Venomous Training.

[wolfy-hound]

The thread is FULL of super helpful information and advice on how to think about getting into keeping hots.

But myself, if you "expect to die in the hobby", then don't ever get a hot. If you truly think you'll end up getting bit and dying, where is the snake? Who comes in to a loose snake, unprepared?

If you get bit, you've GOT to have prodicals in place for what to do. This isn't to discourage you, it's telling you more prep work to think about. The talk about all the securing of housing isn't saying "don't get hots", it's telling you more stuff to prep for, to research into, to think about.

*I* am being more discouraging than almost every poster... and even I won't say "Don't ever get hots". But the idea of not getting a mentor because they MIGHT discourage you from the idea is a poor one. You should WANT to hear every single reason people have against keeping venomous animals... so you KNOW that you are prepared for all of those scenarios.

If you want to die, then go die. If you want to keep some magnificent animals that happen to be venomous, then learn all about it... ask every question... find mentors... research about what you need, how each species is different, etc. If you just want to go "Hey look how cool I am, I got a cobra and I'm free-handling it!", please reconsider. If you want to own gorgeous deadly creatures that demand a level of respect in ownership that doesn't exist in any other type of creature... learn more, take all the knowledge and advice in the thread and file it away and pick more questions to ask!