I agree with Gary.

Working with a mentor is strongly suggested.

dont poop your pants, they hate that

yes that is very true about cribos...close relative of the eastern indigo which is known to be a very smart snake and they grow to be very large 7+ ft or something im no expert...not a cheap snake but u can get a pair for like 500-600 $

Good advice all around but everybody says the same thing......"work with a mentor"....
yeah well....if some of us could find one it would be helpful but the problem is either nobody with a "hot" license wants to be bothered helping somebody or most of the ones who will "train you" only want free labor.........I have been looking for a long time but thats all I find....I found one guy who says he is will to mentor me but I have been waiting months for a call.
so my advice to the OP is this..........try to find a mentor (you already stated you have a mentor), be very careful as this is a very fluid hobby and you must never think you have nothing else to learn and if you want to practice with a non venomous than yes, Indigos, F.W.Cobras and also yellow rat snakes (chicken snakes) really anything thats fast skittish and bitey........
good luck and stay safe

I would not classify a False Water Cobra as a non-venomous snake. They are rear-fanged and have the potential of delivering a serious bite.

Just an observation. May not be valid, but I thought I'd put it out there-

You have very few posts. I don't know from the snake mentor community, but I've helped my share of people along the way.

If you maybe posted more, and hung in chat a few evenings a week, you might run into someone.

Also, it might be a two way street. You say that potential mentors only want free labor. It certainly would be taking advantage of you if you were asked to clean snake cages and never got ANY help. Yet, look at it this way. I imagine mentoring venomous might be a careful, time intensive apprenticeship and after an evening of helping you, if the mentor still has to clean cages it isn't so much to ask that you pitch in.

A long time ago there was this movie called The Karate Kid, where the old Sensai mentored a young grasshopper. I recall that some of the preparations required of the youngster seemed unrelated to his goal, like the request to wax the old man's car, yet later in the movie the same muscles developed by waxing were helpful in the karate moves.

Likewise, cleaning cages of venomous might not be so unrelated as you think, I'm thinking that a lot of care and thought goes into even the most mundane chores when working with critters like these.

Good luck, hope you find someone to help.

Ok first and foremost....I AM NOT TROLLING OR STARTING AN ARGUEMENT.......

that being said......I dont think the number of posts I have should have anything to do with anything...(I understand the whole meeting more people and that)......
I didnt say all potential mentors I said most of the ones I have met.
I dont mind helping and I expect to ...but when (and this has happened more than once)
I get to the mentors house and they already have all the snakes (including non-venomous) in temp. cages so I can get right to cleaning and then go in the house and watch TV while I clean and then when i'm done cleaning they basically throw the snakes back in their cages all the while acting like they are talking to a 5 year old....(and this has happened a few times) well then you can just take your "help"and stick it.
Cleaning cages has nothing to do with learning how to handle venomous snakes.......there is no correlation what so ever with cleaning poo and making sure you dont get tagged.
cleaning tells you about the snake its self like where it like to hide, bask, what branch it like more than the rest and so forth but nothing to do with actual handling. and as for the Karate kid reference.....really.....again nothing to do with what I was talking about...and Grasshopper is not from The Karate Kid it's from Kung Fu with David Carradine. and again cleaning cages will not teach you anything about handleing a snake. unless your the one removing it or returning it.
I have had venomous before I have over 20 years expierence but I have never had anybody "sign off" so I can get my VRL (I live in Florida) I know what i'm doing, I have never been tagged (knocking on wood), but I would still love to find somebody who would be willing to help me get it done but again mostly what you find is what I said in my o.p.
sorry for thread jacking but its one of the most annoying subjects.

Most zoos only supply antivenom to staff and will not supply, even in an emergency, to hospitals. I'd contact the zoo.

I appreciate the correction, it has helped me understand this thread, and your situation, a little bit better.

i would not really want to mentor anyone. people love to sue everyone and what happens if you get bit by their snake? than they have to pay hospital bill and maybe someone decides to sue also than its a big mess for the mentor who was trying to help out someone.

now i think its bs to say they will mentor you, have you clean cages while they go in and watch tv. they should remove the snake while you watch, maybe from 2 cages and while the snakes are in the holding container you both clean a cage. than you watch them put the snakes back. that way you see how its done, before you take one out.