Any Cobra substitutes?

[A. gigas]

There are time when keeping a venomoid can be useful but having one for personal enjoyment is not one of them. The only reason I have ever seen for keeping a voided snake is to use it in educational shows where the speaker will be hands on, it allows the speaker to talk without focusing so much on the animal and keeps the audience safer. Of course... the audience should never know that it is a venomoid because we really don't need people thinking they can have all sorts of venomous snakes because they can just get them "de-venomed"... then we end up with all sorts of inaccurate back yard hack jobs and...whole long chain event of bad things.....
also, as someone else mentioned... venomoid inc. is the only company that is doing it properly and legally (that i know of). There are others who CAN do it properly... but not legally... which means they are more likely to screw it up due to lack of proper tools.

this^

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

There are many things in your original post that worry me with you owning anything even remotely venomous. First...you called it a "pet". These are not "pets". That term is already one that I am not fond of anyways but it should certainly never be used in conjunction with something like a venomous snake. Second, you seem to be looking at the cool factor, said it yourself that it would be a cool pet to have. You cannot get into something like that just because it is cool. If you want to work with dangerous animals you should have a real passion about it.... well that goes for any animal really. because the cool factor wears off a little while after you have to start cleaning and caring for something and the high you get from telling someone about your awesome new pet wanes down till it no longer outweighs the responsibility factor and you become careless and lazy with the animal.
Now, I don't mean to say that this is exactly what you are doing, It does not appear that you really want to mess with the hole venomous thing in the first place but you are a little vague so it's best to get you to analyze yourself now and figure out exactly what you are going for before you get caught in the wrong direction and in over your head.

So as far as cobra substitutes go, a pissy hognose is probably your best bet. Saw a luecy texas rat put on a pretty entertaining threat display once, neck flattened laterally, mouth open, the whole deal. I believe some Asian rat snake species do that as well.

Wow..... simmer down. Alot of condescending stuff in that post.

false water cobras have a venom very similar to timber rattlesnakes, but they do not have nearly enough venom to cause problems, let alone a good injection system.

I beat you to it!!

 

[brooklynboy521]

If you want a snake that looks sick and acts like a cobra get a KING RAT SNAKE.

 

[Sylvias]

I wasn't trying to be condescending, just trying to get the OP to really think about things. I have seen this sort of mind set go from something as innocent as asking a question like this to owning some deadly stuff without the proper training or know how...way to fast. Those people end up dead and we end up facing more laws and restrictions.

 

[Reptilesfishbirdsmammals]

a good sub for a cobra is a hognose..

 

[Blue Crab of PAIN!!!!]

One curious snake which I did encounter was the "false cobra" (Malpolon moilensis). However, it doesn't seem to have any redeeming values over FWCs and apparently aren't easy to find.

These guys, FWCs, and hognose snakes all spread pretty good looking hoods, but they "hood down" and arch their necks more like angry monitor lizards than cobras do, or so I've seen. I'd love to have a hognose in the future anyway though. I live in New York State; thankfully they don't classify hognose as venomous but I don't know what they say about False Cobras and FWCs. All they say are "no venomous species", which is odd. Normally they're very specific on these kinds of things (i.e. specific monitor lizards).

Also, you need not worry about me and the "cool factor". Granted, cool animals are, well, cool, but I never succumb to that at the expense of practicality and devotion. That's why I currently own 1 Tegu instead of, oh lets say 1 Green Iguana, or 2 fire skinks, a land crab, a legless lizard, and a trio of "rain frogs" (all of which I was planning on getting until I finally realized 'crap, this is never going to work').

 

[Miguel]

There are time when keeping a venomoid can be useful but having one for personal enjoyment is not one of them. The only reason I have ever seen for keeping a voided snake is to use it in educational shows where the speaker will be hands on, it allows the speaker to talk without focusing so much on the animal and keeps the audience safer. Of course... the audience should never know that it is a venomoid because we really don't need people thinking they can have all sorts of venomous snakes because they can just get them "de-venomed"... then we end up with all sorts of inaccurate back yard hack jobs and...whole long chain event of bad things.....
also, as someone else mentioned... venomoid inc. is the only company that is doing it properly and legally (that i know of). There are others who CAN do it properly... but not legally... which means they are more likely to screw it up due to lack of proper tools.

There are many things in your original post that worry me with you owning anything even remotely venomous. First...you called it a "pet". These are not "pets". That term is already one that I am not fond of anyways but it should certainly never be used in conjunction with something like a venomous snake. Second, you seem to be looking at the cool factor, said it yourself that it would be a cool pet to have. You cannot get into something like that just because it is cool. If you want to work with dangerous animals you should have a real passion about it.... well that goes for any animal really. because the cool factor wears off a little while after you have to start cleaning and caring for something and the high you get from telling someone about your awesome new pet wanes down till it no longer outweighs the responsibility factor and you become careless and lazy with the animal.
Now, I don't mean to say that this is exactly what you are doing, It does not appear that you really want to mess with the hole venomous thing in the first place but you are a little vague so it's best to get you to analyze yourself now and figure out exactly what you are going for before you get caught in the wrong direction and in over your head.

So as far as cobra substitutes go, a pissy hognose is probably your best bet. Saw a luecy texas rat put on a pretty entertaining threat display once, neck flattened laterally, mouth open, the whole deal. I believe some Asian rat snake species do that as well.

As to Venomoids, these things should be forbidden, period.

And your post is somewhat arrogant.

This is not a place to dress people down- Things can be said in a wholly, more civil and wellcoming, way.

 

[silvertip0]

FWC are illegal in NY

 

[Sylvias]

I'm really not trying to be condescending or talk down to anyone. I'm sorry if it came off that way. unless I know them personally, I tend to assume that everyone is ignorant to reptiles.... or just animals in general. I try not to be impatient and arrogant to people though when giving advice... but I do work at petco.... whole different breed of idiots that I have to deal with sometimes.... and I am on a couple of forums where there are people who would say something like what the OP said here and not really be looking into getting an actual cobra or anything, even asking for advice on what ELSE to get...but then come back the next day showing off pictures of their new cobra... it's not usually that exact situation of course but it happens a lot. Obviously this sort of behavior is bad for the hobby...especially with everything that has been going on lately...so it puts me a little on edge and I may be unintentionally taking that out on others....
I am sorry if I came off the wrong way.

 

[snakeguy101]

Venomoids are hotly (pardon the pun) debated with those in the venomous community so please excuse us if we get carried away, we don't mean to.

The general census is that they should not be allowed into the general public and I agree. Unfortunately, there are people stupid enough to try and breed 2 venomoids together and expect them to produce venomoid babies. There is also the risk of teaching children (or idiots) that it is okay to pick up a rattlesnake or cobra or whatever and not understand the difference. Then there is always the risk of getting the two mixed up in a pet store or something and a 12 year old could end up with a new loving taipan or some crap.

/end rant/

As for a good substitute, any big active snake would be similar to their behavior. Pine snakes do this well (stay somewhat aggressive and put on a big display when you mess with them by hissing loudly and puffing up) but they dont have a hood. The only hooded snakes you will be able to find are going to be hognose snakes (easterns and southerns will hood up more than westerns in my experience) or FWC's. I would not be too concerned about their venom but at the same time, I would invest in a snake hook and not free handle just in case you are allergic or something.