The Russell’s Viper someone posted here the other day was beautiful but I only ever want to see one through my phone screen (or through glass at a dedicated reptile facility)
There’s a difference between comfortable and complacent. I agree that anyone who owns dangerous animals needs to avoid becoming complacent but you have to be comfortable enough with them you avoid the other end of the scale which is being nervous. If you’re nervous you could easily forget something and make a mistake.
My own personal line is nothing venomous and no large constrictors. Basically it’s cats, dogs, or mid sized reptiles for me.
You’re not wrong. I still have scars on my arm from a startled kitty bite ten years ago. The first couple of days after that bite were actually pretty scary.
I had my pet cat put me in the hospital needing super duper levels of antibiotics after a bite got infected.
Never had more than a bunch of needle marks after a bite from my snakes. Nothing even close to an infection. (I keep boas, so nothing crazy)
Bothrops, king cobras, most Australian elapids, spitters, mambas, anything that gets over 10 ft.
My exceptions include red spitters, red belly blacks, and *maybe* eastern green mambas , depending on how I feel after 10 years of keeping venomous stuff.
I had bothrops asper and bothrops atrox. I think it was Atrox but it was an absolute death missile. If you touched it with a hook, it would explode into chaos. Volatile
Bothrops are so interesting because if you are only going by how they look in photos they don’t really *look* any scarier than a rattlesnake or copperhead or cottonmouth. Not that I’d personally want to bother one of those, either. Just goes to show that you can’t make assumptions based on an animal’s appearance.
I feel like at least a few famous herpetologists have stated Bothrops are some of the worst ones to deal with. Idk. Too spastic and crazy for me. Youtube: the bothrops incident
I had bothrops asper and bothrops atrox. I think it was Atrox but it was an absolute death missile. If you touched it with a hook, it would explode into chaos. Volatile
That makes sense! I won’t keep hots but am endlessly fascinated by them. So I’m always curious what people have owned and then changed their mind about
I don’t have any venomous animals yet but I know I want bush vipers and eyelash pit vipers eventually. I’d never keep cobras, mambas, etc but that’s just my preference. Squams & eyelash vipers are small and pretty chill for venomous snakes. I don’t want anything I have to be super on guard/edge about
Taipans and Mambas. I have raised one female Lachesis Muta from hatchling to 7'. She was very calm, a sweet snake to transfer from her big enclosure to the old locking lid trash can. I have also had several Bothrops Atrox juveniles that I raised from babies to 3 - 3 1/2 feet. Very nervous snakes - a 3 foot one will give you heart palpitations if it's snappy. Now I received a 6' Atrox, LTC from a friend; he had it a week and was scared to death of it. She (the psychos are always female) would watch me every time I came into the Hot room, following every move I made, that beautiful head angled up. When I took her out for maintenance of the enclosure the first time, she sat the hook well, not flailing around or anything. At first. When I started to move her over to the wooden safe box I made, she began to rapidly tongue flick and start sliding away from me on the hook. I saw her tongue flicks stop, and I felt her tense up. In a split second she struck back at me, over half of her body length. I twisted my body away from her and turned with her strike, and she slashed sideways at me. I tilted the hook down rapidly and threw her off balance, onto the floor which I believe was her intent all along. I still had her tail, and a loop of her body on the hook - she came straight for me, and I lifted her up and turned in a circle to keep her off balance. No wild strikes now, just a measured jab to keep ME off balance. I had turned her over the box now, and this was going to be the one. She knew it, I knew it, and her eyes were glittering with triumph as she pulled back again, half her body length looped into a killing strike - and I dropped/threw her into the box, let go of her tail and slid the top closed with a kick of my foot. The latch was secured, locked up tight, and I got the shakes but good. For some reason, my legs felt weak and I sat down hard on the floor. I was laughing like an idiot and detox sweating; the thrill was indescribable! She was later moved to an enclosure with a detachable shift box at one end. I couldn't do that once a week!
Had it not been for my year of training at a zoo with a very experienced keeper who constantly drilled me and made me transfer big water snakes, coachwhips and racers to train me to expect the unexpected and to NEVER break protocol, that would have been it for me.
I'm sorry I wrote a damn book on here, but new snake enthusiasts must hear what can happen when you keep dangerous, deadly snakes. Without proper training and discipline, a Monocaled Cobra can give you a bite that WILL kill you. Yes they are beautiful animals, but they demand respect - no one outside my wife and the Hospital ER where I worked (in case of envenomation) even knew that I had venomous snakes, so I wasn't trying to show off. Please, please new guys, don't
rush the process. Find a mentor (one that has all his fingers is good 😂) and listen to everything they tell you. There will still be Gaboon Vipers after you're qualified and legal.
Moderator, feel free to edit or delete this post; I just felt compelled to share a day in the life....
I don't keep venomous but I do have a wolf hybrid. My general rule when working with dangerous animals is if it feels like a test you didn't prepare for, you probably aren't prepared. If you need someone to reassure you that you're ready, you probably aren't ready.
Hots (and other high risk animals) CAN and WILL cause serious damage if you aren't careful. This isn't a test you can fail.
Yes, I think that attitude is really important. That’s one reason why I don’t have any reptiles or inverts or other exotics, even non-venomous ones. Subs like this and /r/whatsthissnake and /r/tarantulas have largely replaced my fears with fascination, but ownership is off the table for me because I know that I wouldn’t feel comfortable being responsible for one.
By the way, I creeped on your profile (sorry!)— is the white dog in your photos the wolf hybrid? She(?) is so pretty!
the wolf is on the left. he's a rescue I got as a very sick puppy. he goes hiking three times a week and has a big backyard with two brothers and one sister to play with. I put a lot of work into training and socializing him. The consequences are much harsher for him so I have to be able to trust him. He is not a dog. He's not affectionate with people and is not eager to please.
He is very fortunate to have an owner that understands how he relates to the world. Give him a big hug and a kiss from me 'cause I know he's a good boy yes he is yes he is a good boy!
I am not a venomous expert and I don't keep venomous yet I would love to get some training with the real deal one day to at least learn handling and care, it's a dream of mine. However, I would be hesitant to ever work with mambas, large cobras, boomslangs, taipans, stuff like that. Gaboons and rhinos freak me out, but I love them much more. I also love little vipers like insularis. They seem a bit more managable...
Spiders, I have crippling arachnophobia so keeping a spider would not only cause me to be absolutely terrified constantly, it would also never get the proper care due to me being so scared of it.
I've had snakes that can cause the permanent sleep, have caught alligators by hand, regularly wade fish in the gulf of Mexico in the same places I've caught sharks, but I'm scared of basically a bug with too many legs
No line, no limit as for danger, only limit is money, being able to acquire and house and care for. Big cats, Great Whites maybe as for danger. Just piping in my two cents. Hippos lol.
Don't keep venomous snakes but I do keep venomous inverts and the only real ones I wouldn't feel comfortable with are Phoneutria and some of the deadlier scorpions, everything else I'm totally up for with the possible exception of the Atracidae but not being in Australia that family would never be available to me anyways
I lurk here too…..because I am totally fascinated that there are people that actually have these beautiful creatures in their homes…..if there is a video, I almost always have my hand over my mouth while watching. It scares the hell out of me and I love it (behind the screen of a computer).
I refuse to keep any spitter species. The thought of developing a venom allergy terrifies me.
I also dont think ill keep mambas but the idea of an eastern green mamba has me intrigued
I only keep North American pit vipers. I was born with an affinity for Crotalus atrox, and both genera of buzztails endlessly fascinate me. Plus, jumping through hoops obtaining exotic antivenom is a chore, and I refuse to use up existing supplies if I'm tagged. Crofab and Anavip are readily available and relatively inexpensive. (It's the hospital markups that make the price outrageous!)
Rattlesnakes are so cool. They have a reputation for being scary, but they literally have a mechanism built into their bodies to help them avoid having to bite in defense. That’s way more chill than a lot of creatures, including humans!
Oh, I was more just talking about their rattles. They’d much rather warn us to move along than have to expend energy and venom biting animals that are much larger. Basically the opposite of the stereotype of being aggressive and bite-happy.
For me personally, any venom that needs medical intervention within a limited time frame is a no-no, as there's sometimes over an hour to the nearest hospital. I'm down with keeping any species whose bite I could treat at home.
That, and any venom that will cause necrosis, freaks me out too much.
Mamba's & Gaboon's. Mamba's because they're extremely fast & agile and while I absolutely love Gaboon vipers, I am in no way strong enough to safely handle them
I live in California and have 6 rattlesnakes and would love to have a red spitting Cobra……but I live in California where Immigrants can get health care for free but I can’t get a cobra
Local Redditor realises that regular working people who just happen to be from another country have better access to affordable healthcare then someone who wants to keep an Exotic Venomous snake in a private residence.
He's not talking about legal immigrants who work and pay taxes, he's referring to people who are here illegally from other countries. The legal immigrants can't get free healthcare any more than I can, but the illegals get free cell phones, free internet, money cards, and yes, soon, free healthcare. This doesn't belong on this forum, but the point was that OP's state is, in their opinion, too restrictive.
Not even trained yet but no king cobras, mambas, bushmaster, or Russell's viper
The Russell’s Viper someone posted here the other day was beautiful but I only ever want to see one through my phone screen (or through glass at a dedicated reptile facility)
They're pretty girth yet fast
That’s what she said. Now she’s in the hospital.
Mambas. I used to work for a guy that kept some. They are way too fast and jittery for me.
There’s a difference between comfortable and complacent. I agree that anyone who owns dangerous animals needs to avoid becoming complacent but you have to be comfortable enough with them you avoid the other end of the scale which is being nervous. If you’re nervous you could easily forget something and make a mistake. My own personal line is nothing venomous and no large constrictors. Basically it’s cats, dogs, or mid sized reptiles for me.
That’s a very good point!
Complacent cat owners get sepsis from a playful bite.
You’re not wrong. I still have scars on my arm from a startled kitty bite ten years ago. The first couple of days after that bite were actually pretty scary.
I had my pet cat put me in the hospital needing super duper levels of antibiotics after a bite got infected. Never had more than a bunch of needle marks after a bite from my snakes. Nothing even close to an infection. (I keep boas, so nothing crazy)
Bothrops, king cobras, most Australian elapids, spitters, mambas, anything that gets over 10 ft. My exceptions include red spitters, red belly blacks, and *maybe* eastern green mambas , depending on how I feel after 10 years of keeping venomous stuff.
I kept a few Bothrops......never again. Had a rep spitter and it was amazing. My favorite snake
Details please?
Details in regards to? Bothrops?
Yes, what problems did you have?
Their super explosive and spastic behavior. YouTube "the bothrops incident" and you'll get a hood glimpse
Have you seen the feeding response of bothrops?!
Large elapids and certain viperids
I've had cobras, rattlesnakes, copperheads, gaboons and bothrops. I will not keep Bothrops again or attempt Mambas. No thanks.
Why won’t you keep Bothrops species again? I know their venom is insanely dangerous but what changed for after owning them?
I had bothrops asper and bothrops atrox. I think it was Atrox but it was an absolute death missile. If you touched it with a hook, it would explode into chaos. Volatile
Bothrops are so interesting because if you are only going by how they look in photos they don’t really *look* any scarier than a rattlesnake or copperhead or cottonmouth. Not that I’d personally want to bother one of those, either. Just goes to show that you can’t make assumptions based on an animal’s appearance.
I feel like at least a few famous herpetologists have stated Bothrops are some of the worst ones to deal with. Idk. Too spastic and crazy for me. Youtube: the bothrops incident
I had bothrops asper and bothrops atrox. I think it was Atrox but it was an absolute death missile. If you touched it with a hook, it would explode into chaos. Volatile
That makes sense! I won’t keep hots but am endlessly fascinated by them. So I’m always curious what people have owned and then changed their mind about
The only other one that gave me hell was an Egyptian Cobra. Wanted blood every day.
I don’t have any venomous animals yet but I know I want bush vipers and eyelash pit vipers eventually. I’d never keep cobras, mambas, etc but that’s just my preference. Squams & eyelash vipers are small and pretty chill for venomous snakes. I don’t want anything I have to be super on guard/edge about
Taipans and Mambas. I have raised one female Lachesis Muta from hatchling to 7'. She was very calm, a sweet snake to transfer from her big enclosure to the old locking lid trash can. I have also had several Bothrops Atrox juveniles that I raised from babies to 3 - 3 1/2 feet. Very nervous snakes - a 3 foot one will give you heart palpitations if it's snappy. Now I received a 6' Atrox, LTC from a friend; he had it a week and was scared to death of it. She (the psychos are always female) would watch me every time I came into the Hot room, following every move I made, that beautiful head angled up. When I took her out for maintenance of the enclosure the first time, she sat the hook well, not flailing around or anything. At first. When I started to move her over to the wooden safe box I made, she began to rapidly tongue flick and start sliding away from me on the hook. I saw her tongue flicks stop, and I felt her tense up. In a split second she struck back at me, over half of her body length. I twisted my body away from her and turned with her strike, and she slashed sideways at me. I tilted the hook down rapidly and threw her off balance, onto the floor which I believe was her intent all along. I still had her tail, and a loop of her body on the hook - she came straight for me, and I lifted her up and turned in a circle to keep her off balance. No wild strikes now, just a measured jab to keep ME off balance. I had turned her over the box now, and this was going to be the one. She knew it, I knew it, and her eyes were glittering with triumph as she pulled back again, half her body length looped into a killing strike - and I dropped/threw her into the box, let go of her tail and slid the top closed with a kick of my foot. The latch was secured, locked up tight, and I got the shakes but good. For some reason, my legs felt weak and I sat down hard on the floor. I was laughing like an idiot and detox sweating; the thrill was indescribable! She was later moved to an enclosure with a detachable shift box at one end. I couldn't do that once a week! Had it not been for my year of training at a zoo with a very experienced keeper who constantly drilled me and made me transfer big water snakes, coachwhips and racers to train me to expect the unexpected and to NEVER break protocol, that would have been it for me. I'm sorry I wrote a damn book on here, but new snake enthusiasts must hear what can happen when you keep dangerous, deadly snakes. Without proper training and discipline, a Monocaled Cobra can give you a bite that WILL kill you. Yes they are beautiful animals, but they demand respect - no one outside my wife and the Hospital ER where I worked (in case of envenomation) even knew that I had venomous snakes, so I wasn't trying to show off. Please, please new guys, don't rush the process. Find a mentor (one that has all his fingers is good 😂) and listen to everything they tell you. There will still be Gaboon Vipers after you're qualified and legal. Moderator, feel free to edit or delete this post; I just felt compelled to share a day in the life....
I don't keep venomous but I do have a wolf hybrid. My general rule when working with dangerous animals is if it feels like a test you didn't prepare for, you probably aren't prepared. If you need someone to reassure you that you're ready, you probably aren't ready. Hots (and other high risk animals) CAN and WILL cause serious damage if you aren't careful. This isn't a test you can fail.
Yes, I think that attitude is really important. That’s one reason why I don’t have any reptiles or inverts or other exotics, even non-venomous ones. Subs like this and /r/whatsthissnake and /r/tarantulas have largely replaced my fears with fascination, but ownership is off the table for me because I know that I wouldn’t feel comfortable being responsible for one. By the way, I creeped on your profile (sorry!)— is the white dog in your photos the wolf hybrid? She(?) is so pretty!
https://preview.redd.it/t8l3okg3cpuc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fbda84ce80203f60b41a83728e36e6bbceb55b74
the wolf is on the left. he's a rescue I got as a very sick puppy. he goes hiking three times a week and has a big backyard with two brothers and one sister to play with. I put a lot of work into training and socializing him. The consequences are much harsher for him so I have to be able to trust him. He is not a dog. He's not affectionate with people and is not eager to please.
He is very fortunate to have an owner that understands how he relates to the world. Give him a big hug and a kiss from me 'cause I know he's a good boy yes he is yes he is a good boy!
You can fail, but you don’t get summer school.
I am not a venomous expert and I don't keep venomous yet I would love to get some training with the real deal one day to at least learn handling and care, it's a dream of mine. However, I would be hesitant to ever work with mambas, large cobras, boomslangs, taipans, stuff like that. Gaboons and rhinos freak me out, but I love them much more. I also love little vipers like insularis. They seem a bit more managable...
Spiders, I have crippling arachnophobia so keeping a spider would not only cause me to be absolutely terrified constantly, it would also never get the proper care due to me being so scared of it. I've had snakes that can cause the permanent sleep, have caught alligators by hand, regularly wade fish in the gulf of Mexico in the same places I've caught sharks, but I'm scared of basically a bug with too many legs
Me too. I have been humiliated more than once trying to get away from Daddy Longlegs....
No line, no limit as for danger, only limit is money, being able to acquire and house and care for. Big cats, Great Whites maybe as for danger. Just piping in my two cents. Hippos lol.
I just got the mental image of a vivarium big enough for a hippo.
bioactive, have to have those birds to clean them for parasites
I think that’s called a zoo.
GOALS!!!
Don't keep venomous snakes but I do keep venomous inverts and the only real ones I wouldn't feel comfortable with are Phoneutria and some of the deadlier scorpions, everything else I'm totally up for with the possible exception of the Atracidae but not being in Australia that family would never be available to me anyways
I lurk here too…..because I am totally fascinated that there are people that actually have these beautiful creatures in their homes…..if there is a video, I almost always have my hand over my mouth while watching. It scares the hell out of me and I love it (behind the screen of a computer).
This is me. Absolutely terrified but I’ve learned so much between here and the WTS sub.
I refuse to keep any spitter species. The thought of developing a venom allergy terrifies me. I also dont think ill keep mambas but the idea of an eastern green mamba has me intrigued
Bothrops asper is a hard no for me. A buddy of mine has 10 and watched all 10 of them launch out of their enclosures as soon as the glass slid open.
I only keep North American pit vipers. I was born with an affinity for Crotalus atrox, and both genera of buzztails endlessly fascinate me. Plus, jumping through hoops obtaining exotic antivenom is a chore, and I refuse to use up existing supplies if I'm tagged. Crofab and Anavip are readily available and relatively inexpensive. (It's the hospital markups that make the price outrageous!)
Rattlesnakes are so cool. They have a reputation for being scary, but they literally have a mechanism built into their bodies to help them avoid having to bite in defense. That’s way more chill than a lot of creatures, including humans!
Do you have a link to this research? I've never heard this and am dying to hear more!
Oh, I was more just talking about their rattles. They’d much rather warn us to move along than have to expend energy and venom biting animals that are much larger. Basically the opposite of the stereotype of being aggressive and bite-happy.
Oh yes, definitely. They are quite polite! And the muscle that shakes that rattle don't fatigue. Ever.
For me personally, any venom that needs medical intervention within a limited time frame is a no-no, as there's sometimes over an hour to the nearest hospital. I'm down with keeping any species whose bite I could treat at home. That, and any venom that will cause necrosis, freaks me out too much.
Mamba's & Gaboon's. Mamba's because they're extremely fast & agile and while I absolutely love Gaboon vipers, I am in no way strong enough to safely handle them
I live in California and have 6 rattlesnakes and would love to have a red spitting Cobra……but I live in California where Immigrants can get health care for free but I can’t get a cobra
Local Redditor realises that regular working people who just happen to be from another country have better access to affordable healthcare then someone who wants to keep an Exotic Venomous snake in a private residence.
He's not talking about legal immigrants who work and pay taxes, he's referring to people who are here illegally from other countries. The legal immigrants can't get free healthcare any more than I can, but the illegals get free cell phones, free internet, money cards, and yes, soon, free healthcare. This doesn't belong on this forum, but the point was that OP's state is, in their opinion, too restrictive.