Feelin' hot, Hot, HOT! Oh yeah!

[Will0W783]

Could you define the risk of your rattler over the other hots? especially the naja? Just curious as to how he defines it.

In actuality, I do not consider her any more dangerous. My fiance has bizarre logic processes sometimes. He says the rattler is more likely to bite someone than the cobra, and since it is rated as more potent than the arboreal vipers, he considers that riskier. I do not agree, and would like to keep the rattler if she pulls through. She is far from out of the woods yet.
I don't agree with his thinking- it does not consider that fact that a rattler is usually pretty recognizable as a dangerous creature. Even most people who know nothing about snakes can recognize a rattlesnake. The cobra is only recognizable to non-snake people as a cobra when it is hooded up, and the arboreal vipers are not that terribly dangerous-looking. So why he thinks the rattlesnake is more likely to get ahold of someone than the others is beyond me. I use trap/shift boxes, tongs, hooks, and thick gloves with every single one of them, regardless of the animal's temper, venom potency, or agility. It's just foolish in my opinion to consider any hot more of less dangerous than any other.
In the words of Viperkeeper, "the most venomous snake in the world is the one that just bit you."

[alessia55]

Originally Posted by Will0W783

Even most people who know nothing about snakes can recognize a rattlesnake. The cobra is only recognizable to non-snake people as a cobra when it is hooded up, and the arboreal vipers are not that terribly dangerous-looking.

I can attest to this. My mom knows nothing about snakes whatsoever. She has known my BP Kaybe for 2 years and when I bought Pika, my baby BP, she asked me what he was LOL. When my mom came to visit me I decided to go through the photos I'd taken of Kim's snakes and asked her to tell me whether or not she knew what the snake in the picture was, and whether or not she would think they're venomous. I showed her the photo of Kim's rattler that I took, and she immediately said "Wow! Is that a rattlesnake?!" She was definitely aware that they are venomous. Then when it came to the photo of Shelby the cobra NOT hooded up, she said "Oh, that's pretty. Kinda looks like that corn snake you had a few years ago!" (not kidding here). The next picture was of Shelby all hooded up and immediately it was "OMG! It's a cobra! Definitely venomous." Her reaction to the photos of Kim's Wagler pit viper was "It looks like it's a venomous snake, but I'm not sure." With regards to the bush viper and the eyelash viper, she said they looked like "mini-jungle snakes" (whatever that means). She said she didn't think that, just by looking at them, that they were venomous. So to the untrained eye, the only "dangerous-looking" ones were the ratter and the cobra when he was hooded. Goes to show how much it would help if more people were educated about venomous snakes and how to recognize them.

I fully trust Kim's ability to handle her venomous snakes. And when she cleans their cages and I'm in the room, she tells me exactly how far away to stand to be completely safe (and then I usually take an extra step back just in case lol). If I want to get a little closer for a photo, it has to be through the glass of their enclosure.