Largest snake that you can safely handle alone

[dembonez]

longest snake for me is my corn TYVM!

[kitedemon]

OhhWatALoser hit that one right it depends on the handler I am 6'4" and 240 lbs I can handle a friends retics that are 10 foot and I am not sure but 50-70 pounds (I am a terrible judge of weight I am guessing what it felt like then doubled... ) I have helped handle rocks that were only 8-9 foot but I'd not even think to do so alone! Weight (leverage?) of handler and size of snake makes a big difference.

[MikeV]

Yeah i think the biggest id ever handle alone would be an 11 foot, maybe 60 - 70 pounds. Anything longer / heavier than that and it wouldnt touch it alone LOL

[Muddyredneck]

i think there are to many factors to follow one strict rule.. i know people who swear by everything from a 6-10 foot rule and i see to many things that vary like for instance

1)species.. a python is obviously alot stronger then a colubrid but both can make 10 ft lol
2)temperment of said snake, some snakes are mean and need others incase they do get the better, my tic is probly goin on 7.5 ft and i handle him alone and control him with one arm and im only 5'6 maby 135lbs.
3)level of comfort, i have a level of comfort with my tic because iv had him since he was 3ft and have got to know his attitudes and moods and know when i shouldent be handling him period
4) how you handle it, as said a 6ft boa killed a man because it wrapped him neck.. i Never let my tic get a coil on my throat i let him drape over my neck but never around my throat simple because of how strong he is should something set him off.
5)how well you know said snake/what you know about the species.. untill a few days ago i thought scrubs were gonna be my next snake but have seen what a 10ft female can do and with there attitude iv decided ima wait till i have my own house and a person who is around more often.

i mean these are just a few oth the things i take into account when working with snakes and try not to set a *rule* persay but more what i can answer with these questions. plus i mean in all reality like a previous poster said a 7ft carpet can be handled by a 10 year old with ease when u say 6ft snake for the most part its still hanging around your arm without much trouble (not taking giants into account really burms inperticular)

[MikeV]

i think there are to many factors to follow one strict rule.. i know people who swear by everything from a 6-10 foot rule and i see to many things that vary like for instance

1)species.. a python is obviously alot stronger then a colubrid but both can make 10 ft lol
2)temperment of said snake, some snakes are mean and need others incase they do get the better, my tic is probly goin on 7.5 ft and i handle him alone and control him with one arm and im only 5'6 maby 135lbs.
3)level of comfort, i have a level of comfort with my tic because iv had him since he was 3ft and have got to know his attitudes and moods and know when i shouldent be handling him period
4) how you handle it, as said a 6ft boa killed a man because it wrapped him neck.. i Never let my tic get a coil on my throat i let him drape over my neck but never around my throat simple because of how strong he is should something set him off.
5)how well you know said snake/what you know about the species.. untill a few days ago i thought scrubs were gonna be my next snake but have seen what a 10ft female can do and with there attitude iv decided ima wait till i have my own house and a person who is around more often.

i mean these are just a few oth the things i take into account when working with snakes and try not to set a *rule* persay but more what i can answer with these questions. plus i mean in all reality like a previous poster said a 7ft carpet can be handled by a 10 year old with ease when u say 6ft snake for the most part its still hanging around your arm without much trouble (not taking giants into account really burms inperticular)

Great post, you said it perfectly,

The biggest factor that i think out of the ones you mentioned is the attitude issue.

Like if you have a female Yellow Anaconda, and shes 10 foot 50 pounds and is a chainsaw you dont want to handle her alone. if you have a male burm thats 11 foot, 60 - 80 pounds but tame as a kitten and whom you trust a lot, i think you could handle it alone


And like you said, letting any large snake coil around your neck is a terrible idea. Draping them over you next as you said is fine, but when they coil around completely i think thats where you take the animal off you

[Denial]

When you work with the animals everyday you start to be able to read them . If there having a bad day then its going to be harder to move them and clean. I have always handled mine alone unless I was very lucky and had someone over willing to help me clean snake cages but that doesent happen to often lol. But I always have someone in the house with me so if something ever did occur then I could yell for help. With the bigs though sometimes its easier to coax them into going where you want them to instead of actually trying to move them where you want them. Ive never worried once about one of my animals killing me but I have worried about the damage being done to my back working with them everyday lol. Im going to hate myself when Im 60

[Utta]

You could safely handle a 15' scrub python by yourself

..but then there was recently (a few months ago?) someone killed by their 7-8 foot colombian BCI. Apparently he let the snake coil around his neck, and it began to squeeze pretty hard (as if it felt it was falling off) and strangled the guy to death. The worst part was his girlfriend was there too, but was too shocked to move. A totally preventable situation with two stupid people.

What you don't read is how drunk they were. Just sayin.

I personally think its all about expierence and knowing the animal. Let's get away from the constrictors, would you handle a king cobra by yourself? Even with a hook? If you know what you're doing, and have worked with the animal all its life, you probably wouldn't have a problem moving it into a bin or whatever. But I sure as *beep* wouldn't do it. And what constitutes "handeling" them? Id let a 20ft few 100lb retic roam on the grass by myself.

[kitedemon]

I agree and disagree, I have a snake I completely trust He is just a ball and not at all what the discussion is about. In a small set of stupid events I got tagged by him last week. My point is the snakes that are aggressive you are very careful around the 'safe trustworthy' snakes not so careful around and when you are not paying attention because it is 'safe' is when I personally get in trouble. I'd say a snake that you the handler has enough power to 'manhandle' is ok to manage alone.

[OhhWatALoser]

2)temperment of said snake, some snakes are mean and need others incase they do get the better, my tic is probly goin on 7.5 ft and i handle him alone and control him with one arm and im only 5'6 maby 135lbs.
3)level of comfort, i have a level of comfort with my tic because iv had him since he was 3ft and have got to know his attitudes and moods and know when i shouldent be handling him period
5)how well you know said snake/what you know about the species.. untill a few days ago i thought scrubs were gonna be my next snake but have seen what a 10ft female can do and with there attitude iv decided ima wait till i have my own house and a person who is around more often.

I have to disagree with these, I mean the extra person is there in a "just in case" situation. snakes attitude shouldn't be a factor, because they are still not domesticated animals and one trigger can set them off. If you have a aggressive snake it easy to see what can be done, Its the tame ones you gotta think about the "what if"

I used to know a guy who has a 15 foot+ burm that i think weighs more than I do. The thing is puppy dog tame. I'm was confortable as can be handling it (besides my body acheing after) but wouldn't you call me stupid doing it alone? even if I was 7 foot and 300 pounds of pure muscle?

OP asking for a safely handling alone, I'm sure plenty of people handle their big snakes alone, and in worse case senerio they'd be a goner. But they feel confortable with their snakes, their snakes are confortable with them and nothing happens ever. Personally I'd probally do that same thing if I had a big snake I was confortable with, but would I call it safe? would i suggest others to do it?...no

[wolfy-hound]

I think it's going to depend on the individual and the species/individual snake.

I wouldn't want to handle a 80+ lb snake by myself because simply put it's like trying to wrestle a 80 lb bag of water. If it doesn't WANT to go into a bin or cage, it's difficult to deal with.

But I wouldn't feel like I was in "danger" from a larger snake neccasarily. It would depend on the snake.

For a general rule, if the animal outweighs you, you might want to be wary of handling alone. Any snake over 8 ft(in the boid family, not colubrids or venomous) should be considered a possible risk and evaluated with that in mind. After all, if you do suffer a lapse in judgement just once, you might not get a chance to learn from that single mistake.

I wouldn't call ANYone foolish or stupid for handling a large snake on their own IF they have sufficient experaince with that species and preferably that particular snake.