Here are some pictures of a few of my venomous snakes along with my snake room setup. Please feel free to ask questions or post comments. Please avoid posts saying that I'm a idiot or the only good snake is a dead one.

They are NOT pets! I have been trained to worked with venomous snakes and have 8 years experience with them.

Naja kaouthia

Cerastes vipera

Atheris squamigeria

viridovipera voegeli

Trimeresurus trigonocephalus

Cryptelytrops venustus

Cryptelytrops insularis

Atheris squamigeria






[img]http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n101/jonk9194/IMG_0459.jpg[/img]

Cerastes vipera

Cryptelytrops venustus

Atheris squamigeria

Atheris squamigeria

Atheris squamigeria

Cerastes cerastes

Cerastes cerastes

How storm proof is this room? Don't know where you're located but I'd be concerned about these lethal snakes getting loose because of a weather event.

I would not like to rub that third snake the wrong way! LOL!

Nice collection!

whatever floats yer boat

Where ever he keeps those things is where I will not be.

That's pretty cool. Why do you keep them? Are all of your snakes venomous?

One question. WHY?

EXACTLY!!!!!!!

Beautiful snakes! And extremely dangerous snakes! I would guess the 7th one down is the most lethal?

Do you refer to your snakes as sausages?

Beautiful snakes, but I could not be in that room. Could you edit the post and put names with the snakes?

It'd be nice to know what each one is. Great shots.

Nothing against snakes as I have handled the big four here in the states. Cottonmouth, rattler, copperhead and coral. But I wouldn't want to have them in my house. They are not my idea of pets. Their brains are about the size of a pea and they don't warm up to you after a time. Given the chance any one of those snakes would bite you.

Incredibly beautiful creatures. I have to commend your care. Snakes aren't easy to keep, especially tropical ones.

I do have to echo the question of Why?

#16 + 17 + possibly # 2 is desert horned viper

#1 albino monocled cobra

#4 Green pit viper of some kind.

#6 + 12 Brown-spotted Green Pit Viper

I feel sorry for the mice at your house.

Yup, why?

If you took those photos, you are one heck of a photographer, I'll say that. Awesome photos and interesting hobby I suppose. I would consider that room as having loaded guns lying around. Hope you don't have any young ones that can get in there.

Other than that, I have to say that a good snake is a dead snake.

That�s awesome. Beautiful snakes!

Do you have to keep a personal stock of antivenom to take to the hospital if bitten?

No chit! You don't have much time if bitten by one of dem bad boys

on the photography!!!!! That is some fine picture takin'!!
That being said....these pics are as close as I hope to ever be to that room!!!

Great pics! You do know how to use a camera!

Can we get your name and maybe a pic of you? It would be cool to be able to say, "Hey, I knew that dude!" when the inevitable news story breaks.

very nice pics!

I know you asked in the OP to avoid it but I cannot, you're an idiot.

Very cool. I had a Burmese (sp) and a green tree boa that were alot of fun. When the wife got pregnant i had to find a home for them.

wow
bamboo viper
are you crazy

+1! And the only good snake is a dead one. Sorry, just my opinion.

What kind of permits do you have for those exotic snakes?

Do you sell the venom?? I am going to a liquor promotion this weekend.

OP updated with names.

They are all venomous.

To answers everyone's question, I keep them because I find them intriguing and I think of them as living art.

Most of the species I keep are considered non fatal to a adult human. I do not keep and antivenin as it has a relatively short shelf life. Most of the species I keep don't even have a antivenin available. I do not put myself in a position to be bit.

No I do not refer to my snakes as sausages. Those video's are of Al Coritz, he is definitely a character. I do not agree with the way he handles his snakes sometimes.

My collection is a lot smaller than it use to be. I currently only have 12 snakes. I had 80ish at one time.

***Voice of General Ursus...Beneath The Planet of the Snakes***


"The only GOOD human...is a SNAKE-BIT human"

***Rousing cheers from ophiologists......HUZZA! HUZZA! GOOOOO VIPER! FANG 'EM! ****

Texas Permit

No I do not sell or collect venom.

jonk, what is the difference in antivenen and antivenom?

Antivenin is the proper medical term for antivenom.

What is the medical term they use when your airway closes up and your heart stops beating?

.......Nope!

Me with a Tropidolaemus wagleri


Atheris nitschei


Cryptelytrops macrops


Atheris squamigeria


Viridovipera vogeli


Cerastes cerastes

4th pic is

Dead? Anaphylactic shock.

Gaboon viper fang

Fascinating thread! I've only pooped myself a couple times, so far.

What is the secret not to getting bit? Holy sheeeeeet

I now regret having clicked on this post...

Not putting body parts within striking distance has been pretty effective.

I need to clarify my request. Can you also give the common name of the snakes. I do not know the scientific names of snakes. Thanks

you need to give them nicknames like
Obama, Biden, Pelosi.....

Do you get them when they're babies, or are they fully grown when you get them? And, are they difficult to care for and keep alive?

Interesting post. What are the common names not the scientific?

Awesome stuff man, thanks for sharing

Holy sheet!

Naja kaouthia?
Cerastes vipera?
Atheris squamigeria?

All those years of watching the Road Runner
being chased by Wile E. Coyote,
you'd think I would have picked up
a latin word or two.
well sir, you'd be wrong!

Amazing pics.



Pretty effective? So I'm assuming you have been bitten before?

Nope, never been bitten.

Do you milk their venom to keep the dose small should you get bit?

If you clip their fangs, will they die?

I've seen videos of cobras biting at little kids and thought surely they must have de-fanged them or something.

Mine are all natural.

Holy moly dude...

You need to take on a new hobby...ever thought about fishing?

I had a buddy into that at one time he had at one time the top 5 most deadly in the world he always said if one of these guys bite you its goodby even if he bit you in the lobby of the ER. His wife made him get rid of them when a King Brown Came up Missing they dont know if someone stole it or it got loose but they never saw it again and it didnt come up in the local paper as found or biting someone.

that's wild. they get up to 10' long. something like that just doesn't disappear in a regular neighborhood.

Sure would be scary to live in the house for a while. no way I could sleep

Why? He don't know why. Nobody knows why people do things like this. Is it to make up for something? Maybe he is trying to prove he ain't skeered of anything except the dark and people over 4' 6" tall. Nope he don't know why. Since he don't have the actual name of these snakes I would guess they came straight out of the online encyclopedia.

Brandonman would be very excited about this thread.

I got excited and wanted one after reading this and ran out to buy one. Funny I couldn't find any pet store that had these in stock!

The reason I don't list they're common names, is because I don't know them.

There are 5+ common names for every snake, so in the hobby, everyone uses the latin names. It makes things much easier.

But, here is a link that will bring up all the common names. Just follow the instructions and it will make things alot easier for you.

Common Name Info Link

Don't expect to see them in Petsmart anytime soon.

Do you inject yourself with a small dose of venom everyday like Bill Haast used to do?

Love the photos, great efforts,

Question, do you take the pictures through the glass ?

No I don't, but I have a buddy that does with Western Diamondback venom, and it does work.

Yes, 90% are taken through glass or I use a a big lense from far away.

your to be commended.

They lived out in the country I still get nervous when hunting in the woods around their old house because of that thing. I doubt it would survive some of our winters around here but stranger things have happened.

I think someone stole it it was worth a pretty penny and they had to have kohonas the size of bowling balls

As Brandonman would say "I hope a snake bites you"!

being that you have permits, do you have to tell the state when one dies or when you move, or just about do anything other than let them stay exactly in the cage their in now?
Let your neighbors know? If I have to get permission and let my neighbors in my apartment complex know that I'm getting a 10lb dog, I pray that they tell me if any one of these things is living next door.

Oh, so many questions.

The only records I keep are births, when I acquire new snakes, and when I sell them. I do make a receipt and a copy of a buyers permit as well. To the best of my knowledge, none of this information is required to reported to the state.

Yes my neighbors know. They were nervous at first but once I showed them my "snake room", they were cool with everything.

Does your insurance agent know?

I had a neighbor that I knew was in the exotic animal trade business. I always imagined a Bengal Tiger escaping from his house. It turned out he kept all the animals in a warehouse and nothing was poisonous or very dangerous since he sold wholesale to the major pet store chains.

Man, I can't imagine having to take them out to clean their cage.

I remember some national geographic guy stuck a camera on a cobra and it struck the lense. He cleaned it off with his finger and the venom on the lense damn near killed him.

CREEPY.

Honestly, it's a lot easier than tv makes it out to be.

When I take them out, 99% of the time they don't move, they just sit there.

The 1% chance would freak me out.

cool snakes. i used to breed pythons back in the day and had 6 large diamond backs on display when i worked at BPS. they were a trip to remove.

What is the one venomous snake that you want but don't have?

Fat girls are fascinating animals

Rinkhals cobra (Hemachatus haemachatus).

I've bend trying to get the striped version for years.

Cool thread. I think you are completely nuts but the pics are cool.

They are beautiful but so was my ex wife. I wouldn't want to have either one in the house with me.

jonk has 8 years of experience handling venomous snakes....I'll set the over/under at 10.

No Dendroaspis polylepis?

There is no way I would do this, Wouldn.t jump out out a airplane either. To each his own.

I am a firefighter, we had a fire a few years back where the owner had snakes lizards and scorpians in a room. Understand a BIG part of our job is customer service. we go out of our way to help out. after a fire we clean, help get personal belongings, anything to help the owners...
It was quite funny when the owner asked for help removing his "pets" the chief asked me why I was taking off my bunkers. I replied that HE needed them as there was no way in heel I was going near that room.

Hell to the no.

Got an extra enclosure? I've got a Suriname Red Tail that could use some extra room or some drift wood to climb about on.


Awesome collection and pictures too man! I love snakes.

That's friggin awesome.

beautiful snake collection you have.

That was my first thought.

how come ?
i mean if you have a Bamboo Viper, why not a Black Mamba

Ceraste and Atheris are cool genera. I am not much of a keeper, but am an avid field herper.

very impressive

Which one are you referring to as a bamboo viper?

There is a big difference between vipers and mambas.

Thank you. I posted this in hopes of informing people on a taboo subject.

I'm curious about this as well. I don't know much at all about snakes, but it seems that if you're ok with keeping a bunch of deadly snakes in your home one more wouldn't matter.

Very interesting thread!

the ones with the horns are scary..

There is a big difference between a arboreal viper and a mamba.

Well, I kinda gathered that there was some difference based on your response. Maybe I should have been more specific...what is different about them that makes them so much more scary? I understand that arboreal means "tree dwelling" but, why does that make one more or less dangerous? Just curious. Thanks!

That's wild, what would've been a green one that one would find in this area. I saw one at lake Nocona eating a snake that was eating big'ol bull frog when I was a kid. Scared me so much I turned around and ran.

My snake room is 12' X 12'. Mambas get 8'. Thay are extremely fast, aggressive, and toxic.

I don't have the space to safely work with one.

Most of my snakes max out at 3' and they are docile.

8' long, fast, AND toxic? @#$%Q$%! Uh, yeah, don't get a mamba.

In about 30 minutes the movie my daughter is watching will be over. I'll show her this and you will be her new hero. I've had a few snakes over the years as pets. She wants one so bad she doesn't know what to do. Momma put her foot down and said NO. I've been hoping to catch a local wild snake so she can keep it in a cage outside for a few days. No luck so far. Non venomous of course. Thanks for sharing.

Well, to each his own. But my two cents is that if you keep messing around with them creatures, it's not if you will get bit, it's when... I also think that it's kind of cruel to keep animals like that in cages when they are natural predators in the wild. Same as I think about people and zoos keeping lions and tigers in a cage big enough to just walk in circles all day. No offense, just my opinion.

In the wild, they are a food source to larger predators. They eat when the opportunity arise, have to tolerate rough weather conditions, and the threat of people killing them just for being snakes.

Mine get fed weekly, have optimum living conditions, and no worries about getting eatin.

Poor things, they really are mistreated.

well, hopefully you will never have to deal with one biting one of your loved ones. I have and it's not fun.

great info & thoughts

Very cool collection of snakes. I've watched alot of Animal Planet, Discovery, and Nat Geo and I don't think I've seen some of the snakes you have pictures of on here, except for the cobras and sand vipers. Thanks for sharing and be careful.

Thank you.

Speaking of snake ID....

I just saw this, I bet I wake up around 2-3am fighting one of the bastages off me in a cray a dream now

is he still with us

I hope so. I want some updates

Blast from the past

This is the most upsetting thing I have ever seen on here.

Has anyone done a wellness check on the OP in the last couple of years?

Same guy that committed suicide by Cobra?

Probably, nothing about that should be legal.

Looks like he made it until 10/4/2014, I'd say that was a pretty good run.

Same

Different strokes for different folks... definitely not what i would do.. I think once you get in that deep, its more of a fetish rather than a hobby.

Exotic animals are cool but hell no to the snakes! My dads friend once had lions. Playing with those were awesome! Luckily they never went pit bull and ripped my face off!

Glad I live by old folks who would never pull this kind of chit.

Every once in a while when the neighbors are out you should go outside and start lifting up trash and looking under cars. Haha

Glad you posted the pics, cause I ain't coming over to your house to look at them.