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05-07-2004, 06:39 PM

Hi Irwin,

I'm glad your parents are supportive and are allowing you to get some early experience keeping these snakes. You can learn a lot about handling safety at www.snakegetters.com/demo/

Secure housing is important - have you built absolutely secure cages that are kept locked? Aquariums with screen lids are not good places to keep venomous snakes, so make sure your caging is professionally secure. You don't want to stumble over loose copperheads on your way to the bathroom at night.

I don't know where you live, but we get plenty of very nice looking dusky pygmy rattlesnakes here in Florida. If you are anywhere nearby, and you can show that you have good quality husbandry and secure housing, I'm sure I find a spare pygmy or two. We remove a lot of those on wildlife nuisance calls and some are not relocatable because they come from areas where their habitat has been built over. I would have to give the snake to your VR licensed mom or dad, and then it is up to them to give the snake to you.

Do you have a veterinarian who will see your venomous snakes when they need care? That's pretty important - it's not cool to keep pets that you can't take care of when they get sick. Try to establish a relationship with a local vet before your snakes need one, because eventually it is very likely that they will.

05-07-2004, 06:39 PM	#12
snakegetters	Hi Irwin, I'm glad your parents are supportive and are allowing you to get some early experience keeping these snakes. You can learn a lot about handling safety at www.snakegetters.com/demo/ Secure housing is important - have you built absolutely secure cages that are kept locked? Aquariums with screen lids are not good places to keep venomous snakes, so make sure your caging is professionally secure. You don't want to stumble over loose copperheads on your way to the bathroom at night. I don't know where you live, but we get plenty of very nice looking dusky pygmy rattlesnakes here in Florida. If you are anywhere nearby, and you can show that you have good quality husbandry and secure housing, I'm sure I find a spare pygmy or two. We remove a lot of those on wildlife nuisance calls and some are not relocatable because they come from areas where their habitat has been built over. I would have to give the snake to your VR licensed mom or dad, and then it is up to them to give the snake to you. Do you have a veterinarian who will see your venomous snakes when they need care? That's pretty important - it's not cool to keep pets that you can't take care of when they get sick. Try to establish a relationship with a local vet before your snakes need one, because eventually it is very likely that they will.