question????

[Beardedragon]

Not in SC

Oh well id still train.

[Denial]

south carolina is a great state to live in to own pretty much anything you want.

[DutchHerp]

Also, a lot of people don't think milking is worth it. Most elapids have a low venom yield and it takes many milkings to produce enough venom for one vial... Are you willing to risk thousands upon thousands of dollar and/or your life for $1000?

[Lucas339]

i don't keep any HOTs yet but have been looking into for a while now. i have to get a house before i can kept the. I live in FL and they have soem strick permitting involved.

as far as a first HOT....WDB might not be the way to go. they are very aggressive and unless you have a good deal of experience with aggressive snakes or HOTs this might no be the right choice for you. the bite from any rattler is bad and WDB get big and can deliver alot of venom making the bite worse. i have a friend in my herp club that goes by Cobra Man and his is a bit gun shy at these guys because he got tagged by one and spent a few months in the hospital. this guy milks snakes and has be working with HOTs for many, many years.

if you are set on a rattler and think you can handle HOTs, look into EDB. they look very close to the westerns but have a better attitude. there are other HOTs out there that are smaller and have better attitudes.

[Denial]

I actually like working with larger hots. THe bigger the snake is to me the easier I find to hook it. I had a baby pgmy rattlesnake once and that thing gave me a headache just becuase it was so tiny it was hard to get a hold of and flew off a hook in a second. lol.

[RebelYell83]

exactly,i started training with a 6ft pak cobra,i wanted a 3ft,but the guy teaching me explained with a VERY cranky boa,and horrible retic,exactly why bigger is better to start,,and after that experiment with the hook,,i quikly agreed,easier to hook,and if the head is 5 feet away and it snaps around for a hit,you have more warning and more duck room

[Lucas339]

well bigger in terms of venom size and bigger interms of venom delivery are two different things. correct me if im wrong but WDB have one of he highest volume of vemon per bite in the HOT world.......im just saying its is not a starter HOT.

[mainbutter]

I have heard people call WDBs beginner hots.. not sure exactly why there are plenty of other venomous snakes I'd rather get bit by if I had to choose, but maybe likelihood of getting bit is low? And easy husbandry?

[llovelace]

well bigger in terms of venom size and bigger interms of venom delivery are two different things. correct me if im wrong but WDB have one of he highest volume of vemon per bite in the HOT world.......im just saying its is not a starter HOT.

EDB do Lucas, I was paying attention at that herp meeting

[Denial]

imo there are no begginer hots.