In your opinion do you think anybody keeps venomous snakes simply because they appreciate them as animals? Why do you think people keep venomous snakes or why do you personally keep them?

My opinion is "no" because even if one keeps them because they are beautiful and interesting part of the reason they are interesting is because being venomous is pretty unique. I however don't think this is a bad reason to keep them if one is capable of ensuring the safety of those other than themselves. I also see nothing wrong with keeping venomous species for educational or conservation purposes so long as one is a responsible individual. Unfortunately "responsible" individual is directly proportional to age and experience but hopefully education efforts can increase the number of "responsible" individuals out there

DISCLAIMER: This thread is not intended to judge or put down anybody who happens to keep venomous snakes, it is intended to promote healthy discussion and thus education regarding the keeping of venomous snakes.

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Well I don't own any hots...yet. I dunno, why does anyone keep any reptiles? I really don't know the reason I have pets, I'm just drawn to them. The only hot I'm really interested in keeping someday is a gaboon viper, and its just because I really admire tha snake. The fact that they're venomous just adds a little bit more to the "cool factor", but I'd want one either way.

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There are many keepers of "Hot" snakes that ARE attracted to them due to the uniqueness of them being what they are. And they can be fascinationg animals. (Nothing quite like being face to face with a big rattler buzzing away!) These keepers are responsible and use the proper protocols to deal with them properly. Just as a point most of the hot keepers I know of would not even THINK of free handling a venomous snake. Even so occassionally one of them does get bitten. There is an addage among hot keepers. Its not a matter of "if" you will be bitten its "when"!

On the other side of the coin are the people that think that keeping a venomous snake (or large constrictor, or croc etc.) makes them cool or macho! These are the people that give the rest of us a bad name and will soon be on the News!

I personally would never keep hots because I like to be able to handle my animals.

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Merlin,
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Hots attract me because they are what they are. Beautiful, lethal predators thatare perfectly suited for the environment where God put them. No, I may never be able to handle it, but I'll also have plenty of other snakes to play with.

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Zane Neher.

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Crocodilian care.

I'm with Matt. I would love to own a gaboon, simply for its sheer beauty. I would never own a venomous snake unless I had proper training, and it would be in the required enclosure and room (over here we have to pay a licence to own 'dangerous wild animals', and there are requirements for housing, such as the snake needs to be in a room that is escape proof..)

Some people may own venomous because of the status symbol, however many of these probably make the snakes venomoid.. and I think they are in the minority.

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I also think Gaboon vipers one of the most gorgeous things alive but let's think about why they look the way they do. Thier beautiful patterns are most likely due to the fact that they are fat lazy ambush predators and the patterns that we find so visually appealing make great camoflauge. Now the reason they are sucessful, fat, lazy, beautiful, well-camoflaged, ambush predators is because they have a lightning fast strike and venom to subdue thier prey. Without the venom, evolutionarily speaking, they would probably have to be a constrictor of some sort to be sucessful. Therefore gaboon vipers are beautiful because they are venomous

Additonally Rachel, at least in this country, many of the people who own hots for the horrid reason of status keep them perfectly intact and frequently end up on the news due to the associated problems with this Venomoids are pretty rare since most vets will not perform the surgery and backyard hack jobs end in death of the animal a great deal of the time according to my reading.

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Official hostage of the GFWD
"The truely dangerous people are the ignorant ones."
Founding Member of Logical People Against Arcane Boa Subspecies Classification (LPAABSC):
B c.c 1758, B. c. i. 1803 B. c. o. 1873!
"A BOA CONSTRICTOR IS A Boa constrictor!"

To me it is the beauty of these animals. I have 1 hot snake and don't plan on getting anymore at least for awhile and probably never. I am an addictive type of person that likes a variety in my collection. I also as some of you all know keep some potentially dangerous scorpions. Again it is not the toxicity of their venom that makes me like them but it is their beauty. I don't handle them at all. They are "eye candy" for looking at.
I can play with my corn snake since it seems to like for me to get it out and let it crawl around.

I think venomous snakes have more aggresive features ie. cobra, rattler etc. Also coloring could be more vivid..

Hots are beautiful, interesting amazing animals to learn about and observe. They are really fascinating - and can be very educational.

But I strongly believe that only experienced people should keep them. They are not pets to keep in a tank and brag about to your friends. You run the risk of a deadly bite every time you handle them - which means routine maintenance like cage cleaning, feeding and watering becomes much harder. Inexperienced keepers generally end up either neglecting these things or being. Additionally, if a hot escapes, there can much greater consequences than if, say, your ball python escapes.

Personally, I'd love to have the time, room and experience to keep them myself. But realistically, I know it's a bad idea. I do wish I had an experienced friend with them nearby though.

For me, if a person wants to get a hot because he/she appreciates its beauty or wants to learn about it, and they have enough experience, I'm all for it. But if the person wants one just to impress his/her buddies or buys one on a whim, I'm against it.

Edit- I didn't realize this thread was that old until I took a second look at it! Sorry!

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