Hi Rob,
There certainly doesn't seem to be any mystery associated with breeding most of the "native" species of venomous. I think that the factor of being able to buy wild collected animals so cheaply, has prevented the captive breeding of many native species. Note how quickly amelanistic C. atrox and C. viridis were bred when $$$ were factored into the equation. You won't have any trouble breeding anything you can keep in your home state, and I bet that if you set your mind to breeding those coral snakes you would be a success at that too...
Jackie,
I'd be very happy to look at any snake pictures you may have. I do not consider myself to be an expert at Timber/canebrake identification, but I have looked at one or two. It might be more advantageous if you could post the pictures here for comments? If you prefer to email them, please include me on distribution:
blackpak@yahoo.com I'll be happy to comment.....
I can say this... of the Timber Rattlesnakes that I have seen from Virginia, there do not appear to be many colors to choose from. Basic black or yellow is about all you get. I have seen some from West Virginia (and it puzzles me as to why there aren't more like this in Virginia.... probably are and I haven't seen them) that are what I call chocolate phase.... they look like the name implies.... I have one yellow, one black and one chocolate presently..... They're headed to a fellow, West of the Mississippi... in two weeks. I'm primarily interested in "Coastal" phase (aka Canebrakes) and BIG ones at that.... I have 2 males and am planning on adding three females in the spring.
Like Rob, I plan to keep a few native animals for breeding. As you more than likely know (for those who don't) it is not legal to sell native species here in Virginia without special permits.... this includes Kingsnakes and cornsnakes too folks..... I have looked into permits, and the only available permits do not include venomous species..... so, I can breed all I want, but I can have only five (legally) in possession..... so all babies have to be released into the wild or given away. I can't even trade them for other animals (legally), but my neighbor can run over as many as he wants to with his car, lawnmower or go cart, and he can chop them up by the gross with his garden hoe.... something is wrong with this picture.... Same thing with turtles, lizards, amphibians, you name it.....
I also like several non-lethal (yeah, I know the all *can* kill you) non-indigenous venomous species.... some of the tree snakes, particularly T. hageni (Hagen's tree viper) appeal to me because they are egg laying..... and they look just like Green Tree pythons.....
Thanks to both of you for replying to the thread BTW..... this is a refreshing change to the trolls and insults typical of an internet discussion....