Just how dangerous is it to own a venomous snake?

"The most venomous snake is the one that just bit you"

Not all venomous snakes venom will kill you, or require antivenom, but I guaruntee you that you will experience a pain past your imagination as the venom takes action.

Eyelash vipers have hemotoxic venom.

Their venom affects the central nervous system of their victim as well as the cardiovascular system. With small animals the venom can kill within minutes, but larger animals rarely succumb unless the viper manages to inject a large amount of venom into the victim.

Because the viper is arboreal, most bites to humans are to hands, fingers and occasionally to the face. They usually result in lots of pain, swelling, bleb formation, bruising and sometimes necrosis, that may lead to contraction or even amputation. The most common effects that happen from the venom are vomiting, diarrhea, prostration, or sometimes loss of conciousness. There are sometimes very severe cases that lead to death, mainly to crop farmers and plantation workers.

They are arboreal, which means they need a place to climb, which means a tall cage rather than a large wide one. They are nocturnal, so this is a snake that is most alert when your not.

"I just don't want to jump into something that can potentially kill me without thinking it through."

Im sure if you are as smart as that sentance made you sound then you will end up getting bit.

I hope your never going to attempt to handle, please use a snake hook, or leave the snake alone.

Since these are not very agile aggressive snakes I would say they are a good starter for keeping veomous. You just have to be responsible when having one, im assuming where you live a permit is required to keep one. Here in florida you have to have 1000 hours of snake handling with a facility and get a bunch of recommendations and fill out like a 50 page form. Keeping any exotic animal in the US without the permit required by your state is a FELON. Just to let you know.

Be responsible in keeping the cage secure, and think about others when taking care of this snake. They require similar care to a green tree python, which can be high maintenence depending on where you live.

So how dangerous is it to keep a venomous snake?

For someone who is interested in getting one you could at least look them up yourself rather than asking others to give you OPINIONS instead of facts, I say it would be extremely dangerous for someone with your state of mind.

I have kept one hot, an aggressive copperhead. Trust me its not some thing you want to just jump into. The thing to do is find an experienced keeper in your area that can mentor you. Contact your state and locale area Herpetological Society, they should be able to help you find one. Get a copy of "Venomous Snakes in Captivity: Safety and Husbandry" by B. W. Smith. (he and the publisher have filled complainant about the pricing on Amazon, so wait it should be back to normal ) He also mods the hot section on a few forums , and is a great and knowledgeable guy.

There are many thing to take into consideration. Protocols,- equipment and handling ( I am not talking about free handle, that is just plain stupid), escape and capture ( a properly build snake room and locking cages, hooks, tongs, ect.) , bite and emergency contact for anti-venom.

The first and foremost danger is always the risk of a bite. With proper protocols the risk is reduced. There is an average of 5 deaths per year in the US from venomous reptiles, this includes all bites from both exotic and native reptiles kept by zoos, individuals, and any event that cause contact as those that can occur in nature. Dogs are responsible for an average 15-20 deaths a year. Horses are the cause of the most animal related deaths. There is always a risk an associated personal risk when working with animals. To many people over look the risk, for animals that are considered domesticated or " cute and cuddly".

Well take your snakes worst temper and multiply that by oh i don't know 20. That is how dangerous of getting bitten it is. You can't handle them and it is to freakin dangerous to keep them. Plus there venom is necrotic. Which means the second it enters your body it eats your flesh and bones. People have gotten bitten by rattle snake and had there whole hand eaten off by the venom. But an eyelash pit viper is way more aggresive than a rattle snake and has more pottent venom.

If you...

- Have good medical insurance (a bite can run up a BIG medical bill- make sure you are covered!)

- Have good access to antivenin in your area (call the hospital and see if they have any or where it would come from- few hospitals stock any so have to order it in, often from another state. If your city has a big zoo with venomous animals, they might have it on hand as well.)

- Have good insurance coverage in case a guest or neighbor gets bitten (possibly by an escaped snake)

- Have good cage security and a reasonably escape-proof room for it,

- Know and follow proper safety protocols, and

- Have some good experience with handling herps in general and hots specifically...

Then you can give it a try.

But- if it is just the looks you are going for, surely there is a safer, saner choice out there?

Did you really need to ask this question?

What do you want to hear?

"You'll die"

"It's not dangerous at all"

Take your pick. If you are experienced with snakes, then you know better.

Having said that, it's less dangerous for someone that has survived multiple bites from the same species of snake because you can build immunity and tolerance to the venom. So my advice to you is; if you want to minimize risk, start getting bitten. That way, when you take ownership of the snake, it's not as dangerous.

Of course, there is still the issue of surviving the initial bites in effort to build up immunity.

I would not recommend owning any venomous snake as a pet. Even if you're experienced in handling aggressive snakes, accidents can happen. If you got bit by an exotic venomous snake, you likely wouldn't be able to get anti-venom in time. Most hospitals don't carry anti-venom for non-native snake species. Stick with non-venomous snakes.

Venom is complicated-not saying anything to you personally, but I think messing with nature's animals is rude. Who is anyone to do such an experiment? Snakes may be trying to tell you something important. If you ignore them, maybe you experience more of a negative effect than if you had respected them. For example, imagine the snakes are protecting an area of land. If you see a snake, that land is occupied-killing a snake gives you the right to someone else's land???????????????????????????????? Guns and bombs are not more ethical. More simple, yes. That doesn't change the reality that the simple don't have more of a right to life and property

If you don't know, then you shouldn't have one. Most people I know that keep venomous snakes (like I do) only do so after knowing and learning from other experienced hot keepers. It's not the kind of thing you can just get and see how it goes.

Venomous snakes are not for the amateur.Not only is there a chance of you getting bitten, another person could see the snake, freak out, injure himself, and sue your butt off.

I am quite an experienced keeper of many snake species. And there is only one thing I will say to keepers wanting to get into keeping venomous snakes within their household. Don't do it unless you have medical insurance. Period.