question

my brother is thinking about stepping up to cobra's.....he ask me but i'm not sure...WHAT type of cobra would be best for a first cobra...any inout would be great...

That depends alot on what kind of experience he has...and what he likes. As for overall ease of dealing with, I would probably say something like a shieldnose cobra or a cape coral cobra, though that probably isn't what he has in mind. In the "standard" cobra group, monacled or spectacled cobras are readily available and pretty straightforward to work with. My personal experiences, as well as collaborating stories from others, would lead me to recommend AGAINST something like a banded egyptian or black forest cobra. They just seem to try too hard to make you dead. I think I would also steer away from spitters - just one more thing to watch out for, lol.

On a personal note, I think that babies are a bit harder for the novice to work with - they aren't as easy to keep on hooks, and attempting hands (fingers) on techniques such as tailing puts you right in harms way. I think that something with a little size to it, while a bit more imposing, is easier to gain/refine skills on.

thx for the input...myself i only vipers...so i couldn't give my bro a answer he was looking for...he has a few other hots but always wanted to get a cobra....i'll pass this on to him thx again...i'll tell him to start with a monacled or a spectacled as you said..

I would start out with something easy to get in an adult size as Mr. Moore stated. Also stay away from the species he brought up and capes (due to a good supply of anti venom in the states) and suphan's (due to the fact they tend to love to bite). A simple monocled is pretty easy to find for sale in the adult size range, and pretty hearty. And for a couple of bucks more he can always get an albino if he wants to go that route. He will find out elapids are quite different than old or new world viper species but once you get use to them can be quite a joy to work with.

I'd say whichever one He decides on, make sure He is gonna be able to get the antivenin for that type. I believe a couple ssp of Naja need a specific monovalent. The available polyvalents won't work on those ssp. (don't recall which 2 right now)

And if he does plan on handling, and he's used to hooking vipers, he better practice on something that will run up the hook on you before trying it with the cobra. Something like a mean WC coachwhip or something. LOL

Anyway, just My $0.025.
Rick

thx for the input....can use all the info i can get...