Venomous snake husbandry

Hi,

I'm new here so please forgive the basic request.

Before I go down the route of getting some handling training I was after some advice on what books are good to read to give me a better understanding of the husbandry of venomous snakes. I'm primarily interested in arboreals like atheris or b, schlegelii but books on the generalities of venomous keeping would be ideal.

I could probably get the above info from a local venomous keeper but at the moment I don't know anyone that can assist. I've read what I think seems to be common sense advice online like generally feeding/cleaning the snakes in the evening so a journey to the hospital would be quicker in the event on an envenomation. I've also read that it is a good idea to avoid anything but emergency husbandry activities on your venomous on major public holidays because of the lack of experienced medical professionals on call over christmas for example. So if anyone has any advice on whether there are any decent books available that cover both the generalities and the common sense approach to venomous keeping, I would be very grateful to hear from you.

Cheers,

Neill

Guest

For husbandry care:
Venomous Snakes: Snakes in the Terrarium (2004) by Ludwig Trutnau.

This book covers the husbandry guidelines of both Atheris and Bothriechis, plus many more genera.

For venomous safety practices:
Venomous Snakes in Captivity: Safety and Husbandry (2005) by B.W. Smith.

I feel as though there is a commercial aspect to the book that promotes the use of a particular equipment company, but definitely worth a read. As you are reading the book you will most likely go "well, a lot of this is just commonsense", but the author really expands on it and articulates it to the readers.

Tae Kim wrote:: For husbandry care:
Venomous Snakes: Snakes in the Terrarium (2004) by Ludwig Trutnau.

This book covers the husbandry guidelines of both Atheris and Bothriechis, plus many more genera.

For venomous safety practices:
Venomous Snakes in Captivity: Safety and Husbandry (2005) by B.W. Smith.

I feel as though there is a commercial aspect to the book that promotes the use of a particular equipment company, but definitely worth a read. As you are reading the book you will most likely go "well, a lot of this is just commonsense", but the author really expands on it and articulates it to the readers.

Hi and thanks.

I've had a look on a few sites for those books and they're pretty expensive, minimum £80 each! They do look useful though so I will keep an eye out to see if I can pick up a second hand copy for a bit less.

I've also checked the for sale/swap board on here and no luck. If anyone reading this has any decent books on the above subjects, please let me know as I'll probably be interested.

Thanks again Tae!

Neill Ryan wrote:

Tae Kim wrote:: For husbandry care:
Venomous Snakes: Snakes in the Terrarium (2004) by Ludwig Trutnau.

This book covers the husbandry guidelines of both Atheris and Bothriechis, plus many more genera.

For venomous safety practices:
Venomous Snakes in Captivity: Safety and Husbandry (2005) by B.W. Smith.

I feel as though there is a commercial aspect to the book that promotes the use of a particular equipment company, but definitely worth a read. As you are reading the book you will most likely go "well, a lot of this is just commonsense", but the author really expands on it and articulates it to the readers.

Hi and thanks.

I've had a look on a few sites for those books and they're pretty expensive, minimum £80 each! They do look useful though so I will keep an eye out to see if I can pick up a second hand copy for a bit less.

I've also checked the for sale/swap board on here and no luck. If anyone reading this has any decent books on the above subjects, please let me know as I'll probably be interested.

Thanks again Tae!

The books mentioned are well worth the money and will give you years of useful information. Both of these are "Bibles" of venomous keeping. There are not many books that focus on husbandry as such.
£80 is good value and will be a small amount of your expenses if you enter the hobby .
I would suggest enrolling on one of the handling and familiarisation courses that are available now in the UK. Graeme Skinner at Naturally Wild runs the most comprehensive course with a recognised certificate at the end. Getting through this course will be your short cut to obtaining a DWA licence.
Good Luck Neill.

Here is little taste from B.W.Smith´s book:
http://books.google.fi/books?id=vKSikqLGsYsC&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&dq=Venomous+Snakes+in+Captivity:+Safety+and+Husbandry&source=bl&ots=GQSsJzSNtj&sig=Rmz5z9KCk1cS3aHjuOO_BEuctUc&hl=fi&sa=X&ei=tdX6UOK1HfD54QSIy4CQBQ&ved=0CF0Q6AEwBQ

I have planned to buy this book for a long time, but as Neill said; it is truly expensive one so im waiting to get it littlebit cheaper from somwhere..so far without any success.

Guest

I bought my copy directly from the publisher.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/b-w-smith/venomous-snakes-in-captivity-safety-and-husbandry/paperback/product-6413985.html

Alternatively, you can get an e-book(PDF) version for a fraction of the cost.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/b-w-smith/venomous-snakes-in-captivity-safety-and-husbandry/ebook/product-18612791.html

Thanks Tae.
This was very valuable information, and i do belive that here is many more who might start looking more basic information too. I did also check that they do shipping to Europe via UPS.
Finally this information will be evolve my hobby too.

mark craddock wrote:

Neill Ryan wrote:

Tae Kim wrote:: For husbandry care:
Venomous Snakes: Snakes in the Terrarium (2004) by Ludwig Trutnau.

This book covers the husbandry guidelines of both Atheris and Bothriechis, plus many more genera.

For venomous safety practices:
Venomous Snakes in Captivity: Safety and Husbandry (2005) by B.W. Smith.

I feel as though there is a commercial aspect to the book that promotes the use of a particular equipment company, but definitely worth a read. As you are reading the book you will most likely go "well, a lot of this is just commonsense", but the author really expands on it and articulates it to the readers.

Hi and thanks.

I've had a look on a few sites for those books and they're pretty expensive, minimum £80 each! They do look useful though so I will keep an eye out to see if I can pick up a second hand copy for a bit less.

I've also checked the for sale/swap board on here and no luck. If anyone reading this has any decent books on the above subjects, please let me know as I'll probably be interested.

Thanks again Tae!

The books mentioned are well worth the money and will give you years of useful information. Both of these are "Bibles" of venomous keeping. There are not many books that focus on husbandry as such.
£80 is good value and will be a small amount of your expenses if you enter the hobby .
I would suggest enrolling on one of the handling and familiarisation courses that are available now in the UK. Graeme Skinner at Naturally Wild runs the most comprehensive course with a recognised certificate at the end. Getting through this course will be your short cut to obtaining a DWA licence.
Good Luck Neill.

Hi, thanks for your reply Mark. Completely understand what you say about being worth the expense. Being into chondros the bible for us is the more complete chondro by Greg Maxwell. Difficult to find in print and expensive too. I have a copy and it is worth it's weight in gold and I'll be referring back to it for years to come - particularly when I start breeding.

I have corresponded with Graeme Skinner already as I spotted photos of his stunning atheris squameriga and got in touch. I hope to go on his course over the coming months. Do you know anyone that has done it and what it covers? I've seen photos of the course run at Wrigglies pet shop in Dunstable and theirs involves hooking, pinning, tubing, envenomation procedures etc. They use a variety of snakes too including a cobra which looks amazing. I might do both!

Thanks for your advice.

Cheers,

Neill

toni beckman wrote:: Here is little taste from B.W.Smith´s book:
http://books.google.fi/books?id=vKSikqLGsYsC&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&dq=Venomous+Snakes+in+Captivity:+Safety+and+Husbandry&source=bl&ots=GQSsJzSNtj&sig=Rmz5z9KCk1cS3aHjuOO_BEuctUc&hl=fi&sa=X&ei=tdX6UOK1HfD54QSIy4CQBQ&ved=0CF0Q6AEwBQ

I have planned to buy this book for a long time, but as Neill said; it is truly expensive one so im waiting to get it littlebit cheaper from somwhere..so far without any success.

Hi.

Thanks for the taster Toni. It looks good. It sounds like you'll be buying a copy soon too.

Good luck in your research.

Neill

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