Why do you keep ealpids?

[Kathryn_]

Without wanting to start some kind of virtual popcorn fueled flamewar, after reading Lovemysnakes post about being hospitalised by his rbbs, I'm genuinely curious about people's motivation for keeping elapids. I can look at a red belly or a desert DA and recognise that they're a beautiful animal, but under no circumstances would I ever want one within striking distance of myself, my other pets or my housemates. I'm not condeming, just trying to understand.

So, elapid keepers - what are your motivations? How do you reconcile them with the risks to yourself and other members of your household?

 

[Gecko :)]

Im with you Kathryn,
I would also be interested to hear what motivates a ven keeper?,.
Surely it cant be worth it,.....

 

[Jonno from ERD]

G'day guys,

It has nothing to do with adrenaline, and anyone who keeps elapids for that reason shouldn't keep them.

Personally, the venomous aspect has little to do with my interest in them. I keep snakes from various different families - pythons, colubrids, file snakes and of course elapids. My main interest is field work, so a lot of my animals are locality based. I also keep them from an education standpoint - both teaching the general public that just because an Eastern Brown has a fearsome reputation doesn't mean it's going to chase you down and bite you, and also teaching those who have a developing interest in elapids how to go about handling and working with them properly.

At the end of the day, the risk of getting bitten by a venomous snake in captivity is very minimal if you know what you are doing. There are far bigger risks out there, like working with dogs, horses and cars.

 

[redbellybite]

Well answer this "WHY DO WE DRIVE CARS?" we are at the most risk of dying driving our cars on our roads but we do this everyday and never question it, even when we see the fatility rate on tv especially around holiday season but we still go on holidays and shopping and risk not only our lives but the lives of our children and somebody elses children...........its just something some people do ,keeping any snakes involves risk it just depends on what risks you want to take.........and like anything sometimes the incident will happen ...hopefully wont kill you but hey we are only here for a short time may as well enjoy what we like.......RBB

 

[skunk]

elapids are way more active then pythons ie when u walk into the room they come up to the glass n look to see wats going on etc.

way more interesting IMO. pythons other than olives/waters/scrubbies just tend to sit there n do nothing all day long.

thats why i keep em

 

[Nagraj]

...... There are far bigger risks out there, like working with dogs, horses and cars.

..... we are at the most risk of dying driving our cars on our roads...........

I have no problem with your keeping elapids for whatever reason but I'm afraid these two justifications are just plain specious reasoning.

There are hundreds of times more dogs, horses and cars in private hands than venomous snakes and the death toll is actually insignificant for dogs and horses. In the case of cars there are billions of km's driven every year and only a handful of deaths (not that that's acceptable). Venomous snakes OTOH are comparatively rare in captivity and yet there seems to be a large number of envenomations and the 'comparative risk' of a fatal incident is significantly higher.

 

[Princey85]

I think they are interesting and are more exciting to watch and have! but yeah i wouldn't handle them like pythons LOL

 

[Chimera]

Asking this question highlights your own motivation for keeping reptiles. Those who appreciate a pet bond with the reptiles they keep will not understand why people will keep elapids as they are never 'pets' in teh traditional sense of the word.

However if you approach keeping reptiles from a herpetoculture point of view, keeping elapids are simply another challenge. Like all the other 'cultures the idea is maintaining a living creature in a captive environment and perfecting your upkeep of this animal in that environment. This is the same principle as Jonno presented when he mentioned that he keeps snakes from various families.

It is those who are motivated by the challenge who will maintain their elapids correctly rather then letting them suffer by not cleaning correctly or maintaining the animals (e.g. treating retained shed) because they do not feel comfortable handling them when necessary.

I personally would love to keep elapids, however both my wife and I maintain our collection of pythons and she is dead against them.

 

[Tatelina]

Venomous snakes OTOH are comparatively rare in captivity and yet there seems to be a large number of envenomations and the 'comparative risk' of a fatal incident is significantly higher.

That's because of stupid inexperienced people taking stupid risks.

I used to be the same as Kathryn...couldn't understand why anyone would want to keep venomous snakes...but after learning more about them and watching their behaviours, I realised just how fascinating and beautiful they are.

Why do people like snakes in general? Because they're interesting, beatiful and fascinating (among some of the many reasons).
Elapids are all that...and so much more.

 

[Martk]

Everyone would have different reasons, same reasons why you would choose one breed of dog over another etc etc. For myself when I grew up the majority of snakes I would find, catch and keep as a kid were venomous, there were no options to buy as there is today. Venomous have a beuty all of their own, one which pythons simply dont have. They are generally alert, sleek animals, have an aloofness and attitude that only something that has the ability to hurt you has.

Obviously one has to be careful though and housing etc has to be designed for safe access. Years of experience allows one to read the cue's vens put out, accidents can still happen but in over 20 years of catching and keeping venomous species I have never taken a bite other than a few white lips and marshies as a child.

I must admit though these days I only maintain adders and pythons.

 

[alex_c]

I do not own any elapids yet. but my interest in them is due to the fact they are different.its like comparing monitors to blue tongues really. and as jonno has said the risks are minimal with the right training and being cautious and using common sense at all times when doing anything wth them.

 

[baxtor]

I have no problem with your keeping elapids for whatever reason but I'm afraid these two justifications are just plain specious reasoning.

There are hundreds of times more dogs, horses and cars in private hands than venomous snakes and the death toll is actually insignificant for dogs and horses. In the case of cars there are billions of km's driven every year and only a handful of deaths (not that that's acceptable). Venomous snakes OTOH are comparatively rare in captivity and yet there seems to be a large number of envenomations and the 'comparative risk' of a fatal incident is significantly higher.

What makes you think there is a large number of envenomations.?

 

[Creed]

i understand completely why people are trying to justify the reasons they keep the types of snakes they do, and frankly i think that if you feel yourself that you are a sense of enjoyment and satisfaction out of it then you are i think in no need of any justification.

it's great to have hobbies and if some of those hobbies are perceived to be dangerous yet still worth continuing with then by all means enjoy.

i do however hate the argument that people always use to try and justify anything, by comparing it to driving cars.

cars are a convenience and the benefit is impossible to ignore. if we werent using cars then the world would be a very different place. some might argue it would be better and that is up to them, but the vast majority of us rely on cars and that cant be argued with.

the relative number of deaths compared to kms travelled is extremely low which is why people choose to take that risk.

PLEASE use some common sense when making comparisons. i dont think the original post needs to have a justification, rather an explaination of the joy you get from keeping elapids.

 

[JasonL]

Because they are interesting and really the chances of being bitten and dieing are minimal if they are treated with respect and the keeper doesn't get lazy and start taking chances, saying that, if you plan on keeping them, you have to think that one day you may have to go to hospital.

 

[Australis]

A lot of people keep venomous fish, no one kicks up a fuss though, strange.

 

[Kathryn_]

Australis - venomous fish? I wasn't aware there was any such thing. What species are you referring to?

Other people: thanks for your answers and keep 'em coming, folks. I must say so far I'm still not really getting it - for example, I love horses and I think cross country steeplechase looks extremely challenging and, frankly, like a hell of a lot of fun, but it's the single most fatal competitive sport in the world*, and nothing is so interesting, challenging or enjoyable I'd be willing to significantly endanger my life for it.

*This, by the way, is absolutely true. More human fatalities every year than motorcycle / car racing, traditional horse racing, anything else you can think of.

 

[Creed]

kathryn i have had quite a lot to do with horses and have seen a fair few falls at cross country events, but i have never heard that statistic before. where did you get it from?

not doubting your integrity, just wondering where it came from.

 

[skunk]

lion fish, stone fish, sum even keep blue ring occys
moray eels can give u a hella nasty bite too.

 

[Kathryn_]

Skot, excellent question, I'll have to get back to you. This is something I've been told by a friend who's avidly into dressage and eventing, which I'm assuming to be true. I've just asked her where she got it and I'll get back to you

*edit*

Skot : it seems that neither the FEI nor any other international equestrian body actually keep annual international stats on rider deaths, and that this is just a generally accepted average based on new reports and personal experiences - from what I can gather the average is generally accepted to be around seven to ten rider deaths per year, including prelim events and non-international level competitions and courses.

 

[cris]

There are plenty i venomous fish, i keep some of them. Most venomous fish arnt dangerous to humans, and many just cause pain and bleeding.