Venomous Handling

Just curious how many others have attempted direct handling of wild venomous? I haven't had too many opportunities as of lately to stay in practice, but It's something I use to be quite passionate about. Albiet fairly stupid if practiced without reason, but when used as a powerful statement in a snake conservation lecture it can have dramatic results. Who knows how many snakes have been spared thanks to some of the displays I've done in the past.

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Western Diamondback Rattlesnake - Education display in Dallas Texas

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Western Cottonmouth - Relocation efforts for local birding sanctuaries big crowds watching and learning to respect, this guy was kept on hook as were the other 20-30 removed over the course of 2 weeks.

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Happy after relocation :-)

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Western Diamondback - Just a reminder that no matter what level of confidence a handler / educator / or keeper has, always give venomous space and respect. (Photograph is copyrighted to myself)

Cheers

Nice pics. Good job on what your doing. Keep up the good work.

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Originally Posted by reptileexperts

Just curious how many others have attempted direct handling of wild venomous?

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Not me. Don't have a death wish.

I did when I was like 15. Now, at twice that age with a wife and daughter, no way in hell would I attempt it anymore. :colbert:

It's not something I've ever made a practice of, but I've moved a couple copperheads from one side of my property to the other.

I've been practiced in it since I was about 15 as well. A decade later nothings changed accept for putting it to purpose. It's not something I do or attempt on a daily or even weekly basis. Last year I was able to do a venomous circuit traveling around the state with a small batch of venomous, but because those shows were often very much focused on learning how to identify our states venomous to avoid senseless killings, they were never taken out of the locked display boxes. I will say though, given the practice of free handling, you can generally tell the responce of the snake extremely accurately and know when a shift in their attitude occurs.

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These guys were a big part of my education series. Though I didn't attempt to keep a coral snake thanks to their reluctancy to eat in captivity, the milk snake offered good lessons and handling for all ages, highly reccommend anyone in the education field to use milk snakes in a class setting, it will always be something that grabs people attention for a number of reasons.

I mess with them from time to time. Didnt start doing it till i was 19. Really i dont see a difference in handling a non venomous and a venomous. Once youve handled them for a long time you get a strong sense of how there going to react. But then again every snake is different.

Anymore all i do is move them off roads or when i see them around the house i relocate them. Just came across another coral snake last week. Little bugger went right over my bare feet. Scary thing is thats the second time ive had that happen in the past year. lol

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Originally Posted by DakotaB

Really i dont see a difference in handling a non venomous and a venomous.

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i had to read this at least 3 times to make sure i was reading it correctly...
Youre entitled to your own opinion; however, i must say i strongly disagree with you on this one lol.

EDIT: also id like to add i only have ever messed with one hot. My grandparents live in NC and i was visiting them in the summer. My grandfather found a copper head in the barn and was gunna kill it. I used a pitchfork and scooped up and dropped the snake into a 5 gallon bucket and covered it quickly lol! I walked about 1/4 mile down the road and let it go in a corn field. Figured thered be plenty of mice in there for him to eat haha!

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Originally Posted by DakotaB

Really i dont see a difference in handling a non venomous and a venomous.

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:ohmygod:

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Originally Posted by DakotaB

Really i dont see a difference in handling a non venomous and a venomous.

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Well one minor difference I'm guessing you overlooked is with one bite you go "ouch that kinda hurt" and the other you end up in the hospital or dead.

There is Definitely a difference! BUT the outcome can be the same given proper technique and respect. Reading a snake is a big part of it, and some species just can't be read, I've been fortunate to read Crots, but most of the time, they are the most unpredictable new world rattler you can run into. Always keep your wits

Ive been handling venomous reptiles for about four years. Never been bitten and i hope to keep it that way:)

well i have had my share of hots, (gaboons, Rhino's, coppers, and rattlers), and although i loved them and respected them, i felt i was getting to comfy with them, and chose to sell them off, knowing it is a Russian Roulette, no matter how careful and how well you do, one day it is gonna bite you. then all hell is gonna break loose, i am not harping or what not, i wish you and everyone who works with them the best in the world. i just felt i was getting to at ease with them to continue. cool pics though.

I will move Rattlers off the trail depending on their size and what I have on hand to move them. that is the extend of my wild handling. I do it to protect them from idiots that will kill them. 9.5/10 they move along on their own so it is a non issue.

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Originally Posted by reptileexperts

There is Definitely a difference! BUT the outcome can be the same given proper technique and respect. Reading a snake is a big part of it, and some species just can't be read, I've been fortunate to read Crots, but most of the time, they are the most unpredictable new world rattler you can run into. Always keep your wits

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I think the operative word here is CAN. Reading snakes is never 100%, I don't care who you are and what you're experience is, and when it comes to hots you might not get a second chance. I've moved plenty of hots to keep them from being killed, I've done this taking no chance of being tagged by showing these animals the respect I think they deserve. I believe doing otherwise is just irresponsible and the handler is not the only one at risk here. What about the kid who sees someone free handling hots then tries to do the same? You can tell them "don't try this at home" as much as you like but as far as most kids go - monkey see, monkey do..

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Originally Posted by John1982

I think the operative word here is CAN. Reading snakes is never 100%, I don't care who you are and what you're experience is, and when it comes to hots you might not get a second chance. I've moved plenty of hots to keep them from being killed, I've done this taking no chance of being tagged by showing these animals the respect I think they deserve. I believe doing otherwise is just irresponsible and the handler is not the only one at risk here. What about the kid who sees someone free handling hots then tries to do the same? You can tell them "don't try this at home" as much as you like but as far as most kids go - monkey see, monkey do..

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A little lesson from Steve Irwin... Never trust a hot... or a Croc..lol

Hots aren't like other snakes... Facing down a king cobra.. Now that is something I wish to only do with glass in the way.. it really does get your adrenaline flowing.

MY turning point with hots (deciding NOT to get one...) was not only starting a family, but have a Gaboon viper take a bite at me... THAT scared me.. :(

And again, it's definitely not something for everyone, and there are a few people who can and should even attempt to mess with them on a regular basis. Most Zoo's have extremely organized systems to get hots to return to hide boxes in order to clean caging and what not, thus eliminating the need to even touch them with the exception of medical related issues.

Monkey see monkey do can be a huge problem. Fortunately, I've never had someone come up to me a few weeks after my lectures and tell me their son or daughter tried to catch a copperhead, nearly any time I hear from a previous student it's always been "oh I saw this snake and learned how to respect it and know what it was so I just watched it until it slithered away" or "Your lectures helped me understand what I deal with in the wild, and now I know not to kill these beautiful animals that once scared me". These are best case scenarios, sure, but the outcome for me is what drives me to continue working with these animals whenever I get the chance, again, this may just be me reflecting back on learning from watching and listening to Steve Irwin (monkey see monkey do again?).

I've handled them. I have done removals from homes and yards. I have even spent time "apprenticing" with some experts. So its news to me that they are the same as handling non venomous. I must have missed that study. ;)

I wish i could find someone to work with again. I am beyond fascinated!

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Originally Posted by zeion97

A little lesson from Steve Irwin... Never trust a hot... or a Croc..lol

Hots aren't like other snakes... Facing down a king cobra.. Now that is something I wish to only do with glass in the way.. it really does get your adrenaline flowing.

MY turning point with hots (deciding NOT to get one...) was not only starting a family, but have a Gaboon viper take a bite at me... THAT scared me.. :(

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in my dealings, i was not as concerned with the gaboon strike as i was the rhino vipers, university of penn, which i lived fairly close to at the time had all the anti-venom i needed for all the others except rhino's. then looking further into it, the fines, and medical costs would have killed me just as fast.

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 ;-)