Honestly, I wouldn't use anything that bacteria might mingle on. I wash and sanitize my hemostats after every use. And I've had the same hemostats for over 6 years now and they work like new.

Those looped things are far bigger and more surface area that a snake might accidentally hit

But then, different people like different things, so I'm just sharing what works for me..

I've also had "locking" hemostats before, but they get on my nerves, locking when I don't want them to...