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Venomous Snakes

Hey Steve, welcome to fauna! Its nice to see venom keepers here. Akistrodons are beautiful creatures i hope to work with them in the future. Which horridus do you keep? Timbers or canebreaks?
 
I wish I could

I live in CA so I cannot keep hots (plus my wife said NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!), but my top 3 would be Copperhead, Death Adder and Rhino Viper. I have to stick with stuff that only LOOKS venomous.
Once I came across a grass green Northern Pacific Rattler while herping, needless to say, I wish I could have collected it! It was many years ago and unfortunately I had no film left in my camera by the time I found it (digital cameras were still in their infancy at the time). Ah, the old days...
 
I have ringed pythons (resemble banded kraits, mor so when young); green sanzinias kinda resemble tree vipers or mangshan vipers; blackheaded pythons bear a similar look to some forms of the namibian cobra; and womas look like some elapids with a little imagination...
I hope to get some candoia in the future. I may also pick up some mandarin rat snakes (they just look so cool, not because they resemble any specific hots)
I have a milksnake too, got it 17 years ago, only colubrid I still have (mainly working with ball pythons and the other stuff I mentioned).
 
non-venomous snakes that look venomous

I picked them up from Tom Keogan in Florida last October.
http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=7&de=1010680
His keep their contrast as adults far better than most.

They are a bit frisky, acting much like a garter snake when touched. Super tiny as babies like a hatchling kingsnake or cornsnake so they need small mouse pinks. These guys never let me down at feeding time either, they are cool for sure. Their bite feels like a mosquito bite, as krait bites are reported to be painless, but far less insidious than a krait... The female got me the other night and I still woke up the next morning, lol :thumbsup:
 
Living in California does not mean you cannot keep venomous. You can keep two per sub species of natives, per person per household. Except for rubers. And no limits on albinos of same sub species. Those can be sold, traded, bought, etc. Hope this helps....
 
I'm new to Fauna, but love hots and have kept them for years. I love any kind of rattlesnake. I have Crotalus atrox, C. viridis (both a green prairie and a smokin' red Hopi), some C. molossus, and some C. lep lep as well as a Sistrurus catenatus tergeminus. I also have a pair of Agkistrodon c. pictigaster...they're just gorgeous! Have some colubrids too, but love my hots the most. I'd really like to get some C. tigris and C. mitchellii as well.
 
g.spencer said:
Living in California does not mean you cannot keep venomous. You can keep two per sub species of natives, per person per household. Except for rubers. And no limits on albinos of same sub species. Those can be sold, traded, bought, etc. Hope this helps....
Click to expand...

California law is one thing. I am aware of the fact I can keep native hots with a fishing license, it bothers me that I can't keep a copperhead but can keep a mojave green, just a little ridiculous if you ask me... The reason I cannot keep ANY hots is the final law laid down by my wife; she said NOOOOOOOO!
Eventually I will try to get some some beaded lizards but it will take some time to convince her to allow it. I'm fortunate to have a wife that likes most of the snakes I have so I don't want to push my luck too far too fast.
 
"I live in CA so I cannot keep hots"...

My response was solely based on this quote from you. It's wrong, and it gives others wrong information in which I tried to clear up. If it upsets you that you cannot keep a copperhead so be it, but please do not say you cannot legally keep venomous because that is simply not the truth. Legally speaking for the state of California that is.

Regards,
Greg
 
g.spencer said:
"I live in CA so I cannot keep hots"...

My response was solely based on this quote from you. It's wrong, and it gives others wrong information in which I tried to clear up. If it upsets you that you cannot keep a copperhead so be it, but please do not say you cannot legally keep venomous because that is simply not the truth. Legally speaking for the state of California that is.

Regards,
Greg
Click to expand...

You are right, there are are some native hots that can be kept legally. I did not mean to misinform and any corrections are welcomed. I was probably typing in haste while at work. "I live in CA so I cannot keep hots other than natives" is what I should have said.
I am not upset and take no offense in any way; this is a place of learning and growth for the reptile community so corrections, constructive criticisms, and analytical discussions are all part of the forum.


It does not upset me very much that I cannot keep non-native hots. I have plenty of other snakes to keep me happy. My quarrel is mainly with the fact that responsible keepers cannot legally keep a copperhead but any joker can buy a fishing license and bring home a very dangerous rattlesnake; it just does not make any sense to me. I knew a guy years ago who brought home a northern pacific rattlesnake on a fishing license one time. He was not someone I would have trusted to keep a ball python let alone a rattler. Long story short, within a couple weeks he was in the hospital. When he was discharged (a month later) he had lost the use of some of his hand which he was fortunate enough to still have.

The other legal issue that comes up with many cities in CA is there is usually an ordinance that prohibits venomous animals from being kept within city limits. This is unfortunate because like so many animal laws, it is usually so broad that if the authorities feel like it, they could consider a tarantula or emperor scorpion venomous and thus illegal in the city.

I WISH I could keep copperheads, Bitis sp, death adders mangshans and African bush vipers. I cannot keep anything hot in my house because the penalties my wife would impose on me would be worse than any legal penalties imposed by the state. ;)
 
I'm a bit to afraid of getting bit to actually own a HOT, although if I ever get over my fear I'd want a few Atheris Hispida... Also, I'd want to wait until more experienced keepers have finally nailed down what they little buggers want to eat, as last time I looked no one really knew what they ate so many were dying of starvation ;.;
 
I think theres only been a few hispida kept in captivity, i heard they dont take the whole packed up and shipped across the world thing well. And its an occupational hazard gettong bit, depends on if you think the days, weeks, or months of agony are worth keeping the animals.
 
Hispida are tricky. They come in with many parasites. They like a diet of land snails and slugs I believe. I kept creator hora and netchie in the past. They are easy keepers.
 
My Favorites would be the East African Green mamba ( Dendroaspis angusticeps), Red Headed Krait (Bungarus flaviceps), King Brown (Pseudechis australis), Desert Blacksnake (Walterinnesia aegyptia), Papuan Taipan ( Oxyuranus scutellatus canni), Usumbara eyelash bush viper, West african spitting cobra ( Naja katiensis), those snakes i think are awesome to have in your collection..
 
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