For a moment I’d like to talk to my readers about the right way to represent yourself and other snake owners to the rest of the world. The sad fact of the matter is that the vast majority of people are terrified of snakes. More so than any other animal or possibly even any other “thing”. For whatever reason snakes carry a huge stigma with them wherever they go. A proverbial monkey on their back that only you as a faithful owner can help them overcome.

When you have an opportunity to talk about your snakes

Put your snake in the best possible light while being honest about it. Don’t embellish the story to sound cool. Snake’s have enough trouble on their own without your words doing more damage to their reputations. Tell people what they’re like as pets and why they make such great pets. You might mention some of the following:

• They don’t chew on the carpet or the furniture
• They don’t shed all over the place
• They don’t sit up all night barking
• You don’t have to change a litter pan every day
• They are 100% allergen free
• They eat once a week in most situations

More than one affinity towards snakes has been kindled when someone’s kid overhears you telling them that absolutely no one in the world has ever been allergic to snakes. And from personal experience I can tell you that people love to hear how snakes don’t chew things up.

Point is that you want to play the role of ambassador for your pet snake’s and the only way to do so is to talk about them when the opportunity is give in a suitable manner. As I said cast them in a pleasant light when you can, but don’t shy away from telling the ugly things as well. People will find out the truth either way so it might as well be in full instead of half-baked from someone else.

Be respectful of other people when it involves your snake

If someone tells you they are horrified of snakes the LAST thing you should do is to try and convince them it is harmless and if you’d just touch it you’d see it wouldn’t hurt a flea! While all that is very likely true they are not in a state of mind to receive that truth. They are in the classic fight or flight mode and more than one snake has been killed by a horrified person who was pushed too far too quick by a well intentioned snake owner.

If someone asks you to leave or get away from them because of your snake don’t try to reason with them. Just leave. Even if you have every right to be there, leave. You can always go back later. In short just respect the fact that not everyone likes snakes.

Always look for a chance to educate people about snakes

This goes beyond just talking about your snakes. This is about educating, as accurately as possible, people about snakes in general. Despite the fear so many people have towards snakes there is also a “morbid” curiosity about them. People will ask you question after question about your snakes. Take the opportunity and build up a relationship with that person. Answer their questions, tell them “extra” things about snakes so they’ll begin to see them in a different light.

I firmly believe most people are scared of snakes for one simple reason. No one in their entire lives has ever attempted to educate them in any meaningful way about snakes. So don’t be like the rest of the nobodies. Spread the knowledge!

One of the most challenging things any snake keeper can do is to tame a wild snake down to the point of being comfortable with you. Before we get going on what to do you should be well aware that some snake’s simply won’t be tamed. You’ll need to know when enough is enough and it time to stop your efforts.

Catching a wild snake

The first step is obviously catching a wild snake. Before you go out to do this check your local laws as some snakes are protected. When it comes time to collect a wild snake you are better off taking someone who is familiar with the native species with you. The next best thing is a good field guide for your local area. Obviously you don’t want to be bit by a venomous snake while trying to catch one.

Before you do anything else do some studying into the husbandry requirements of the snake you are going to be catching and have everything setup BEFORE you go and find one.

You need to take the proper equipment with you. When I go out to catch snakes I like to have the following items in my “kit”

• Heavy leather gloves
• Heavy long sleeved flannel shirt
• 2 or 3 pillow cases
• Snake hook
• A padded dowel (3′ long) for pinning
• Map and compass
• Flagging
• Digital camera

Then I start looking where I know snakes are found and begin hunting. Once I have the snake I want I go back home with it at put it in the previously prepared tank. Once I put it in the tank I cover it with a towel and make sure to let it get as much rest as possible. Getting caught is hard work for snakes and it stresses them out greatly.

Just like a captive bred snake the first week should be one of rest. In other words don’t spend hour on end trying to handle the snake. Give it at least 7 days before you attempt to handle it.

After the first week

Following the first week is when training really begins. Start with short regular handling sessions. I try for twice a day 5 minutes each time to begin with. You have to judge how tame your snake is becoming in order to know when and if to extend the handling sessions. When you are handling an untamed or questionable snake there are a few simple precautions to keep in mind for both your own and the snake’s safety.

1. Wear gloves and long sleeves
2. Keep the snake away from your face
3. Wash your hands thoroughly before and after handling the snake
4. Make sure the lid is secure when you return the snake to it’s cage

In most cases as you handle the snake it will get used to you and calm down considerably. Regular handling will just help to reinforce the snake’s tamed nature. If however the snake is refusing to calm down you can either maintain it as a display animal or return it where you found it. If you keep it you’ll probably find it very difficult to keep thriving because of how stressed it is.

Keys to keeping the snake tamed

Always remember that a snake is a wild animal. Even store-bought captive bred animals are still wild. That means you’ll need to regularly handle it even after it has become tamed. If you don’t it will lapse back into it’s natural ways. Make sure you keep the snake comfortable otherwise it will be unhappy and unhappy snakes are not tame snakes.

The most important key is to remember that a snake is never really tamed. It is at best acclimated to you and willing for whatever reason to put up with you. No matter how much you work at it the snake will never become like dog or cat that comes when called.

Learning proper snake care is the key to a long and healthy life for your scaled friends. Everyday more and more people are getting snake’s without being ready to care for them. This happens because they haven’t been given the right information or because they don’t know where to look. Taking care of a snake is an easy process if you learn what needs to be done.

Proper snake care: Use various sources of info

Since you are reading this it is a pretty safe assumption you have the internet. The internet is an incredible knowledge base just waiting for you to use it. There are plenty of individual websites, forums, and blogs that will give you all the snake care instruction you can handle.

Another source is the local library. Don’t hesitate to get a few books on caring for snakes from there. It will give you an opportunity to get much more focused and in depth on various aspects of a snake’s needs. Something the internet doesn’t always provide the same luxury of doing.

Contact local herpetological clubs in your area. A quick search for herpetological societies online will give you several databases to look through. Find one in your area and get in contact with them. Tell them that you’re a new snake owner and want to learn how to take care of your animal. They’ll be more than honored to help you out.

Gathering information is both easy and the basis of providing good care for your snakes in the future.

Proper snake care: Focus on what you need

As great as it is to have all the various sources of information don’t waste your time with a shotgun approach to learning about snake care. Find the information you need pertaining to the particular species you have. If you just got a corn snake don’t spend hours learning about king snakes. Once you’ve gotten enough knowledge to properly care for your snake then worry about expaning what you know.

Proper snake care: Don’t get a snake until you know what to do

In a perfect world you’d have everything setup properly before the snake came home. We all know it’s not a perfect world, but you should be able to to provide for the snake’s most basic care before it gets to you. If you visit any snake related forums it is nothing to see 30 people a day asking the most basic things about a snake they already have. For example “How do I get my snake to eat?”, or “What should the temperature be in my snake’s cage?”

Even if you don’t have time to do any research at least spend 5 minutes searching the internet for a care sheet to help you with your snake.

The more you know about caring for your snake the more likely you are to have a good experience with it. An improperly cared for snake can be aggressive, a poor eater, and prone to sickness.

Giant snakes take a whole different level of commitment when it comes to keeping them as pets. Here are a few things you should consider carefully before buying a breed of snake that is going to turn into a giant.

Long term living space for giant snakes

A one and a half foot reticultated pythons fits nicely into a 30 gallon tank. A ten foot long one does not. Before you get a giant snake make sure you have the means and room to provide an adequate sized home for the animal. For a variety of reason (such as staying alive) giving it free reign of your house isn’t really an option.

Not only do you have to have the room for a cage that is the proper size, but you need to be able to afford to buy or build one. Expect to pay several hundred dollars at least. A good idea is to start saving when it is young and small(er) if you have that luxury.

Feeding giant snakes

Big snakes eat big meals. Big meals cost a lot more money than small meals. It’s one thing to feed your Red Tail Boa a rat or two at couple of dollars each. It’s something totally different to be feeding a 12 foot Burmese python a small pig every other week. First of all obviously you need to have a regular supply of food and secondly you need to be able to keep up with the ongoing food costs.

Safety concerns with giant snakes

Let’s face it, giant snakes are a potential threat to your life. Not just your life, but anyone who comes near them. They aren’t toys to be hauled around and shown off so your friends can say how cool they look draped over your shoulders. These animals can and will kill you if you mess up.

If you’re a 5′0″ tall single woman and live alone then having a giant snake as a pet is begging for problems. Suppose you needed to get a 10 foot specimen packed up and taken into the vet for some reason and couldn’t find anyone will to help you with it. It would be all but impossible even for an adult male who stands 6′4″ and weight 275lbs let alone a petite woman. That’s not at all to say women can’t handle snakes, but reality is reality and the sheer size of a giant snake makes it triply important to do everything safely.

Giant snakes are a pleasure to work with and care for, but the reality is that most people who have them aren’t properly equipped with a creature that will grow well over 10 feet and weigh over 200 pounds. That’s why you can look through Craig’s List and in the local classifieds and see people practically begging you to come and get the snake for free.

A common question is from people asking if they need a special permit to own a pet snake where they live. My first response is to send them to the breeder or store they plan on purchasing the snake from and asking them. Assuming the store or breeder is located in the same state as the buyer they are going to know the answer to the question and the steps to go through to get the permit in a timely fashion.

If for some reason the store doesn’t know (highly unlikely) or the snake is being purchased out of state from a breeder it is important to know your local, and state regulations concerning snakes. In order to find that information it is best to directly contact your state’s equivalent to the fish and wildlife department. Often they are the ones who are responsible for issuing permits to keep certain snakes as pets. Even if they aren’t they can normally help you get in touch with the right people.

If you need a permit the next step is to get it BEFORE you have the snake. That means learning about the process ahead of time. Some things you should find out are:

• How much will the permit cost?
• Is it a per snake permit or does one cover all?
• How long does the entire process take generally?
• What is the possibility of a permit being denied?
• Is it a lifetime permit or does it need to be renewed?
• What is the appeals process in the case of a denial?

The reason for doing everything before you have the snake is because you don’t want to lose your pet over a technicality because you didn’t follow the rules.

Suppose you go through the entire process and you are denied a permit for whatever reason. What should you do then? The first thing to do is to begin the appeals process as quickly as possible. Since there is too much diversity between the various states it is impossible to give advise on how to go about it. Just be sure you follow “the letter of the law” exactly so you don’t trip yourself up while you are appealing.

One thing you should never do is to just take it upon yourself to have the snake without the required permits. That reflects badly on the entire snake owning community and it will likely get your pet confiscated and possibly destroyed. Also there might actually be a good reason for denying you a permit. The Florida Everglade’s and the snake problem there come to mind as a reason not to permit people to own certain kinds of snakes.

Finally you should be aware of changes to the laws in your area that might affect your snake ownership. Most of the time your existing snakes would be grandfathered in, but new ones would not be.

If you spend any amount of time around snakes you’ll certainly come across at least one that is unusually aggressive. Knowing how to handle that animal will help protect you and it. There are several tips and tricks in this article, but remember that nothing compares with first hand experience when it comes to handling aggressive snakes so be sure to seek out someone knowledgeable in your area should you need help.

Aggressive or defensive?

Before you worry about handling the snake you should figure out if it is indeed aggressive or just being defensive. The reason to figure this out is because if it is just being defensive and you can remove whatever is causing the agitation you can often calm it down. On the other hand if it is aggressive there’s not a lot you can do.

Some things to take note of are as follows:

• Is the snake always agitated?
• Is the snake only agitated in certain situations?
• Do particular people seem to upset it more than others?
• Do other household pets seem to influence its behavior?

Look for patterns and when you find something try eliminating it to see if the snake becomes less aggressive. If the snake is being defensive removing whatever is causing it to be in that state of mind should help out immensely.

Safety precautions

While snakes don’t require daily handling there are going to be times when you’ll need handle an aggressive snake. When it comes time to clean its tank is a good example. Also when you need to take it to the vet is another example. Whatever the case maybe the best thing to do is to assume you’ll have to handle the aggressive snake and plan accordingly before the time comes.

Size of the snake

Before doing anything else consider the size of the strength compared to you. The common wisdom is that for every 6 feet of snake there needs to be one person. This is a bit to liberal in my opinion especially when it comes to an aggressive snake. For an aggressive snake you’d be better served to have 1 person per every 4 feet of snake. By 1 person I mean to say one full grown adult, not a kid. And by adult I mean someone in good physical shape who can handle fighting against a snake should that become necessary.

Safety equipment

Having the proper equipment on hand will make your job much easier. Handling an aggressive snake with the wrong equipment can spell trouble for everyone involved. Some things you should have are:

• Appropriate sized bag/container to put the snake in
• Long sleeved shirt
• Leather gloves
• Long pants
• Snake hook(s)
• A few bandages and antiseptic

The bandages and antiseptic is for the people handling the snake if it were to bite someone. Before using a snake hook you should learn how to do so properly. That’s beyond the scope of this article, but I suggest asking around in your local area to see if anyone uses them. Most likely someone does.

Expect to be bitten

Whenever you are dealing with an aggressive snake just plan on getting bit. Because no matter how careful you are at some point it will bite you. Might not be the first 20 times you work with it but at some point your “luck” will run out. So always, always, always be ready for it. Particularly if you are working with venomous snakes or very large specimens that can cut you to the bone with one bite.

When you are bit take care of the bite as quickly as possible WITHOUT putting others or the snake at risk. You can judge for yourself how serious the bite is and will have to adjust accordingly to deal with it.

Handling day

When the time comes to actually handling the aggressive pet snake following some simple rules will help out greatly.

• Avoid “big” movements. Be as subtle as possible.
• Let the snake get used to your presence. Don’t just walk in and grab it hang out in the room with it for about 15 to 20 minutes
• The quicker you can get it into the bag/container the better. Sometimes just getting the head covered will calm the snake down considerably
• Remember snakes don’t have human emotions so when it strikes at you it is trying to defend itself not teach you a lesson
• Avoid handling within a few days of feeding day. Snakes know when feeding time is and will be harder to deal with at that point
• Don’t hesitate. When you make the decision to stick your hand in with an aggressive snake take control of the situation immediately. Don’t let the snake dictate how things go.

As always be sure you have the proper people and gear on hand to provide for both your safety and the safety of the snake

In closing it should be noted that this article is written about adult snakes that are for one reason or another bent towards aggression. Many baby and juvenile snakes are aggressive until you handle them a little bit and they have time to get used to you. In those cases safety equipment isn’t really an issue so much as patience is important.