have anyone of you poison snakes?

[GarterGuy]

Nope, no venomous here. I think they're very beautiful species of venomous snakes out there and I have several friends who keep and breed them, but they're just not for me. I like to be very "hands on" with my animals and that's really not something you can do with venomous stuff with out some serious risks. I've seen what can happen from a venomous bite and it's really not something that I want to experiance.

[Stefan-A]

Originally Posted by abcat1993

I almost wish my snake would bite; it'd be more interesting than it constantly running away and musking the crap out of me.

You're lucky, my male doesn't even do that and my female just runs away. No musking and no biting. Damn these cb's.

[Markus18]

when i buy 2 of them i know that i have to do safety measures like
1.where is the next hospital with the antidote or keep the antidote at home!
2.i have to closure the terrarium!
3.just handle the snake with a gripper!
4.a extra room just for the snake!
5.speak with the neighbours if they have no problems with the snake!

but before i get them i have to learn learn and learn by reading books and speak with people that have experience
markus

[El Nino]

I've never been keen to having a venomous snake (don't know where the heck I'd get one, there are no venomous natives in W WA. I never even bothered to google the availability of such a reptile (Oh gawd, now I know what I'm gonna do after this post, F**k y'all for even giving me the idea)

I remember going to an open house (Real Estate/ house for sale) a few years back and the homeowner's son had quite the rattler ensemble in the basement of the house. Crotalus are quite lovely, but I have always admired Agkistrodon (not only copperheads, but also Cantils) . Also all those exotic asian green vipers.

[suzoo]

I have 4 kids, so never kept poisonous snakes. I live in Missouri where Copperheads grow wild, and have removed them from my yard via shovel, across the road, to the woods. They are a beautiful snake! I actually have several friend's who have been bitten. The hospital didn't even carry anti-venom as Copperheads are not that poisonous unless you're allergic to them, like being allergic to Bee stings. They just put them on antibiotics for secondary infections. There is no record of a death in Missouri by Copperhead bite. But I still wouldn't want to be bitten! And I love handling my snakes quite often, so it's better for me not to have venomous ones.

[abcat1993]

That's interesting, I always thought they were occasionally deadly, like most rattlesnakes (all?)

[GarterGuy]

Originally Posted by abcat1993

That's interesting, I always thought they were occasionally deadly, like most rattlesnakes (all?)

Well they don't always actually envenomate every time they bite (why waste venom on us dumb humans), but if you are envenomated you might wish you were dead, and there's always the possibilities of complications (beyond infection) from a bite. I've seen guys who's arm swelled up so bad that they had to cut off his clothing to treat him, and yes, this was from a copperhead. You can get kidney damage from the tissue being broken down by the venom, tissue damage is almost a give if you do get a does of venom, then there's quite a bit of pain involved too....or so I'm told (never hope to experiance it!). Venom is tricky stuff and everyone reacts differently and every venom is a bit different. You may not die, you might just loose an arm or leg or foot or hand or finger or toe or maybe just have horrible pain and swelling or some of your tissue die off around the bite area or just be puking for a month or two (another friend who was bitten!).....guess my point is, NEVER underestimate ANY venomous snake whether they say it's deadly or not.

[Valley Pets]

I have a pair of dwarf puff adders CB in South Africa..They are display snakes only. They are to fast and to small to handle safely!
Really neat to watch them hunt for the mouse!
Kind of a bad pic...


Ryan-Valley Pets

[adamanteus]

In the past I have kept many venomous snake species, from Rattlesnakes of various species and other Pit Vipers such as the Urutu (Bothrops alternatus) through "true" vipers such as the European Adder (Vipera berus), Gaboon Viper (Bitis gabonica) and Puff Adders (Bitis arietans), and some Elapids including Spitting Cobras (N. sputatrix) and the Oh so scary Cape Cobra (N.? can't remember the specific name without looking it up in a book!). My favourite group must be snakes of the Agkistrodon complex, including many species our American friends might be familiar with: Copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix), and the Cottonmouth or Mocassin (Agkistrodon piscavorous) . Though I have had (and bred) other snakes from this group including the Malayan Pit Viper (Calloselasma rhodastoma). I have also had some of the "back fanged" snakes including the Cat Eyed Snake (Boiga cyanea) which bred whilst in my care.

I would not recommend the keeping of venomous snakes for "pleasure". You can never underestimate the ability of these animals to kill you if provoked. Many venomous species are quite placcid by nature and it's easy to become complacent when dealing with them. That's when accidents happen. In many ways they are less interesting to keep...by their very nature they are less active (generally speaking) as they simply lie in ambush for their prey. And the risks are just too high. You can always see them in the Zoo! Don't be tempted...it's both dangerous and disappointing.