|
1-10 of 19 messages
|
Page 1 of 2
Next
|
|
To buy or not to buy ?
|
Reply
|
|
by Snake18 on January 31, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Hi guys,
I`m having problems deciding what to buy...
The person who brings me my venomous snakes was supose to sell me either a Cerastes cerastes or a Crotalus scutulatus. I`ve called him yesterday and he told me he is not selling neither of them (he sayd that they are just too good to sell to somebody else). Anyway, he did make me another offer: he would like to sell me a HUGE (4-5 ft.) cottehnmouth. He sayd it is very fat, it eats good and it is extremely agressive. He would give it to me for a very small price because he just wants to get it of his hands.
Now, I`m wondering if I should buy the huge, agressive cottonmouth or ask the guy to bring me a pair of subadult Echis colloratus or carinatus, or some other exotic viper (e.g. Macrovipera lebetina, Bothrops sp., Crotalus sp.).
Please tell me: what would you do in my position ?
Anticipated help for the advice,
Best regards,
Alex
|
| |
|
RE: To buy or not to buy ?
|
Reply
|
|
by jpjoubert on January 31, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
I've never really been one to suggest a good "first hot" snake, but I can tell you that waiting for the right one is better than buying one because it is the one that is available. So what I'm saying is that they are all dangerous. Be patient and shop around. The right one will come.
Hope that helps.
Cheers, jp.
P.S. Be patient.
|
| |
|
RE: To buy or not to buy ?
|
Reply
|
|
by Snake18 on January 31, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Hi JP,
Thank you for the advice.
But it won`t be my "first hot" snake. I`ve been keeping hots for almost 7 years now. I am currently keeping 2 puff adders (Bitis arietans) and a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox). I`ve also kept Trimeresurus popeiorum.
Best regards,
Alex
|
| |
|
RE: To buy or not to buy ?
|
Reply
|
|
by Cro on January 31, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Alex, there is a good reason why people sell Huge Aggressive Cottonmouths for a very low price, LOL !
They can be a real pain to work with. They like to eat expensive rats, and they like to mess their cages and water bowls.
And they like to gape and strike, and even often bite themselves or their cagemates.
I kept a 6 ft 20 lb aggressive Cottonmouth for many years because it was good to use in Educational Talks.
A snake that massive was always a hit with the public.
But it was a pain to keep.
Right now, I am keeping 5 large 4.5 foot Cottonmouths, and they are a real pain. The only reason I am keeping them is that one of their parents was albino, so they are all heterozygus for albinism, and I am trying to produce more albino offspring. If it were not for that, I would not put up with them.
Alex, if it were a baby Cottonmouth, I would say go for it, as they are lots of fun to keep. Since it is large and aggressive, I would suggest you wait for something smaller and more fun to keep to come along.
Just because a snake is cheap in price does not make it a good snake to keep.
Best Regards JohnZ
|
| |
|
RE: To buy or not to buy ?
|
Reply
|
|
by Cro on January 31, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Alex, you mention Bothrops as being a possibility.
Do you have access to Bothriechis (Bothrops) schlegelii ? The Eyelash Vipers can be a lot of fun to keep. Just be sure to get ones that are established feeders and not newborns.
Best Regards JohnZ
|
| |
|
RE: To buy or not to buy ?
|
Reply
|
|
by Snake18 on January 31, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Hi John,
Thanks for the advice.
A huge cottenmouth would probably not be a big problem to work with if I`d have a large and secure working space. Unfortunatly, I keep all my snakes in my bedroom and I don`t have a lot of space to work in. Also, what you told me about them being very messy snakes reminded me of the time when I kept grass snakes (Natrix natrix) and about how messy they were; it wasn`t much fun to clean their cages...
Best regards,
Alex
|
| |
|
RE: To buy or not to buy ?
|
Reply
|
|
by Snake18 on January 31, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
John,
Botriechis is not on my favorite list...I would preffer Trimeresurus... But after my Trim. popeiorum dying last year I`m not going to buy another one in the near future. Of the Bothrops genus, I would like a juvenile or subadult Bothrops atrox or asper...
Best regards,
Alex
|
| |
|
RE: To buy or not to buy ?
|
Reply
|
|
by LarryDFishel on January 31, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
One other thing to point out is that while most cottonmouths I've worked with have been pretty easy to handle, if the owner describes it as "aggressive" you may have problems with it musking you when you handle it. That could be a serious issue on a bedroom carpet...
Also, if you have limited space, I would wait about the bothrops. They can be very fast crawlers, almost like a cobra and will grow quickly. You want to have room to work.
|
| |
|
RE: To buy or not to buy ?
|
Reply
|
|
by jared on January 31, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
A large cotton can go either way, puppydog or monster, usually the later. I love the animal though I currently dont keep any I see a few a year. Saw scales are a personal fav but they can be like the nastiest pigmy you have ever seen. I have worked with some large (7+ft) Bothrops, asper, atrox, leacurus etc are all pretty volitile dangerous animals, nothing like a pleasent little eyelash. Personally at this point I would say the macrovipera are pretty fun, yet again a tempermental an quite toxic animal though. But overall I would say you can get something much nicer than a big nasty cotton, heck come to the states you can go to some lakes where cottons form the only islands lol. good luck with your pic,
Jared
|
| |
|
RE: To buy or not to buy ?
|
Reply
|
|
by ssshane on January 31, 2007
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
If space is an issue, which it sounds like it is, going back to the Trims isn't a bad idea. The white lipped viper is a fun snake to watch grow. I had a nice group of them, 2:3, and they were always fun to watch. And 4 of the 5 were always active.
|
| |
|
Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to this topic.
Subscribe!
My Subscriptions
Subscriptions Help
Check our help page for help using
, or send questions, comments, or suggestions to the
Manager.
|
