Taking the "hot" out of a venomous animal?

[Mr Oni]

How horrible.

Poor snakes...kinda seems like a vasectomy.

[dkspftw]

Usually the fact that I keep snakes is not exactly what I use to try to impress women. In fact, having an extra-scary snake seems like it would help even less.

Sure, lots of women find danger attractive in men. But they can ride on your motorcycle, not your cobra. The previous sentence is not intended as a euphemism.

[bcr229]

Poor snakes...kinda seems like a vasectomy.

At least you are making that choice. This seems more like de-clawing a cat.

[auxkas]

1. Yes, venom glands could grow back over time- just like tonsils, gall bladders and appendix often do.
2. As an experienced gun owner I know that keeping my guns unloaded in no way lessens the risk of accidental shooting. That is why I keep all my guns loaded at all times. If I'm afraid to keep my guns constantly loaded I shouldn't have guns at all, right?
3. Unnecessary surgery is a cruel thing to do. That is why I never spay or neuter my pet dogs or cats.

[sunshinenorcas]

]
3. Unnecessary surgery is a cruel thing to do. That is why I never spay or neuter my pet dogs or cats.

Spaying and neutering has a lot of benefits for non-breeding animals though- it can help with behavioral issues for one. If you have a female dog in heat around a few male dogs and one happens to be not neutered... it's a dog fight waiting to happen. Plus, unaltered males can be a pain. Dogs and cats in heat are pretty uncomfortable. Male dogs and cats will want to seek out females in heat. There are cancer risks for unspayed females... the list goes on and on. It's not unnecessary and it's minimally invasive (especially on male animals), and it's a very, very, very common procedure that most vets know how to do.

Venomoid surgery is a completely different thing. It's very new, and very experimental and it's something that doesn't really have a benefit for the animal. I mean, how many VERY good and very experienced herp vets are in the US? And how many of them are qualified to do this surgery? And how many of them actually perform it on a regular basis?
I personally doubt the regen stories- I think it's more likely that since it's a new procedure and not many vets (in the grand scheme of vets) are trained herp vets and are trained to do that surgery... probably some functioning part of the gland was left in and it eventually healed enough for the animal to be hot again. I get their use in education, a group I volunteer with does lots of fairs and public exhibits and some of their hots are actually venomoids just in case, god forbid, something happened and one got out. But they are treated as if they are 100% hot.

[Slashmaster]

I doubt that making an animal venomoid (which I think is a horrible practice) would put you on the good side of the law. I live in Illinois, for instance, and the laws are against "poisonous reptiles" and not "venomous reptiles." Everyone knows a cobra isn't poisonous, but you'll still get in trouble with the law if you owned one. Law enforcement will not care about nitpicking terminology.