First venomous

Any ideas on what a good first venemous snake would be? Everyone keeps telling me a rattler but i doubt that's a good one to own first without alot of experience.

There is no hot that will get you ready for another hot. There is no nonvenomous that will get you ready for a hot.

The best first hot(venomous) is someone elses. Train first.

Also I believe it is illegal to own in New Jersey

Yes it is gary, But you can get a permit I have heard through the grape vine that there is at least 2 permited venomous keepers in NJ.
Joe

the permit is not wasy to get by any means

Ah, i don't live in jersey anymore. I'm torn between New Hampshire and Pennsylvania now (although i still work in NJ). My folks live in NH and my mother has cancer so i am up there every weekend.
Anyway, i was just wondering, not necessarily something i would do now, but figured i would look into it for the future if that was something i wanted to do. Was wondering if there was one that was easier to care for than others because of its disposition, size, temperment, toxicity, etc.
Everyone in jersey is all hognose gung-ho. saying, "they are too venomous!." Yeah, okay keep your 'hot' hognoses and i'll look into real venomous for the future.
So, i was just wondering if there was a hot that people recommend more than others. I'm not looking to get a hot as a novice, just want to do my research first. any advice would be helpful!
Thank you!

Oh yeah, and venomous permits. I did y research on that, there is a loophole... not that everyone needs to know.
...buuuuut... The permit for hots is the same as the permit for poisonous frogs (which are one of the few animals still allowed in NJ). NJ is about to concider the heterodon family a hot as well, which is stupid...
Anyway, the permit allows for the keeping of poisonous on the paperwork but says nothing about species.
The only bad thing, is if someone from the wildlife office finds out you're keeping hots they can revoke any and all permits to house any species altogether, including dogs and cats. The local police, on the other hand, can not look this information up without calling the wildlife office.
With that said, the negatives greatly outweigh the benefits of breaking the law. If found you can face up to 5 years in jail and a fine of UP TO 10,000, not to mention if a hot gets loose and injures someone.
The other loophole is a field catching permit. I am a falconer as well, and you need a special hunting and trapping licence to do so. anything that is jersey native can be legally caught and kept with a trapping permit (which is next to impossible to get unless you have an animal that needs to hunt in order to live) and that includes hots. If the falcon/hawk kills something endangered or non-new jersey native it can eat what it wants in the field but you must leave the carcass and report the death to the authorities. All species that you collect from the wild must be edible by the falcon/hawk. Note, that nearly all falcons/hawks cannot eat hots.

Uh. Poisonous and Venomous are two different things..... I dont really consider that a Loophole.

Originally Posted by Mooing Tricycle

Uh. Poisonous and Venomous are two different things..... I dont really consider that a Loophole.

Good point. Just going off what i was told by a friend in Matawan NJ who has hots. NEVER something i would recommend doing, it's a horrible idea to do it that way anyway, and can get you in loads of trouble.

Originally Posted by Mooing Tricycle

Uh. Poisonous and Venomous are two different things..... I dont really consider that a Loophole.

I do not think he found a loop hole. I would really just call Fish and Game or the DNR for the state. Ask questions. It is better that way