Venomous Handling

Yep, I was asked just the other day about keeping anti-venom on hand for some of the hots I kept. I checked around and was fortunate enough to know that the hospital only a few miles from my resident had all of the species I kept on hand (Mainly just the generic since none were exotics or neuro). It can be VERY expensive to keep anti-venom on hand, especially for species like King Cobra when the Anti-venom itself is not produced in the US, so you have to import it from places like indonesia.

I have only had one scare with a Crot, and it was during a milking. The snake managed to get one fang off the milking platform and stop JUST shy of my thumb. Didn't stop me from finishing though and hasn't stopped me from obtaining samples as needed :)

I love hots, but I've only had two actual encounters - one was saving my dog from a Timber Rattler at age 9 (o.0) and then a few years ago I was in Santa Fe and came across a Prairie Rattler who was none too happy about being in my friends yard.

One day I might venture into that world - but for now I'm content to watch them from this side of the glass. Props to the OP and anybody else that does handle though!

all the time, mostly great basin rattlesnakes. i do nuisance animal removal and i get tons of calls for rattlesnakes in the spring/earlysummer. I love getting to relocate them rather then having someone kill them. i have already done 6 removals this spring

I am also a relocater. I use to do it a lot more when I had more time, but I did get semi-tired of responding to rat snake calls that people would report as Copperheads!! Where's the fun in that . . . I've had about 4 Cottonmouths so far this season. Not many rattlesnakes in my immediate area unfortunately.

Well I haven't tried since adulthood but when I was really little, maybe 6, my mom and I went camping and I found a wild coral snake, picked it up and let it slither through my fingers until it dipped into a tree stump. It wasn't defensive at all, just wanted left alone. From memory I *THINK* it was a coral, but may have been a king or milk. My mom turned around and freaked lol.
This was looong before I would ever dream of snakes even appealing as a pet, I always figured they were boring and all got huge. Smh. Glad I know better now.

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Shoot, my first Coral was super agressive. He was crossing the road while I was running and I just reached down and grabbed him by the tail. He was constantly striking till I was able to get a stick to keep him away from me. Milks on the other hand, those are super tame even in the wild it seems ;-)