im not bashing venomous snake owners but...

[anthonym]

unless you are doing venom extraction or research, it's a cool and/or ego factor.

Ummm... not sure I follow your logic... So we are only allowed to be fascinated and enjoy observing/the husbandry involvement of non venomous snakes? But the minute that our fascination falls into the realm of hots, its only because we are trying to be cool/have an ego? And I'm not asking that rhetorically. Seriously, do tell what your logic is behind that statement.

Pretty sure there is quite a large community of keepers who are incredibly knowledgable and passionate about hots that would disagree with you..

[mommanessy247]

oh..no no no that's definitley NOT what i intended to sound like. if keeping hots suits someone then more power to 'em but i was just ASKING if that was the reason behind it...it was a question...did i forget to put a question mark there? oops my bad, lol.again it was meant as a question...
please forgive my poorly phrased post.

[jkobylka]

People keep hots for the same reason people keep non venimous snakes... because they are amazing animals and it is a pleasure to work with them. Some, like me, want to avoid the risk (at least at this stage) that comes with keeping venimous snakes, but hot keepers are just like you and me (for the most part, lol).

Justin

[anthonym]

oh..no no no that's definitley NOT what i intended to sound like. if keeping hots suits someone then more power to 'em but i was just ASKING if that was the reason behind it...it was a question...did i forget to put a question mark there? oops my bad, lol.again it was meant as a question...
please forgive my poorly phrased post.

I wasn't directing that at you. If you'll notice, I quoted redpython and was replying to him directly. Your initial question was fine.

[Dragoon]

Just keep in mind...90% of people out there say the very same thing about all of us..."Why would anyone want a SNAKE as a pet"...venomous or not To each his own, I'm not into hots but I have saw very few snakes that are prettier than a gaboon viper!!

I dont own hot or want to for safety sake but some gaboon morphs are some of the most amazing looking snakes i have ever seen.

[MKHerps]

This is just one reason we keep hots.

[anthonym]

Those are some really nice taylori! Agkistrodons are definitely some of my favorite hots

[MKHerps]

The one one the left is actually a hypo. These are not my snakes. These belong to a very good friend. His bloodline is the only pure hypo taylori. The colors are amazing and I thought the photo would be a good representation of why we keep hots. It has nothing to do with a thrill. They are just another snake, with different physical characteristics. If any of the people on this thread( that have bashed hot keepers) would take the time to learn more and work with hots they would have a hole new outlook on the topic. But by no means am I asking inexperienced people to just go out and start working with a venomous reptile to see what I mean.

[mommanessy247]

thank you all for educating me. im thinking a little bit differently now about hot keepers and hots. im still fearful of venomous snakes but its more of a respect-fear. i thought my way of thinking about this issue was wrong and its been proven here that it was, so i appreciate the educational info i got. thanks again.

[AkHerps]

I think the irresponsible venomous snake owners are stupid.

I think irresponsible owners of any animal are stupid...

I agree with a lot of people, I don't think it's about the thrill. I have a lot of reptiles just because they are pretty. If my barred tiger salamander was venomous, I'd still have him cause he's just soo adorable, with what and his permanent smile and all