Resources/Advice for Vipers

It's going to be more difficult to find information on their care because of how few people keep non-native venomous. Without antivenin available, not a lot of people are crazy enough to do it. Unless things have changed in the last decade or so since I've been paying attention to hots, you can't get antivenon for non-US hots in the US unless you keep your own supply, and it's incredibly expensive to do so. Crofab is not cheap, but at least the local hospitals should have a supply so that you only need it if you get bitten, rather than needing to purchase it regularly (it expires relatively quickly). Keep in mind, this is the prices on one vial, and you could need anywhere from 4-12 vials:

https://www.wellrx.com/prescriptions/crofab/
https://crofab.com/Treating-With-Cro...administration

Antivenom for anything covered under either Thai polyvalent or south African polyvalent is 3-400 per vial last I heard. Ten vials would be a good starting point and shows that someone is making an effort. $4000 may seem like alot but many people spend more on other hobbies and this would still be cheaper than having to pay the price for the antivenom AND the plane or helicopter to fly it.

Even though the shelf life may only be 3-4 years, av has been shown to be effective past 20 years.

For US natives: Crofab is expensive, and wholesale antivipmyn (the more recent FDA approved av) is about 1000/vial wholesale. Still much cheaper than the hospital markup of $8-20000. Crofab starting dose is 6 vials and 2 vials every four hours until symptoms subside. Further, if you get bitten as a private keeper and use up the hospital's supply and then a kid gets bitten they may not be able to receive proper treatment. So you also potentially put someone else's life at risk by not covering your own butt.

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Originally Posted by Yamitaifu

Further, if you get bitten as a private keeper and use up the hospital's supply and then a kid gets bitten they may not be able to receive proper treatment. So you also potentially put someone else's life at risk by not covering your own butt.

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That is a very good point.

Bear in mind that the four species you listed are recently field-collected/wild-caught imports versus captive born & bred or even long-term established captive critters. So, you will be getting a snake with a high parasite load that has a good likelihood of being stressed, sick, not eating, etc. If you haven't purchased a WC fresh import and successfully gotten it established then you'll want to get that experience with a non-venomous critter before getting one that is hot.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Bear in mind that the four species you listed are recently field-collected/wild-caught imports...

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Maximus- This brings up another aspect of your choices. Please also consider the ethics of buying w/c & imported snakes- a fair percentage of these animals suffer & die, just to get some live arrivals here for sale, & many more don't survive long-term either, due to stress (& suppression of immune function), parasites, & exposure to pathogens enroute. I personally wouldn't support this trade at all. As the saying goes: "Just because you can, doesn't mean that you should."

Do you have experience caring for sick snakes? I mean getting doses into them either orally and by injections. It's even less fun (not to mention dangerous) doing so with hots. Even more so if you don't have an exotic vet willing to help you. And consider the cost of that medical care also- it's not "routine" by any stretch of imagination.

BTW, I just want to clarify something as far as my own 20-years of experience with hots. I worked with rattlesnakes primarily because they were local & native wildlife needing help- it was actually never something I planned or expected to be doing- I was never looking to keep a venomous snake but circumstances changed my mind. I also mentioned having some experience with other hots- that was also not planned on my part- long story made short, they were dumped on me after being transported illegally into the U.S. & then into the state where I resided at the time, so they were under my care for a while, before other [legal] arrangements could be made for them. For me, working with rattlesnakes made sense; the others were interesting, for sure, but I was glad to ship them to a zoo for professional care.

I'm glad you came here asking questions & researching this- I hope you continue to give this a lot of thought. I actually wish rattlesnakes weren't venomous, so more people could safely know & appreciate them, instead of the typical fear & hatred they get, just for living & being part of the balance of nature.

What timing:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/venomous-...l?guccounter=1


It happens I hope the employee makes it.

Just a quick link to an article I just shared- it's from 2015 but unusually well-researched. Hint: maybe you should relocate near Dallas? ;) (PLEASE don't take that as "encouragement" though)

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...he-rescue-quot