The first hot snake, second, tird and fiftied snake

Hi guys,

I wondwer how you guys think about this subject.
I often read on forums the discussions about what the perfect starter venomous snake is.

Allot of people say start of with Aspidelaps or Sistrures, after that small and mildly venomous Crotalus, mayba a Naja pallida and after that the doors are open and people say your capable enough to keep larger hots like bitis, big naja's and maybe mamba's.

As most people know I'm a Elapid freak for me there are Elapids and the rest is gorgous for pictures but not for keeping.

I remember my first hots this was a breeding pair of Crotalus atrox, a adult pair of Naja siamensis and a juvenile Dendroaspis angusticeps. I was around 15 years old.
Why I didn't started with Corn or Boa constrictor. The answer is easy I was young and didn't had allot of money I bred mostly dwarf hamstwer, squirrels and other small exotic rodents, and I thougth snakes were easy to feed the surplus animals.
A corn cost around 100 guilders (50 US) and a Boa dubbel that price. The atrox I bougth for 25,- US as the siamensis and the mamba I got for free.
My first snakehook was a broom stick with a banded clothhanger. I knew about my snakes that they were venomous and thats it.
As everybody understands did I get the snake feever and the first 2 years I bougth everything I could lay hands on I had atrox, adamenteus, gabonica, arietans, vipera's etc..etc..
And finally I specialized on Elapid.
In 1998 I worked at a milking facility in Oz and never got nailed in 2001 I've got nailed the first time by a Crotalus atrox, this was a dry scratch.

What I try to say is that it is hard to start of with a potential safe hotsnake before you go to the species you really like.
Than I personally think that you can better start with a baby Naja than with a dwarf rattler or viper as they never mis when they bite. On the snake fora and websites you can read that most people got bitten by rattlers or Vipera's but the number of times you read about Naja bites is much less.

For me I see Naja's as big bluffing snakes most of the time they strike in defence with mouth shot (some species not) In there enclosure they pose and strike and hiss out of the enclosure there like scared ratsnakes or docile cuirious animals, A naja thats hungery is like a group of reefsharks but than agian I have seen Crotalus bite people around corner by closing enclosures.
Many Elapids are quit curious, alert and a sort of intelligent. This became handy as you can sort train them.
For example Naja's, Taipans and mamba's are fixated on smell, so when you use hideboxes that you can close off from outside of the enclosure and you put clean substrate or paper in hide box, than al your snakes will go in their hideboxes within 5 minutes. On this way you will never have to touch your snakes hideboxes can be connected to tubes and so you can work quit safe.

I don't know this is just how I think about it.

For me is the choice for Elapids for a numberous reasons. But if I only talk about venom and letality than I reader die by a Taipan than loose my leg true a Diamondback.

I'm very interested in how you guys think about the best beginner snake.

Cheers

Beginning with a D. angusticeps at age 15?
Not much experience then?

Happy to see that You reached age 32 without a bite (except the dry one)!

wow richard
i am not sure if i should be impressed or scared by your story .
i am in several forums and the question you raised occurs a lot .

i started out 12 years ago with a pair of lampropeltis getula californiae , then soon python regius came along then some boas and more pythons . three years ago my first ``hot snake`` moved in , A lubricus , and so far its been the only elapide that i have i do have some pit vipers and true vipers though , i odnt plan on getting elapieds cause i simply think i know my borders .

i wont judge the fact you started out with venemous snakes since there is no nonvenemous snake that will prepare you for keeping venemous .

i think it really depends on how mentaly growen up you are and of ocurse the reason why you want those kinds of snakes , but i do tell the questioners to find people that have venemous snakes near them and ask them to let them watch them handle there snakes to at least get a idea on what they are getting into .

i guess there is no trueley perfect way to start with venemous snakes it really depends on the person ihmself

regards

Stephan

I started keepiong snakes when I was 16. My first snake was a Boa constrictor sp. My first venomous snake was a boiga dendrophila gemmicinta that I got at the age of 17 and the next one was Viridovipera vogeli that I got ehn I was 19.

I totaly agree with Stephan that starter venomous snake is dependant on the person.

Hi,

i also getting after a quite short time of keeping non venomous snakes into the venomous. As I remember i started keeping exotics with about 15-16 with birdspiders, than came some Latrodectus sp. and Phoneutria sp.
My first snake was a Lampropeltis getula californiae female hatchling, some time after that i got 2 Gonyosoma oxycephalum.
As i had my eyes on Atheris sp. i was searching on some agressive non venomous ones and the Goynosoma did there job very well
Of course theres none accord to them they trained me very well.
I`m not sure but after keeping snakes for about 1- 1 1/2 year i got my first venomous, an Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix baby, as they are "THE" beginner hot-snake.
Not a very good choice i find out as she didn`t eat by herself (i bought her in Hamm as well eating -..-) and quite quirrel to keep on a hook.
So after i got her feeding by herself i did my dream, i bought an Atheris squamgigera baby, few months later I got the parents and Atheris sp. still are my favourite species, now I have sqaumigera, chlorechis, nitschei, ceratophora and hispida and I really hope do get some desaixi and broadleiy in the future.
I think about after one year of keeping venomous Viperidae I got my first subadult pair of Naja pallida and untill now I have a quite "big" collection of very nice species
I always kept an eye of Dendroaspis viridis but till i go to them I`ll think it would be better to wait some time...

best regards
Julian

I can only agree with what Richard has stated here.

in fact, i have always said, that i find handling Elapids easier than Viper's, Rattlers, especially anything with Pit's. in my eyes, a Naja naja makes a better hot-snake to begin with as an C.atrox. but i do believe in safety first, and safe handling can only be done if someone got general handling skills.

if someone ask me with what snake before the "Hot's" at all to begin, my answer is always the same: get yourself a nasty, fast and big ratsnake, or a Spilotes pullatus, nasty Indigosnakes make good "training partners" too. as one can deal with fast animals before dealing with venomous snakes to find out if they really ready. If they can handle this animals, without getting "nailed", that would be the right time to get into Elapids and such....

i do remember my first Black Mambas, babies, just few weeks old. hell, the scared the crap out of me!! In my experiences, big Elapids getting "safer", as older they are.. after all, elapids are a lot slower than any kind of pit viper!

just my 2 cents...


cheers
Mario

Im sorry Mario but i had to ask were you ironic?
Elapids being slower than vipers? Ive always had the impression that Elapids are faster than vipers in general and especially mambas.

My first Venomous snakes were Montivipera Raddei Raddei, they never gave me any problems as far as husbandry goes but they do grow like mad and have a temper.
The snake,s that have given me most sweaty moments handling is Daboia Russelii and Daboia Palestinae even kompared to green mambas and snakes like that.
Though none of these are even komparable to a really really large (6+ meters) Reticulated python in handling.
It simply cannot be safely handled unless its very calm