• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Is This a Good Idea?

Perhaps it is a venomoid and he/she is just trying to get a "rise" out of people by not mentioning that? If it is truly "hot" then they are just asking for trouble. In my opinion.
 
Well now..........we see

why laws are passed if this person gets nabbed if this is not venomoid. Even if it is , it 's not the type of thing we want to propell in an image of venomous keepers or collectors. Maybe the person considers the snake to be low toxin because it is a juvenile ? And maybe if envenomated it won't be to serious. Probably true but still...................
 
Has someone informed Lonermon of this thread? Perhaps he'd come here and explain his thoughts on this.
 
I don't know how old the neonate in the picture is, but it seems that I read something somewhere that if it is 1 - 10 hrs old it doesn't use its venom yet. (help me out here) But they are just as deadly, if not more so that the adult is at that age.
 
But they are just as deadly,
Click to expand...
I think it might be a stretch to call a cottonmouth "deadly". While I won't argue that they can inflict a nasty bite, I live in an area abundant with cottonmouths and have not heard of a death in decades. Certainly the very young and the very elderly are at higher risk for a serious reaction, a normal healthy male doesn't have much risk of death. I, myself, would be more concerned about a reaction to the antivenin than the snakebite itself.
 
Actually, it is not a stretch to call a cottonmouth deadly..... They can and do kill....... There was a cotton bite that proved to be deadly not too long ago....... Within 6 years or so...... Heck, people have even died as a result of a copperhead bite..... Venomous snakes are able to use their venom as soon as they are born..... They are not deadlier than the adults..... That is an old wives tale...... A neonate is not able to do more or even as close to as much damage as an adult because of the simple fact that they have a much smaller yeild...... The venom of a neonate is not any more toxic than an adults...... But it may be true that neonates do not have as much control over the amount of venom injected in a bite..... Anyway, venomous snake should be respected and not freehandled no matter how "mild" their venom is considered......
 
Actually, it is not a stretch to call a cottonmouth deadly..... They can and do kill.......
Click to expand...
Considering that the U.S. averages 12 fatal snake bites per year, and 99% of those are from rattlesnakes, I think it's a stretch. You're much more likely to be killed by a dog or a bee sting.

That being said, you won't find me freehandling anything venomous, and I don't find it a responsible thing to do (mostly because of the bad impression it gives of hobbyists).
 
Last edited:
Mistake

Unless this animal is a venomoid, or venom void as I call them,...YES this is a bad idea. But it's not an accident waiting to happen, it's an incident waiting to happen. And when it does happen, and it will, sooner or later, it will be just one more nail in the coufin of herpeticulture. Our hobby is under attack every day by zealots from PETA and The Humane Society because of irresponsible stuff like this. Every time some hot keeper gets bit, it makes the powers that be alittle more prejudice against us. And then they pass another stupid law which makes us ALL suffer. Please don't do this. I don't care if it's venomoid or not. It makes us all look bad, and it makes us all pay!
T.
 
First off this person is obviously breaking the Florida laws for Hot keeping! He came to TRR asking how or who he can be trained for his VRL "venomous reptile license." It is not a good idea to ever handle a venomous snake that way. venomous snakes are born with venom and the ability to use it upon their first breath.

Here is his thread on TRR http://thereptileroom.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=1299&st=0&#entry12817entry12817
Screen shot not working right now but here is the thread. I will also lock it so it can not be deleted or edited at this point. Below is a cut n paste of it.

venemous training wanted
[ Attach New Poll | Track this topic | Email this topic | Print this topic ]


Lonermon
Posted: Dec 22 2004, 10:32 PM
i live in ft lauderdale and wan t to get my venemous license . i have been handling and catching both venemous and non venemous snakes since i was a teenager . i have 3 days off a week and am willign to put in the time . any assistance you can give would be helpfull . please respond here or email me at [email protected] ( please put the heading "venemous training " so that i dont delete it as spam )
Thanks
Turtle

Casual Herper


Group: Adv. Member
Posts: 2
Member No.: 189
Joined: 22-December 04

Warn: [0%]
IP: [ 65.9.100.234 ]
 
I emailed Lonormon about this thread.

I really wish people would not free handle hot snakes. It really gripes me to no end when I see it. There are plenty of ways to handle them w/o getting your hand right up near their face.

I really would like to know why people do this. Is it machismo, testosterone, beer, age-related (some young people think they're invincible) or just pure ignorance of the consequences?
 
I read somewhere that approximately 95% of the snakebites in the U.S. involve alcohol....and it ain't the snake that's drinkin'! :beer:
 
Karen Hulvey said:
I really would like to know why people do this. Is it machismo, testosterone, beer, age-related (some young people think they're invincible) or just pure ignorance of the consequences?
Click to expand...

Reading your question also makes me curious as to what percentage of venomous snake bite victims are male vs. female! :raspberry sorry guys, I can't help but to wonder!
 
This is not a good idea at all. Besides breaking the Florida laws he is showing total disregaurd for other venomous keepers by posting pictures of him free handing. This could come back to bite him in the ass if he ever gets bitten, and I don't care how docile a snake is all it takes is one time and you are tagged. Be it a mistake by you or the little fellow having a bad scale day, but once you are bitten there is no explaining your disreguard for being a responsible keeper.
 
Traci1 said:
Reading your question also makes me curious as to what percentage of venomous snake bite victims are male vs. female! :raspberry sorry guys, I can't help but to wonder!
Click to expand...

They typical demographic for an "illegitimate" snakebite victim in the U.S. (illegimate referring to the purposeful interaction with a venomous snake, as opposed to an accident, i.e. stepping on one while out in the field) is a male between 20-40, and alcohol is almost always a contributing factor.
 
<copied from my comments on the picture pages and added to >
thanks for all the comments

1) yes i am well aware of the fact that this is a venemous snake , and i have seen the results of her venom on live mice .

2) its not because of "people like me " that anythign is being banned .i have never been bitten by a hot snake ,nor have i ever caused anyone else to be bitten .

3) im familiar with the temperment of all my snakes . this particular snake is VERY docile . having been handled by me since jsut after birth .

4)althjough i dont even begin to say that there is no possability of her striking this shot was taken on a cool day , her having been recently fed as well . at the time of the photo ( which ws taken without flash ) she was nerly dormant

no she is not a venemoid . no i didnt take this picture to "get a rise" out of people . i took this picture to show off her coloring .
cottonmouths ARE venemous . but not lethal . but thats nto to say that id be willign to get bit jsut becasue it woudnt be lethal . theres a reason i have never been bit . and to those of you that are gonna say " no matter how docile the snake is , no matter how cold it was , no matter how well you know its temperment . your still stupid and asking to be bit " . well i suggest you never get in a car , because no matter how long youve been driving or how alert you are the possability still exhists for you to be killed in a horrible accident.
 
Karen Hulvey said:
I emailed Lonormon about this thread.



I really would like to know why people do this. Is it machismo, testosterone, beer, age-related (some young people think they're invincible) or just pure ignorance of the consequences?
Click to expand...

in my case . no its not age related ( Im in my late 30's) . drug or alcohol related ( as i do neither) . machismo . or ignorance . and far as invincible , <grin> i only wish .

its experience with the snake in question . i would never dream of handling an unknown snake liek this . if the picture so offends others i will go ahead and remove it ( if i can)

just as a point of intrest . thanks to several people for pointing me to someone that was willign to offer training . startign next week i will be gettign trainign 2-3 days a week with experienced and licensed handlers .
 
Mustangrde1 said:
First off this person is obviously breaking the Florida laws for Hot keeping!

to any and all of you that have made comments about me breakign the law . your making an awfull big jump . the truth is although this is my snake you ASSUME that its beign kept illegally . thats a pretty big assumption . i guess its jsut impossible that its kept in a properly secured container or approved enviroment , that its not being kept int he possession of a licensed handler untill i can complete my training and get my license . i dunno about you but i was tought not to make assumptions , let alone throw out accusations of people breakign the law .
Click to expand...
 
Interesting how you state that you are looking to be trained, It strikes me as very strange that if as you say
the truth is although this is my snake
Click to expand...
and
that its not being kept int he possession of a licensed handler untill i can complete my training and get my license
Click to expand...
So why would you be asking for trainning if it is with a licensed keeper? Who is this licensed Keeper? Obviously if it is with a licensed keeper you would have a resource for trainning so why are you asking for a trainer in your area?

Lot of things sound not in order. Would you enlighten us to the questions above?
 
Back
Top