Better check your local laws first, i know here in Massachusetts the CopperHead is on the endangered list.

 

i say keep the snake.. unless you have kids in your house... if not. keep it.. i had a little young one for about a week, but i kept it out in the barn.. my brother and his family were staying with me and they had kids...so i didnt keep it in the house.. it got to be a bother to go down to the barn and feed it so i let it go..
i was feeding mine little "spring" frogs and grasshoppers...
it is true that the young ones tend to inject ALL their venom when biting.. just make sure you have your body away from it.. i would suggest a very large aquarium to keep him in. i wouldnt ever trust the snake.. no matter how long you have him or how "calm" he seems, dont trust him..the only real problem i see is that you will have to remove him from his tank to clean the tank... i would get one of those snake grabbing sticks you see the guys with on the discovery channel.. then take the snake out and put him in large trash can while you clean the tank.. then put him back in and go about your business...

good luck.. let us know how it goes with him.

wade
Austin Texas

 

Can't you get them de-venomized or something like that. If you do decide to keep it I would definetly look into it.

 

Just my .02, but isn't it against the law to keep venomous snakes? Unless you have a permit or something?

 

Interesting thread!
Just having skimmed alot of what people have said, let me first say DON"T KILL IT. That would be ignorant. Secondly, don't let it kill you either. It can and it will. That would be stupid. Somebody said something about the legality etc. It is illegal to capture a wild animal and make it your pet. However, depending on where you captured it depends on whether or not you can be convicted of possesion--or something of that nature. Now if it is in an area where it is threatened or endangered you automatically draw it into a federal category. That would be as you expect, very bad. Most "enforcment" would just tell you what most people here have said--your crazy. I myself had a simular situation. I deal with snakes alot in my field of work. Also in an area where they are protected by federal regulations. But I did have a small copperhead as a pet for awhile. It was abandoned and should have been left to die by nature but abandonment was due to human intervention so I tried to keep the snake until it was able to live on its own. Copperheads are very finicky as pets. They do retain all there aggression and strike alot. If you choose to keep it, try crickets or small live pinkies--baby mice). Keep your distance all the time. Likely the thing will die but if you manage to get it to eat they take constant care. I can't emphisise enough how dangerous they are. They are quicker than you and there strike range is alot further than you'd think. Oh, if you do get hit, don't play around and wait for symptoms. Head directly to the hospital and tell them it was a small copperhead. That way they can get the anti-venom in you asap. Plan to stay awhile, you'll be there for a minimum of three days for observation.

 

The fact is just look it up on the Internet. Cooper heads are the least deadly of all the five posinos snakes in the US. If you way over 75 pounds most likely you will only get a little sick. But it may be possible it is not a Copper head. The hog nose snake looks just like them. If his nose is bent upwards he is not a Copper head. The hog nose snake acts just like a posinos viper, by flattening his boddy out like a cobra does his head. Check his nose. A copper head is very lite in color and have perfect hour glass marking on his back. Let us know.

 

Punching through a catalytic converter, or putting fake ones on is against the law in some states and i bet alot of people on here still do it



as far as the snake..as long as you don't have kids,i say go for it..it would be awesome to have a copperhead as a pet...it would be better if you had an outside building or perhaps a garage to keep him in...i would feel safer with him in my garage than inside my house...and like someone said..don't ever trust that he won't bite you...i used to have a ball python and it was as gentle as could be, and never bit anyone...the reason i trusted it was because there wasn't a life threatening chance with it,because it wasn't poisonous and it was only about 3 feet long...BUT..he got loose and we never found him...but he was in an outside building that we played music in...and that is why i say to keep the copperhead in an outside building..you definately wouldn't want a copperhead to get loose in your house...that could get really interesting...

 

you know? I haven't seen him post in a while on this thread. Maybe the little snake got to him?

 

Funny...when I was bit, they let me go home that evening...of course I wasn't bitten by a baby (mine was about 4.5') - it injected little to no venom, but it hurt like I can't even describe! I still say KILL IT

 

Well, I just went out and checked. The snake is still alive...and still pissed. I think today I will take him to the local pet store and let the lady stick her head in the bucket to positively identify him as a copperhead and see what advice she'll give. Haha and no he hasn't bit me yet but has come veryyy close once. As far as the nose thing goes, I dunno, didn't really feel like getting nose to nose with it just yet, maybe as we bond more . He is a light brown w/ the hour glass markings down the entire length of him.

Keith
~Houston, TX

PS. I wish I still had my '78, I could drive around with the thing in my bed.....dang Bronco.

Crap, accidentaly posted on my father's name again. Sorry Dad!!

 

You dont have to get nose to nose, just look at his nose, if it looks like it was smeared up, (like taking a drawing and smuddging the nose to a upward position) then it is a hog nose, (Very good pets) but if his nose is normal round like all snakes, then it is a copper head. Also, taking the snake to pet shop will not help to Identify it. Most pet stores have teenage kids working in them that think all turtal are snappers and all snakes are rattlers. Just go to Google. com and type in copper head snakes. You will find out all you need to know.

 

I don't know why I'm getting so annoyed here, but the freakin' snake needs to be let go before it is dead. It's hungry, it's stressed, and it doesn't play well with others. We already know the danged things dangerous....this is one of those "here's your sign" stories.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks Ernie.

 

Knew a "crazy" guy when I was stationed in Montana - he'd go out behind the base and hunt for rattlesnakes...he usually found 'em too! One day, he brought a baby rattler into our office in a mason jar...took the lid off the jar...dumped the snake onto the tile floor, then began playing with it, using a ruler to get it to strike...needless to say, there were many clamoring to the desktops. He thought it was "cool". We just thought he was "stupid"... He later got assigned to Davis-Monthan in Arizona - I'm sure he was in hog-heaven down there with all those various desert creatures to play with. Never heard from him after he transferred. Wonder if he's still alive...

 

I'm willing to bet that this thread get's cross posted to a lot of other sites on the internet.