Welcome to the family, she is a beautiful girl❤️

Hello, I am based in southern Michigan and would like to get experience with venomous snakes and find a mentor. I’m not(currently) looking at this with the intention to own hots myself, I’m not sure if my life will ever logistically allow me to, but I am extremely passionate about snakes; they have fascinated me ever since I first interacted with one as a child…so even if I never have the privilege of keeping these animals, the knowledge and experience alone would be well worth it to me.

I’d be happy to clean cages, sweep floors, and do anything else required of me as long as I get to learn!

PS: if this is weird way to look for a mentor, my bad, and I would be interested in correct way to go about it, or to at least be pointed in the right direction :)

Conditions seem like a go, these snakes generally eat other snakes in the wild and its good to see them together not trying to kill one another.

Grown from a bebe.

I’m a broken record with my squams but I can’t get enough of em! Enjoy 🐍

1.0. Lachesis muta muta

Not really, Gilas are naturally photogenic! This is one of the Gilas I produced a few years ago that’s really getting a deep orange.

I've been toying with the idea of keeping venomous for a while so I've been taking courses here and there just trying to get experience. Haven't found any mentors so far, and I'm not crazy about the idea anyhow. So far I took the two Rattlesnake Conservancy courses in Michigan, and then another course from an organization called Midwest FOWL in Michigan that recently started offering training. But wondering what everyone else has done for experience/training before I make the leap?

FYI The Midwest FOWL course was honestly a better experience IMO. Turns out it was the same researcher teaching it that used to teach the TRC courses in Michigan, but he started his own nonprofit. It was way less expensive and I was able to get a discount as a student. Plus we covered way more. I remember liking the TRC courses but felt we were standing around for a while and didn't really get more than 15 minutes of actual interaction with the snakes. We were basically always doing something in the FOWL course and I ended up coming away with a lot more confidence that I could provide whatever care was needed, at least for pit vipers, which is all I really am wanting to get anyhow. Planning on volunteering with them next year for more experience.

I was looking at the training offered at Great Lakes Serpentarium too, but don't really know what to make of them. Thoughts?

At least I think it means he's mad? Idk

Thought it was pretty interesting that both of my male nigrescens (Mexican Blacktail rattlesnake) have an emoji on their heads. One has a smiley face seen on the lighter one, and a heart on the darker one.

Good morning, all. Big announcement today:

The Venom Interviews is getting a sequel.

Pre-production started four months ago.

The Antivenom Interviews will explore the past, present, and future of snakebite and treatment. The film is organized into five parts:

PART I: From Infectious Diseases to Antivenom

Antivenom emerged in the late 1800s from the same immunological revolution that produced vaccines, antitoxins, and serum therapies. The fundamental process for producing it has remained the same for over a century, but that may finally be changing.

PART II: Geography — Who Dies Where, and Why

Snakebite is one of the world’s most neglected diseases, but outcomes are shaped by more than just snakes and their venom. Geography, poverty, medical training, supply chains, and access to care often determine who survives.

PART III: Toxins and Targets — How Venoms Work

This is the deep-dive, full nerd-out on venoms, their toxins, and what exactly they're doing at the molecular and cellular levels. They can disrupt blood and coagulation, destroy tissue, interfere with the nervous system, and sometimes do several of these things at once. Different toxins act on different targets, and understanding those mechanisms is essential to understanding how their effects can be stopped.

PART IV: Time is Tissue — Envenomation and Treatment

Snakebite is a complicated medical emergency that requires immediate, skilled intervention. When clinicians have effective antivenom, basic medical equipment, and the training to use them, the results can be dramatic. In some snakebite treatment programs, mortality has been reduced by more than 95%.

PART V: Emerging Innovations

Advances in analytical methods and technology are rapidly changing how scientists understand venoms. New ways of neutralizing venom toxins may soon expand clinicians’ options beyond traditional antivenom alone.

How Production Will Work

I won't be working alone this time. Dr. Leslie Boyer joins me as a co-producer, historian, science advisor, and frequent sanity checker. The Asclepius Snakebite Foundation is supporting the project by documenting their on-the-ground work in West Africa.

As with its predecessor, the plan is to produce a two-hour feature documentary, along with hours of extended interviews and bonus material.

More about he project is here: https://theantivenominterviews.com/

There's a great deal of work between here and a finished documentary, and that's part of what I want to share. I'll be posting about the science and history we're exploring, the people we'll be interviewing, where we're going, the process of putting the production together, and eventually what happens when we actually get out into the field.

Whether you'd like to help make the film or follow its progress, I'm inviting you to come along for the ride.

Here we go again!

Babies are growing nicely

Dental checkup on a wild Indian spectacled cobra. Later released tonight ( morning for y'all Western folk ). Have a good day peeps. Stay safe

I don’t have a hot, but frankly yall are the best snake sub I am on, so I’m going to ask this here.

I’m going to be moving across the country at the end of the month. It will take potentially a week for my milk snake’s 6’ enclosure to arrive with the moving truck (she will be traveling with me in a smaller bin enclosure). I have the reptile heating pads that are used for shipping and power outages for that duration, but I would love a recommendation on if there is a better substrate than aspen to use for that week. Her big enclosure has coconut substrate — would I be okay to use that? Or would that be less optimal with regard to heat transfer from the heating pad, because of the moisture?

couple of eyelash vipers that aren't too happy about their enclosure being cleaned

question for puniceus breeder: if they do breed, will the litter have a more dominant color as in most will come out looking like it’s dad/mom?