Considering a venomoid gaboon

[LacunaCobra]

Hi all! I found a gorgeous female venomoid gaboon viper for sale on kingsnake. I haven'te yet talked with the breeder, but he is from Exotic Jungle. I've done a lot of research on the net, but I wanted to get some more opinions.
Has anyone had any experience with gaboons in general, not necessarily venomoid. What are their temperments like? Would a venomoid be ok to handle? What adjustments would I have to make in caring for a venomoid as opposed to venomous?

[gonesnakee]

Personally I don't think you should support the "mangling" of snakes just so they can be kept "safer" by folks such as yourself. They should be treated with the same respect as a non mangled specimen, but if they were actually respected they would not be "mangled" to begin with. Either keep venomous or don't keep venomous IMHO Mark
P.S. GO Sens!

[LacunaCobra]

Personally I don't think you should support the "mangling" of snakes just so they can be kept "safer" by folks such as yourself. They should be treated with the same respect as a non mangled specimen, but if they were actually respected they would not be "mangled" to begin with. Either keep venomous or don't keep venomous IMHO Mark
P.S. GO Sens!

I don't want to get into ethics. I know where I stand on the issue. I would absolutely have nothing but respect for her and she would be loved and taken care of. Even venomoids deserve the best life possible.

[jparker1167]

well i would say if you cant handle a venomous gaboon you cant handle the venomoid either. what snakes have you kept and how long have you kept them. my gaboons are hissy and one is kinda jumpy she will jump right out of the container and try to get away they never strike but wouldnt pass up the chance if i got close enought, and a venomoid will still have fangs and with the size of fangs they have a bite is going to hurt.

venomoids should be treated like they are still hot you never know the surgery maybe have not got all the gland out and could regenerate. i see you are in pittsburgh pa im near there also about 45 mins form pittsburgh my girl friend lives in robinson so im up there alot. if you have any more questions you can email me at jparker1167@hotmail.com but i would say dont get the gaboon

[gonesnakee]

Whats your opinion on digestion? Venom being the initial stage of digestion for some of these animals, does having it removed affect their digestive systems in a negative fashion? We have all seen the pics of decaying flesh after bites buty few folks realize that it is the intial stage of the prey being broke down. How much harder is it on the animals with that first step gone? Mark

[jparker1167]

mark was you asking me about the digestion, my hots eat frozen i dont think they inject venom im sure some times they might but i would imagine digestion would take alttile longer without the venom being injected first. a gaboon is not a good hot to start with even if its a venomoid they are fast and they dont miss when they strike atleast i have never seen one miss or heard someone see it. i have also heard of people having reactions even when bit by venomiods. LacunaCobra have you decided if you going to get it or not ?

[drec91]

hey im from pittsburgh. just wanted to let yins no that. lol

[jparker1167]

thats cool where in pittsburgh are ya

[drec91]

im from point breeze in the city near places like squrrill hill and shadyside

[jparker1167]

thats cool man, LacunaCobra what did you decied to do ?

[skin78]

apart of that I find venemoids a low thing to do to an animal , I must agree with jparker 1167. First of all gaboons are snakes that are in most cases really easy going but can and will suddenly strike at you and indeed they won´t miss. They can strike in any direction and without any pre strike signals!.Also the bite radius is bigger hen most people expect. Then there is also the huge teath of the gaboon. Venemoid or not they will be there and will penetrate your body without any problem. As they have the largest teath of all venemous snakes this will hurt like hell and will cause infection whenever there is any venom inside it or not.

You say that you will respect her as you should and love her like anything else but if you really respect an animal then you would totally be against venemoids because that is unrespectfull as hell!. There are enough non venemous snakes to keep that are also very beautifull. And you say that even venemoids deserve a good live.. true , but when no one would want venemoids there wouldn´t be any. as long as there are people who want venemoids they will be produced..personally I think that people wanting venemoids only want to keep them to get some kind of status and to show off how "cool" they are!! morrons that´s what they are and don´t deserve to breath

[gocmando19328]

gaboon... wow ive seen those before... the only part of that kind of snake that intimidated me was the fact that it has 4inch fangs

[ReptileMan27]

I don't want to get into ethics. I know where I stand on the issue. I would absolutely have nothing but respect for her and she would be loved and taken care of. Even venomoids deserve the best life possible.You say you have respect for it but yet you support something that has no respect for the animal:no:. The animal suffers because you want to keep it but not have to worry about the dangers of keeping it, if you cant stand the heat,stay out of the kitchen.

[drec91]

unrespectful is not a word skin 78

[skin78]

unrespectful is not a word skin 78

:yes: but the message is clear isn´t it . and since we are not on a grammar forum lol

[ChuckHurd]

there is still a lot of debate over the role venom plays in the processing of food. i would have this advice, if you do get a void, i would offer a hot spot about 5 degrees hotter then normal to allow for a quicker digestion.

[jparker1167]

if ya get the gabbon and have a prob let me know im in the area where ya are and would try to help but the best advise i could give is to stick with non hots a gaboon fang could cause nerve damage venom or not it wont be fun lol

[drec91]

yea i know it was a joke lol

[Maik Dobiey]

For me this is an easy issue: If you want to keep a gaboon, keep one. But don't support this torture.
If you say you respect this animal you should also respect that it is venomous.
Do think it is OK to mutilate and harm animals just to make it easier to handle them? Is that your way to show your "respect"?

[IBsmokin]

Its too bad you asked the question and recieved so much harsh replies, but its is to be expected when it comes to such things, personally I think it is cruel and horrible to remove a snakes venom glands.
How would you feel if someone chopped off your manhood?

anyways I think if you think the animals is beautiful then i say go for it, personally I would have prefered one that is still intact, lord knows what psychological damage it done to the snake having its venom glands removed.

sure a snakes does not pocess the cognitive skills as a human does but I am sure it must type of intelligence. From my experience with 1000's of snakes over the years I find they all have little personalitites all unique to each individual snake, I also have found they remember and seem to sense their owners.

I have even kept some hot snake that seemed to have this evil streak to them and they would purposedly try to tag me and be really sneaky and devious about it, while others of the same species would be so docile and gentle.

me I feel bad for snakes that have had the glands removed. i think it should banned and outlawed, but thats just my opinion.

[Herpkid101x]

i would do it and wouldnt do it. that snake has the longest fangs of all snakes and it is pretty venomous...so yea i guess u get my point

[jparker1167]

well if you cant handle a venomous gaboon then you dont need a venomiod gaboon.

[ohh_kristina]

:(. That's all I can say about venemoids. Hot snakes are amazing creatures in their own right because they.are.hot.

Anyway, I'm a firm believer in people making their own choices. So, good luck either way.

[Neiko]

Do you guys also believe it wrong to clip birds wings, Dogs ear and tail?
Ive talked to plenty of Void owners and the snake does not realize what has taken place although I do not support the mutilation of snakes I see no reason to condone others who properly take it to a vet and the procedure is properly performed and proper care is taken after surgery. lets face were all unethical when we decided to lock these creatures in cages

[gonesnakee]

Do you guys also believe it wrong to clip birds wings, Dogs ear and tail?
Ive talked to plenty of Void owners and the snake does not realize what has taken place although I do not support the mutilation of snakes I see no reason to condone others who properly take it to a vet and the procedure is properly performed and proper care is taken after surgery. lets face were all unethical when we decided to lock these creatures in cages

Big difference compared to removing part of an animals digestive system ;) Mark P.S. clipping a birds wings does not require surgery & also sedation can easily be a death sentence for a reptile

[jparker1167]

yea they are different, cliping a birds wing is not even close to a venomiod


i have talked to people with venomiods and some people say that they dont act like normal hots.

[ffollett]

Most people who know me know my stance on voids.
Personally I hate them for all the reasons listed here and I have signed petitions from everything to regulating the surgery more to banning them out right, which will never happen as long as people keep buying them. With that said with the number of rescues we have gotten over the years if one showed up here I wouldn't turn it away. I would give it a place to live out the remainder of its years in comfort.
In the end the choice is yours. It doesn't matter what any of the rest of us think about the decision you make since you are the one that will have to care for the animal. Also as much as I hate the whole void thing I would rather see a void go to someone who will still give the animal the respect that it deserve and not treat it like some side show freak and use it to impress their friends.
You have to understand that if you purchase one your best bet is to not tell to many people online about it because while the thread runs you will be making yourself a target. Even one of the largest breeders in the country got hammered on forums for bring voids out for the public to play with.