Frequently Asked Questions
| Question: | Is it legal for the general public to keep venomous snakes? |
| Answer: | The legalities of venomous serpentoculture are set by state and local municipalities. In my local, tri-state area: Tennessee will not allow the general public to keep any venomous snakes. Georgia allows the general public to keep only the venomous snakes that are indigenous to the state. However, they only list to the species level, so snakes such as Trans-Pecos copperheads are allowed, even though they do not occur naturally in Georgia, they are the same species as the copperheads that do. In Alabama, only venomous snakes indigenous to the state may be kept. |
| Question: | For someone new to keeping venomous snakes, what is the best snake to start with? |
| Answer: | Depends mostly on where you live. In my area, I tell people a Northern Copperhead, that wouldn’t be true for a keeper in England. I think for your first experience, one should choose a snake that is native to their area, so that local medical personnel will have the means and experience to treat an envenomation. I think one should also factor in size, disposition, and toxicity. For example, the Pygmy Rattlesnake of our area is less toxic then the copperhead, but I recommend the copperhead as the pygmy is much more difficult to keep. Most Pygmies are flighty, will not ride the hook well, and tend to be very snappy. |
| Question: | If you believe in conservation, why do you sell collected (wild caught) snakes? |
| Answer: | Science has proven, relocation of snakes is not affective. Most will not assimilate to a new environment and end up dieing as they attempt to find there way back to an area they are familiar with. This being the case, when a venomous snake has ended up on a work site, a home, or another place where it is not welcome, the snake has two options, captivity or death. Most of the collected snakes offered for sale by me are animals removed from areas where they are not wanted and would be killed if not moved. My opinion is that captivity, where it may breed and propagate the species is more conservation friendly then death. Also, I have always had a problem with so-called “conservationists” that constantly lobby against wild collecting, while keeping a huge corn snake collection. Where do they think these snakes came from originally? Glade’s herp did not make them in a lab, they came from the wild at some point. I have no problem with anyone collecting wild snakes that they intend to keep and breed in captivity. I personally, love to snake hunt. I am always excited to find something I do not already have. Always interested to trying to find something unusual in nature. The first of all the albino and pattern morphs had to come from a snake found in the wild somewhere at some point. To date, no true albino copperheads have been found and no one knows where one will turn up. If we want them available, someone has to find the first one, might as well be me. |
| Question: | What should I do if I ever get bit by a venomous snake? |
| Answer: | Get to the nearest emergency room as soon as possible. There are some first aide tips that sometimes may help, but there is nothing that is worth prolonging the time it takes to get anti-venom. The first aide should only be done in route to the ER, where no time is being lost. The AV has to be mixed, which takes time, if possible call ahead to the ER and advise them to have it ready when you arrive. As far as first aide, I like the Sawyer extraction pump. It has fell out of favor recently with many professionals, but I have used it with all my bites and I have not needed AV as of yet. |
| Question: | What is the best method of training to work with venomous reptiles? |
| Answer: | Seek out an experienced keeper and work with them first. This isn't always easy, but its the best way. In general, I was self taught, but there weren't as many options available when I broke into keeping. I do tend to follow my own advise. In 2003, I decided I would like to learn how to do venom extractions. Of course there aren't many experienced extractors in Chattanooga, TN, so I took a week of vacation from my job and went to south Florida and worked with Ray Hunter. To train for my focus group, the southeastern pit-vipers, one should acquire a group freshly collected water snakes. Ranging in size from new born to large adults. These non-venomous snakes mimic the true pit-vipers and have a similar body type and style. Handling them is good practice for the real thing. Treat the snake just as of they were pit-vipers. Move them only with hooks and handle them only in a way one would handle a pit-viper. |
| Question: |
How did you get started keeping venomous snakes? |
| Answer: |
I have been a life long reptile enthusiast. I have been observing, studying, collecting, and housing reptiles since I was a young child. I collected and hid snakes from my family from about the time I was a toddler. I discovered a rattlesnake on the family farm when i was 7 years old and have been captivated by venomous reptiles ever since. |
| Question: |
Do you sell venom? |
| Answer: |
The short answer is yes, but the longer version is: There isn't really a market that makes selling venom worth wide. Haast, Harrison, and Van Horn keep the demand more then met with their massive production labs. I have sold a few samples to colleges and local physicians needing it in the raw state, but nothing to amount to a real income. |
| Question: |
Is it legal to sell venom? |
| Answer: |
This is a question that sparks a lot of debate. Even among venomous snake keepers, who should be in the know, there is a lot of bad information circulating. I have an email from the FDA with a definitive answer. The FDA regulates the manufacturing and sale of drugs. Snake venom will only fall under jurisdiction of the FDA if it is going to be used in the direction production of a medicine or used in experiments on human subjects. The example the FDA gave me was salt water. Neither salt nor water are regulated by the FDA, but if someone were to use saltwater to treat a sore throat, it would then be governed by the FDA. Snake venom that is used purely for research: lab tests, animals experiments, etc, is completely legal for commerce in the United States. |
| Question: |
Have you ever been bitten? |
| Answer: |
Yes. I have been bitten my almost all types of reptiles: snakes, lizards, crocodiles, turtles, and even amphibians. I couldn't begin to number the non-venomous snake bites. I did not receive a bite from a venomous snake until 2004. There is no question; I became too reckless in my practices. To date, I have received 11 bites from venomous snakes and one bite from a venomous lizard. Most of the bites have been dry or mild envenomations. I have never needed antivenin and only went to the hospital once. I took a copperhead bite in 2004 and went to the emergency room that night, about 6 hours after the bite, to appease my now ex-wife. I refused antivenin and pain killers. They watched my vitals for a couple hours and sent me home. I had swelling from my knuckles to my elbow on my left forearm. The Gila Monster bit came in 2006. I am one of the very few people to ever experience that. I was bitten on the tip of my middle finger on my right hand. The most noticeable difference in the Gila Monster verses the pit vipers was time. With pit viper bites i waited couple minutes to see signs of envenomation. By the time I got the Gila Monster off of my finger, i was burning half way up my forearm. Probably about 30 seconds. I had pain and swelling very similar to pit viper envenomations, but within 6 hours, all signs of envenomation were gone. No swelling, no pain, and full mobility fingers to shoulder. The affects came much faster then snake envenomations, but left just as fast as they came. The only other note worthy envenomation came from a False Water Cobra. In 2005, I was feeding and simultaneously fussing with the now ex-wife. I opened the FWC cage with the rat in my right hand and was more focused on her then the snake and took a feeding response bite right below the thumb on my right hand. She chewed on me for several seconds as I tried to prey her off without injury to the snake. I received a full dose of FWC venom. I felt no real affects that night. I went to sleep feeling fine. I woke up with blurred vision and was unable to taste food. My vision was blurry for about 4 days and it was about a weak before my sense of taste returned to normal. Also couple days after the bite, I experienced a feeling of pain behind my teeth when i chewed my food. Complete recovery after about a week. The 2007 Eastern Diamondback envenomation of my close friend Ray Hunter has inspired me to reevaluate my handling practices. I have become much more safety conscience. |
| Question: |
What ever happened to Scenic City Reptiles? |
| Answer: |
SCR was a loose confederation of herpetologists. It started in 2003 and disbanded long about 2006, SCR had more of a broad scope of reptiles. I never really got into ball pythons and leopard geckos, but we kept them the quick movers around for retail. The other guys in SCR moved, got arrested, or lost interested in the herp business, and I surely wasn't going to keep a bunch nasty cricket eating lizards on my own, so I sold, traded, and gave away everything but the snakes, colubrids, pythons, boas, and pit vipers. I then narrowed the scope to only snakes and within a year had sold, traded, and gave away almost everything but the pit vipers. I did keep a few pine snakes, but my scope was again narrowed back to pit vipers, which is were is was before SCR came along. I dropped the SCR name and revamped everything to Chuck Hurd Serpentology. I found a partner in SC willing to work with me on cobras, so I added a few of them to my collection. (It is illegal to keep exotic venomous in GA, TN, or AL, so I acquired the snakes, he houses them and we spilt the litter.) So, now I am propagating pit vipers, cobras, and Louisiana Pine Snakes. |
| Question: |
Have you retired from professional wrestling? |
| Answer: |
Semi-retired yes. I lost the passion to wrestle a long time before I actually quit. I was booking a show in Trion, GA about 2003. A lot of drama rose up, as it always seems to among the crew. I ended up leaving on bad terms and just never regained the passion on had for the business. My close friend, John Tenta (AKA Earthquake from WWF, WWE) and my brother, The Mighty Angus, kept me involved in the business. After I had been out for about a year, Angus started is own promotion and asked me to come in and book the shows. For those who are not smart to the business, the booker is the person who decides who is working in what matches, when they go on, who gets title shots, ect. I told him no at first, but later came around. We ran the show for a couple years until he got fed up with the politics and decided to take a break. During that run, Quake had passed away. With Quake dead and Angus out, I again stepped away from it all. I still have some close friends from the business that I am in contact with. I get invited to work shows from time to time, but thus far have not really had an interest. I am still physically able to work and Angus sometimes talks about us running as a tag team again here and there, so I may have a few more matches in me, but no immediate plans. I ran a website www.DirtySouthWrestling.com for about 6 or 7 years, but I allowed the URL to relapse after my last exodus from the business. We'll just have to see what the future holds for me and the wrestling boniness. |