night adders

[rikus001]

If a night adder tags me must I go to the hospital or not and what is the first 'hot' to start with?

[Qball]

Search the forum for "starter hot". There are tons of posts on it.

[Sfourie]

Night Adder bites are generally considered not dangerous. Night Adders have cytotoxic venom; as such you will be experiencing some pain and swelling. The level of pain and swelling depends on how much venom the snake has injected (Snakes control the amount of venom they use) against your body mass. A bite that has little to no effect on adult could be a different kettle of fish for a minor. All in all there should be no need for you to go the hospital specially considering that there is no antivenom for Night Adders.

[it_bit_me]

RIkus waar kom hierdie starter nonsens vandaan. n Paar posts terug vra jy hoe om n hookstick te gebruik en net daar na wil jy weet waar om n pofadder te kry.

Moenie luister na daai "n hospitaal is nie nodig vir die en daai". As jy enige common sense gehad het sou jy weet mense gaan hositaal toe selfs vir n byesteek. Wag eerder tot jy iemand het om van te leer voordat jy moeilikheid gaan soek onder "logs".

[Sfourie]

That is way I said should not and why I listed some factors that could have an influence. I think it's pretty poor form of you to try and rubbish other's post in the way you did. We are all students on this forum and a helping hand goes a long way, but a know it all attitude like yours does not.

[Herald_23]

As mentioned before on another topic, you should rather get a very cheeky, non-venomous snake that's going to tag you repeatedly. This is to practise for your 'hot' snake. Every time your snake bites you, write a note saying 'I could be in hospital or worse, dead, right now' and then see after a year or so if you still want a venomous snake. There are courses you can take at local herp clubs to learn how to handle venomous snakes

[VenomPassion]

Before I started with venomous species everyone said "Why?",I've always had a passion for all things venomous. Don't put the guy down,he will just go out and buy a venomous species with less knowledge than if we helped him.

I'd say a Night Adder is a good species to start with. Copperheads are good starters as well as Pygmy Rattlers. Make sure it's feeding if you buy it as a hatchling,you don't want your first venomous snake to be a fussy feeder,trust me.

PM me if you need any advice.

Breaking a potential passion is a high crime.

[Qball]

Im with it_bit_me on this one. I don't think he meant to come across as having an attitude, he was trying to firmly caution the risks involved. I understand where he is coming from as I went and looked Rikus previous posts and the sounds of things he isn't very experienced when it comes to all things venemous and to just tear off and get a venemous snake isn't exactly the correct way to go about it.
Yes the chances of ending up in a morgue with a toe tag on from a night adder bite are very slim, but that doesn't mean they aren't there. People have different reactions to different things (it bit me's point about bee stings to be exact) so there is no telling what will happen from person to person.
As for the night adder, I wouldn't recommend it as they do not eat rodents (yes I'm aware that some people have been able to get them onto mice, but I'm pretty sure they weren't beginners and the impact the different diet would have for the snakes health are also questionable) and a source of food in winter may be a problem.
Try find someone who is willing to teach or mentor you. Then decide what "starter hot" you will look at getting.
@ Rikus001: I'm not trying to put the idea out of your head, but what are your reasons for wanting to get a venomous snake if you don't mind me asking?

[TonyK]

I can`t understand why somebody wants to keep a snake just because its venomous.If you wanted a specific snake and it just happend to be venomous then I could understand . Just want any snake as long as its dangerous makes no sense.Maybe you can explain why the type of snake is not important to you.

[Fooble]

Before I started with venomous species everyone said "Why?",I've always had a passion for all things venomous. Don't put the guy down,he will just go out and buy a venomous species with less knowledge than if we helped him.

I'd say a Night Adder is a good species to start with. Copperheads are good starters as well as Pygmy Rattlers.

Are you being serious or did i miss the punch line?

[it_bit_me]

I am sorry that my post looks condescending but it gets from bad to worse if you're the type of guy who has to ask on a snake forum which type of venomous snake should be my first. The idea that most okes have is that you don't ever wanna get bit. Whether it be an mamba or redlip is of no matter so why give yourself this false security. The reality is that once you have this snake you will have only learned the personality and temperament of a singular snake , not all venomous. You can then move on to mambas and also not get bit but at the end of the day none of us enjoy our snakes just cause they have an dangerous capacity. Educating yourself on how hard your head will hit the windscreen when Sipho drives drunk into you is not gonna make an lick of difference in the outcome. Keeping venomous is done for different reasons.

Sfourie I don't have an know it all attitude I have an pissed-off one. Laaities keep on asking these questions. Do you think it is fun watching there windgat ouens getting great advice just to get bit a few weeks later. Sorry but my advice does not make yours look inadequate . I am just getting to the problem keepers not the problem snakes.

[shadowfoot]

Well said it_bit_me. This is why there is a search function.

Lol@copperheads and pygmy rattlers as starters, rather gain some experience first and then use the search function and look at what people have said regarding this subject.

[snake kid]

+ 1 for It_bit_me

[PBV]

Shadowfoot gain some personality. Opinions differ,what WOULD be a good venomous species to start with in your opinion?

[Durban Keeper]

Somebody answer TonyK's question because I think its a damn good question...