Defensive colubrids?

[Pampho85]

I'm looking to start keeping colubrids and I'm interested in keeping venomous snakes in the future as well, also interested in snakes with a bit more 'attitude' in them. I figured that this will help me when I do start training with more venomous snakes so the more practice the better haha. I was wondering if anyone knows if there are any snakes like this? Oh and if they're fast striking, that's a plus!

Thanks!

[Mustang5]

Based on what I have seen on snake bytes tv, king rats look like they have a ton of attitude.

[John1982]

A good mentor is worth many thousands of practice sessions with non venomous. That's my suggestion if you want to get into keeping hots. It's not the only way but it's definitely the safest and wisest option out there.

Now, for colubrids with attitude, there be plenty of fun options. Some will calm down naturally, even keeping handling to a bare minimum, but there are some species that seem more inclined to resist the process. If you want to keep them aggressive, you need to let their bluffs actually work though. Let them think that putting on a show and throwing a hissy fit gets them what they want - you gone. Keep handling to a minimum and know when to end a session if you want the snake to maintain these behaviors.

Two of the more resistant to taming colubrids I've encountered in my neck of the woods are Coluber constrictor priapus and Masticophis flagellum flagellum. These are both site predators and pretty fast so you can get decent practice with the hooks but not really anything to prepare you for a hot of similar speed and agility. Coluber and Masticophis will stand their ground and throw some rapid fire strikes at you if cornered but they're going to bolt at the first opportunity. Compare this with Naja or Dendroaspis which are coming straight at you with greater speed, with greater agility, and their tag is sending you straight to the hospital.

[Albert Clark]

And if I'm not mistaken you need to get certified to legally keep hots. There is a training regimen that calls for introductions to the legal and keeper responsibilities. Then the practice with certain fast moving , fast striking non venomous species. Hook training, glove training and a host of other training principles. Not everyone is capable of making it through the certifying process.

[Pampho85]

Thanks for the replies!

Haha, don't worry, my plan from the beginning was to get a mentor to train under when it comes to venomous snakes. Since I'm in school atm, I just wanted to get a snake that would be mildly similar to their venomous counterparts.

I've already worked with venomous snakes with outside the country with some experienced people, but that was only for the short time I was at those places. Never in the United States and never long period, which is what I would like to do.