• 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....

new to board looking for mentor

J

jttennison

New member
Joined
Jan 4, 2016
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Los Angeles, California
Hi, new to fauna and excited to join the community! I have been keeping large constrictors for a while a now and after a lot of thought have decided I would like to learn the art of keeping venomous animals. As my profile says I am near Oklahoma City and looking for a mentor as this has been recommended by a lot of people. I am very interested in arboreal vipers and many other species but before I purchase one I would really like to be trained by someone that can teach how to do this safely!
Thanks
 
Good luck with finding a mentor. If you don't already have some sort of real-life relationship with a hot keeper who's willing to show you the ropes, the reality of the situation is that you very well may have to go at it alone. Given the cultural climate surrounding pretty much any snake that could be considered dangerous to any degree, I think you're going to have trouble finding someone who will take on the responsibility/liability for a total stranger.

In lieu of finding someone to teach you in person, I'd suggest scouring venomous forums and asking questions. Here's a link to the venomous section of this site:

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=327

Also, watching YouTube videos of keepers interacting with their hots can be a helpful tool. See enough examples and I think you'll start to notice things that make sense, along with more than a few practices that don't. Even bad examples can teach you something, so it can all be useful. My own "mentor" - if you could call him that - gave me plenty of solid examples of exactly what not to do.
 
Heck, at first I misread your statement and thought you were looking for a "mental" here. So I thought, yep, you sure came to the right place... :rofl:

Just kidding.......... I think

But seriously, there are some good people here. Best thing to do is to go to the particular discussion forums here you are interested in and just ask questions. Likely someone will be willing to help you out.

Good luck!
 
Thanks!

awesome! Thanks you guys I really appreciate it! I've heard everyone say the best first hot is someone else's. But if that is not a possibility what are some good choices since I am not allowed to keep native species such as copperheads and pygmys. I've been looking at some arboreal vipers such as Trimeresurus trigonocephalus but would really appreciate any suggestions!
 
Back
Top