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I do NOT free handle my hots. I made a decision to NOT get bit some 20 years ago. Factor in injury to yourself, the likelihood that animal control will most likely destroy the snake, as in most states, hospitals are required to report such bites to animal control, in many states as well, animal control will destroy the snake as a matter of routine or policy or both. The fuel given to state's legislators that more often than not, belive that the general public can not be trusted with or protected from venomous snakes will only further their cause in legislation that will more than likely prove an outright ban in the future.
Now, where I live, keeping native hots is fairly popular, and, I am aware of TWO persons that free handle their hots, and I have mentioned that you MAY get away with it 99 times out of a hundred, and then, GOTCHA! And, over the summer, one WAS bitten and got to visit Dr. Sean Bush at Loma Linda University Medical Center for some very costly treatment and pain in abundance, not to mention the threat to his life the bite provided. Worth it?
Scott Crawford, AKA Kingetula explained things quite wonderfully describing hot keeping akin to fish keeping. Fish keepers don't go about hoisting their fish out of the aquarium to pet, they are viewed, fed and enjoyed within the confines of their respective enclosures. The same is true of hot snake keeping.
When Hot snakes MUST be moved about, as responsible keepers, we employ tools, for our safety and that of the animals we keep.
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