Rethinking owning hots

[Drax]

well this weekend at work two events happened to me to make me realize that i am by no means ready for owning a hot.
first off i was shifting a 10' male burm over to the other side of his cage so i could clean it. i've done this multiple times before so it's pretty routine. well before i know it the snakes up over the divider and wrapped around my hand. luckily he only tagged my thumb and then let go a few seconds later. didn't really hurt that much a thumb smashed with a hammer hurt more. but wow did it bleed!
now the second experience was with a yearling blood python. again i had to clean his enclosure out. well we keep the smaller bloods in giant rubbermaid racks, so i had to pick him up and shift him to another empty rubbermaid. easier said than done especially with a blood. i'm already a little nervous around bloods cause they're just little devils, but i had to do it. i hooked him a ways past his head, lifted him up, and tried to ease my hand under his belly, then he just flipped out. he starts striking at anythign that moves, so i tried lifting him up with just the hook. i got him out of his tub and almost into the other one when he slips off and falls on the floor. this part is where the fun starts. he takes a defensive pose and starts striking at my legs. i try to pick him up with the hook but he's not cooperating. well he wraps himself around the wheel to one of the tables and here's where my boss walks in to save the day (and to give me a tongue lashing). Gene steps on his head, picks him up, and asks where do i want it. yea i could have done that but i didn't want to hurt him or cause Gene to yell at me for using that method to restrain a snake.

anyway... the incident with the burm happened on saturday and the blood happened on monday. well after both cases i just thought to myself: what if that was a hot? moreso after the blood incident because the snake was out on the ground right at my feet. i probably would have been in serious trouble in both cases. so definately waiting a few more years before i get a hot.

[BWSmith]

The Blood Python would be a slight introduction into how some Bitis species can act.

[bigred]

Drax, watch someone move an irate, nervous 2m+ elapid, and then decide how many years

[trinitywolf]

Hey Drax...how long have you been working for Gene? I have been to their facility...very nice. I wish that I lived somewhere close enough to work for them...both are great people.

[toker]

All that action and no pictures? pfft...

[GaryO]

Bloods are tough..........And they can move fast when they want too and pack a bite like no other nonvenomous I know. It is like a slug in the arm lol. But I love them all the same. Nothing like an adult blood to look at.

[Drax]

Trinity, i've been working with Gene for five months now, since January. they are a great couple to work for and know. i highly recomend them for anyone who wants a new snake, expecially GTPs and balls.

Bigred, well i have no desire to keep in my home ANY type of elapid PERIOD!! mambas scare the you know what out of me. i'll work with them in a zoo or other facility but only if i have to and after i fully know what i'm doing.

and sorry bout the lack of pics. i'm a poor college student after all. so i don't have a good camera.

	Green Tree Python Green Tree Python (Morelia viridis)