New job

[Little B-Py]

I'm sure you are curious as to why I am posting "new job" in the "general herp" section...no, I am not getting a job as a snake handler nor at a zoo or anything (sadly), but I am now working at Comcast as an operations technition which means there is a chance I may run into snakes while doing installs/troubleshooting. Everyone in my class now knows that I own 8 snakes and kinda look to me for guidance on that aspect of training and I had asked about carrying a snake hook and the trainer said he didn't know of a problem with it. I don't know much about the hooks, but have used them a few times. It will be mainly for moving snakes that may have crawled under houses or are near my work area (just in case) and I would feel better having a hook rather than getting a stick to shoo them out of the way. So my question is how do I know what to get? I was on tongs.com (where I will probably buy one if i don't get one made from an old golf club) and they have sooo many options when it comes to hooks and in varying lengths, too. How do I determine what I need? I am 5'10"-11" depending on what time of day it is so I don't want one that would be too long or awkward to handle. Since I live in TN we only have 4 poisonous snakes I would potentially come into contact with (cotton mouth, copper head, pygmy rattler, and timber rattler). Those are the ones I am more worried about but being bit by even a colubrid is not on my "list of crap to do while at work." Any thoughts or help?

[PolishPython]

When I got my first ball python back maybe 8 or 9 months ago I had bought a small retractable hook for after feeding I use it to put her back in her cage ....mine is about 3 feet when full extended but yet when I close it it fits in my pocket go on ebay and search snake hooks if you cannot find it send me a message and ill look for the seller for you ....I'm pretty sure they have all sizes and for a reasonable price .

[wilomn]

You may want to consider tongs instead of a hook. If you don't have a lot of experience with hots it can be tricky hooking them.

The tongs allow you to actually grab the snake and keep it away from you. Some will crawl right up the hook if they get the chance.

Have fun.

[Little B-Py]

Thanks for the reply. I'll look into a hook instead then.