Anyone keep Cottonmouths?

This is a LTC, caught in 2008.

That's a beauty! Cottonmouths are one of the few Agkistrodons that I've never kept but I love them. I kept and bred Cantils and Copperheads back when I used to keep venomous (before my daughter was born
I thought you might appreciate this unusual cottonmouth I found while field herping in the FL panhandle several years ago. It was an adult (approx 3 foot) but still had very visible banding and light coloration. It almost looked hypomelanistic except for the black tail. It was definitely a conanti based on where it was found.

Thanks for sharing. That is indeed a lighter colored example.

I've kept several of them over the years. At one time I had all three subspecies here at the same time, Easterns, Westerns and Florida... The westerns are a hoot, because they're kind of dwarfs compared to their cousins. I love the Florida ssp, due to their large size, although I have to say that they're all a joy to keep... not fussy, not hateful and pretty easy keepers overall.

Years ago, I spent time in the Eastern part of SC, and catching cottonmouths there is nearly as easy as a walk in the park. A friend of mine used to walk feeder creeks to one of the rivers near Charleston, and you could find literally hundreds of cottonmouths in a day there. We also found many other native species which we'd catch and release for something to do...

A lot of people ask what a good "beginner" venomous snake is. I can't think of a better captive than a cottonmouth, period... unless you have to have something trendy to show off to your friends... nice snakes!