For anybody who needs to pin snakes

[shaggybill]

I know most of you dont ever pin snakes, so I dont know how useful this will be. But for those of you who do...heres a cheap alternative to buying expensive pinning hooks.

I bought a golf club from goodwill, a hotdog campfire stick from Walmart, and a half-inch thick rubber band.

I broke the golf club off at the bottom, and the hotdog stick in the middle. Then I just simply inserted the hotdog stick into the hollow golf club so that it was real snug. Then I wrapped the rubber band around the tongs of the hotdog cooker tightly, and Voila! A nice pinning hook. The rubber band stays on tight and its not as rough as a stick or something else would be on the snakes neck.

All this for under $5.00.

Disclaimer: For all the beginners, NEVER NEVER pick up venomous snakes unless you are experienced and you have someone with you in case something goes wrong.

Pic below...

[Matt]

nice and inexpensive

i cant really tell how sturdy it is, but honestly, i think i would want to spring for the extra $30 just because i would be confident that it wouldnt break at a VERY critical time (a mistake that could be very costly).....
what if the hot dog stick twists, what if the elastic breaks or tears or slides.
i dont mean to be critical, maybe its real sturdy, i dont know...but i think in situations like this constructive criticism is good, right?

shaggybill, are you pinning hots already???

[shaggybill]

hehe, no, I havnt pinned any hots yet. I've been handling aggressive colubrids all my life, but I've never handled a venomous snake. Later this week, I'm going to NC, and if I'm lucky enough to find a really placid copperhead, I may attempt to pin it. But trust me, if I didnt feel like I was ready for this, I would never attempt it. Even with something as mildly venomous as a copper.

I dont blame you for wondering if this is really sturdy. But I've been bending it, twisting it and pulling up on the rubber band and everything else I can think of and it really is quite sturdy. I was quite impressed with it. And when I do start pinning snakes, if I use this, it will only be with small coppers and the likes.

Of course, being able to as correctly as possible judge how safe it is to pick up any venomous snake is the only way to go. I would never pick up any venomous snake that was wiggling like crazy no matter how good I had it pinned.

[LdyDrgn]

Try surgical tubing instead of the rubber band. ;)

[shaggybill]

Yeah, I thought of that but I have no clue where to buy it. Any ideas?

[reverendsterlin]

slingshot replacement tubing

[BWSmith]

I find that pin sticks are not all that useful for me. Anything big will get out from under it. I much prefer just the handle of the hook.

Of course I have to say again: Pinning is the most dangerous part of hot keeping and is generally not neccessary. Only in very extreme circumstances whould you have to pin. Just had to throw out my little disclaimer ;)

[SCReptiles]

Its available at Lowe’s in Chattanooga. I assume they carry it nation wide. I have made a pinning hook much like yours, using 3/8 latex tubing and a rubber coated tool hook that I also purchased at Lowe’s. Pinning is discouraged because of the stress to the snake, but occasionally it’s necessary for maintenance.