|
11-14 of 14 messages
|
Previous
Page 2 of 2
|
|
RE: A somewhat different approach - sort of a surv
|
Reply
|
|
by SnakeYa on September 20, 2006
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
1) How did you get your first venomous snake?
Caught a Copperhead sunny itself. Kept it for a year then released it back into the wild. Then caught a Canebrake and kept that for about 6 months. Then some more copperheads, another canebrake.
2) How old were you?
19
3) What preparation/training did you have before you got it?
None as far as venomous, i know it sounds dumb, but i guess i was one of the ones at the age where i figured i wouldnt let myself messup. So far so good.
4) If you went the route of keeping aggressive nonvenomous snakes beforehand, how did that work out?
My first non venomous snake was a wild ratsnake and that thing would honestly do its best to scare me.
5) Did you have a mentor? who? how long before you got your first venomous?
Well i caught snakes all my life. I was like in third grade when a caught a female Garter Snake in which had gave birth to 11 babies the next day. Let them go to be caught by me for the next 5 years and released.
6) What happened to your first venomous snakes?
Went back in to the wild.
|
| |
|
RE: A somewhat different approach - sort of a surv
|
Reply
|
|
by agkistrodude on September 20, 2006
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Lets see...
#1. My 1st venomous snake was a cottonmouth I caught on a camping/fishing trip in So.Illinois.It was 1976,I somehow managed to get it into a minnow bucket w/out getting bit and brought it home.It was about 2 1/2 ft long.
#2.I was 17 yrs old.
#3.No previous training for venomous.
#4.I'd kept alot of non-venomous beforehand, some agressive ones,I don't think it played any roll here except maybe having learned that snakes are escape artists, and we didn't want this one in an unsecure cage, and maybe it played a roll in general husbandry.
#5.No mentor.The only handling of venomous I ever saw was very limited on "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" with Marlin Perkins,and maybe a few other shows and a few library books.Venomous info was hard to find.I did take a trip to Florida in "78 or'79 and saw the Miami Serpantarium and the show Bill Haast put on.
#6.My parents would never let me bring venomous snakes into the house, so I had a neat little set-up in the garage.But this was the Chicago suburbs,much too cold during the winter, so every spring I'd catch a couple when we went to my Grandparents house in So. Illinois, mostly copperheads,keep them through the summer, and in the late summer/early fall, I'd take them back where I found them and turn them loose.Thats what I did with that 1st cottonmouth.It wasn't until 1981 when I moved out of my parents house to Georgia that I started keeping venomous year around.(And it wasn't until the early 90's when I started playing around with the internet that I realized that I wasn't the "only person in the world that likes venomous snakes" like everyone always told me.) Marty
|
| |
|
RE: A somewhat different approach - sort of a surv
|
Reply
|
|
by ssshane on September 21, 2006
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
1) How did you get your first venomous snake? I caught it on my Grandfathers land
2) How old were you? 24
3) What preparation/training did you have before you got it? I had kept W/C snakes from the time I was 10 yrs old. I had kept lots of mean tree boas, which will keep you on your toes. Having so much experience with the mean W/Cs helped.
4) If you went the route of keeping aggressive nonvenomous snakes beforehand, how did that work out? Of course I was bitten several good times. But thats how you learn, from your mistakes.
5) Did you have a mentor? who? how long before you got your first venomous? My Dad was my mentor. Anytime we were out hunting/fishing and a snake crossed our path, it was as good as caught. And never with a hook. Whatever was handy.
6) What happened to your first venomous snakes? I kept it until it died (5yrs later)
|
| |
|
RE: A somewhat different approach - sort of a surv
|
Reply
|
|
by RepFan on September 30, 2006
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Here it goes:
1.) Purchased it.
2.) 27yrs. old.
3.) 10 years experience doing snake removals/relocations and apprenticed under a couple local experienced venomous keepers. I did however find out quickly that there is a huge difference from dealing with venomous snakes in the removal/relocation process compared to the captive husbandry of said snakes!
4.) It helped but only in handling methods( Hooking, restraining tubes,and trapboxes).
5.)Yes, a few. Roark Ferguson, Derek Skelton, and Marty Babb. I frequented Roark's exhibit often(starting back in 96') to observe his techniques when he worked with his collection. After many years doing that I inquired with some of the moderators of this site about some competent keepers they could put me in touch with in my area. In 2000 I contacted Derek Skelton and told him that he came highly recommended as a possible mentor. He agreed to mentor me and did so for about four months. A month into training under Derek I located Marty Babb a local dealer I had found while visiting Kingsnake.com . He also offered to show me the skills of the trade. So, I also trained under him during the same time as Derek plus an additional four months.
I acquired my first venomous in April of 2000. It was an 5+ plus adult female canebrake rattlesnake(Crotalus horridus atricaudatus) that came from coastal reptiles. Marty had placed an order of several types of native venomous and let me work with all of them so that he and I could determine which I was most proficient with using the skills that I had learned through mentoring. That was nearly six years from my initial interest of entering into the hot hobby and a previous ten years of working with them in the field through my snake removal and relocations. In that time I read everything I could on the subject and the species that interested me .I scoured the internet, read every page of the S.H.H.S. site ,visited forums, and went to venomous shows to talk with hot keepers and vendors for added advice and knowledge. I would also like to add that before even purchasing a venomous snake that I had already in place a secure snake room, ( adjacent to my house), twelve neodesha cages,( Two 24", four 36", four 48", and two 72"), six trap boxes, and many of Midwest's handling equipment,( Collapsible gentle giants tongs, pro field hook, mini hook , heavy duty collapsible hook, pen hook , and pro bagging system.)
6.) Sadly,I sold it to a fellow hot keeper. My business travel increased significantly not allowing me to give my collection the proper time and care needed to maintain my charges adequately in my frequent absence. I am however glad to say that my first venomous is still thriving in the care of the same keeper I sold her to. I learned much from that snake and feel that she made me a much better hot keeper for it.
~ Todd
|
| |
|
Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to this topic.
Subscribe!
My Subscriptions
Subscriptions Help
Check our help page for help using
, or send questions, comments, or suggestions to the
Manager.
|
