I wonder what's next in the industry. I'm looking forward to seeing CheapSeatBelts.com and CheapCarBrakes.com for people who want to save a few bucks on auto parts. So they break once in awhile, big deal, you're saving lots of money, right? CheapParachutes.com would be a great resource for skydivers. Don't mind the flimsy harness straps or the occasional holes in the chute, you're getting such a bargain. And how about CheapAbdominalSurgery.com? So they cut corners a little on the anesthesia.
Oh wait, some of this stuff already exists. Scary, innit?
I don't mean to be too cruel to the folks who own CheapSnakeHooks.com. There is a market niche for a less precision product that will do just fine for working with nasty watersnakes or Amazon tree boas. Nothing wrong with going for that niche with a cheap, sturdy, basic hook. But skimping on a critical safety tool that regularly stands between you and death (or at least a bad hospital trip) is grounds for Darwin Award candidacy.
Working with venomous snakes demands professional level skills and safety protocols. Not that I am saying that everyone who keeps them should be working in a zoo; there are a lot of private keepers whose standards of care and handling skills exceed what I've seen in many zoos. But the keepers I admire most always maintain a professional attitude about safety, because taking sloppy shortcuts and skimping on the safety tools has obvious consequences.
There's a difference between "I can do this if I have to" and the ideal circumstances you try to set up as your everyday routine to minimize your long term risks. I've had to move a frightened Eastern diamondback off a busy road to save its life, armed with nothing better than a baseball cap and one of my sandals. Can I do that if I have to? Sure. Would I want to institute this as normal safety protocol in my collection? Hell no. I'm going to set up my routine handling situations with the best safety tools money can buy. No matter how much I spend on snake hooks in my lifetime it isn't likely to approach the cost of a single prevented bite.
Sure, you can move king cobras and mambas around with a basic hook. Actually you can do it with a branch you break off from a tree. In a real pinch you can grab just about anything and make it work. A branch is an improvement over a sandal and a baseball cap, and a basic hook is an improvement over a stick. But a professionally crafted hook is better still, so why would anyone who had a choice want to use the less effective tool? To save ten bucks?
A lot of people never use any other tools but the most basic, and they do just fine. I have no problem believing anyone who says, "I've used these basic tools all my life and never had a problem". A lot of people don't, and that's a testament to their skill even with less advanced tools. Any skilled keeper can cope under less than ideal safety circumstances if they have to. A smart keeper tries to minimize the occasions on which they have to.
Surgeons a few decades ago didn't have lasers or advanced life support equipment, and they still had a pretty good track record. What they had back then was pretty good, but what we have now is better. A surgeon who only had tools from the 1960's would still be able to save a lot of lives. But since better technology is available, it would be considered criminal negligence not to use it when lives are at stake.
Thanks to significant recent advances, you can now buy well crafted, properly balanced, ultra light, precision safety tools for snake handling. The difference between one of the clunky old style steel hooks and a professional handling tool made from aircraft grade materials is like comparing a knife to a surgical laser. A good surgeon under field conditions can save lives with just a knife. But if you have a choice, if you have time to set up under controlled conditions to optimize your health and safety, it makes a whole lot of sense to get the better equipment.
