, it all depends on the snake and the situation that your handling it. Some are just crazy but others you might find are quite docile. Steve Irwinn has had so much experience on handling snakes he just knows what to do. Regardless if he is from Australia he has grown up with pet snakes his whole life. Thats how he gets a way with it. Im not saying some aren't staged but he is just plain good.
Take it easy,
Nayte
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