Venomous snakes are tamed and housed worldwide by people familiar with them. It takes specific knowledge and experience to raise snakes, particularly venomous snakes. 

You can keep venomous snakes as pets if you meet the legal requirements to own an approved species. You must have the necessary experience and a sufficient habitat, and you should select species that can react calmly or pose a minimal threat.

In this article, I’ll explain some of the legal requirements for ownership, which venomous snakes make safer pets than others, and several key items to consider before purchasing one.

1. Check Legal Requirements

Some states require a permit and experience, plus references. There’s a great reason for this: inexperience leads to accidents. Accidents with venomous snakes are almost always extremely expensive and, in many cases, deadly. 

Even if you have a permit to own a venomous snake, you may not be allowed to own a rattlesnake or copperhead.

If a snake is native to the area, it usually cannot be kept in captivity. However, in a few areas, the only venomous snakes you can have are native ones.

Some state permitting laws allow the purchase of venomous snakes without a permit or license but may require that you (easily) obtain one after purchasing. The sales receipt can count for a temporary license to buy an unlimited number of snakes. 

Florida’s venomous snake permitting process requires 1,000 hours of venomous snake care experience. Illinois doesn’t allow ownership of venomous snakes except in official capacities like educational facilities and research laboratories. 

Since the laws vary among states, ensure that you have accurate, up-to-date knowledge of how to own a venomous snake safely and legally.

2. Gain Experience and Knowledge

In the world of animal care, there’s no substitute for experience. Period. Ideally, owning a venomous snake means you have an ongoing pursuit of experience and education to become a better owner and handler. 

As you gain experience, you also gain knowledge. Not having a plan in case of a venomous snake bite means risking your life. 

Learning what makes and keeps snakes happy is equally important as knowing what makes them unhappy. Stress not only increases safety risks but can also make your snake sick. 

Reading heaps of snake literature cannot replace live sensory input from an actual snake. For non-venomous species, this may not mean anything. 

For venomous species, it means everything. Knowing how far you need to keep your distance from a snake someday doesn’t engage your mind and body like seeing how far you need to keep your distance from this snake in front of you now. 

Commit to doing the research and gaining experience before taking the plunge. 

3. Choose Rear-Fanged Species

Front-fanged snakes are the most commonly recognized serpentine threats, though rear-fanged species can still harm humans. 

Front-fanged snakes can inject a large volume of venom quickly. They dart in to strike, inject the venom, and back away to avoid damage. Thus, they have to dispense more venom at once than rear-fanged snakes.

Rear-fanged snakes can inject venom quickly as well but in much smaller doses. They snag their prey with their mouth and pull them in. Then, they bite while injecting the venom. They cannot produce or supply enough venom on demand to be on the same threat level as their rear-fanged relatives.

YouTube channel Wickens Wicked Reptiles made a video about several species of rear-fang venomous snakes that make great pets:

Remember that rear-fanged species still pose a real health threat to you and others. They command every bit of respect and care. 

4. Provide a Proper Habitat 

Keeping snakes requires you to provide suitable habitats to keep them calm and thriving. The happier a snake is in its environment, the less incentive it has to attempt escape. 

A proper habitat needs the following elements:

• Enclosure size and security. Snakes prefer to roam and stretch out unless a species calls for tighter quarters. According to Jason’s Exotic Reptiles, a good rule for minimum cage size is 1 sq ft (144 sq in) per linear snake foot. So, if you have a 3’ long snake, that translates to a 3 sq ft (432 sq in) container. He stresses, however, that this size is a minimum and that the temperature and humidity must be maintained regardless of enclosure size.
• Enclosure care. Proper cleaning means you have a way to secure the snake while you’re working inside its home. Since venomous snakes cannot be handled without tools, you’ll need a way to move or coax the snake into a containment area.
• Food access. Frozen, thawed whole prey is best. Snakes don’t need to feed like mammals, and overfeeding them poses several health risks. Live feedings are stressful, inhumane, and can injure the snake.
• Drinking and soaking water. All snakes need water, though how much depends on the species. Snakes need water for drinking, but they also need water to soak in. Water can also help stabilize the enclosure’s relative humidity.

5. Keep the Right Distance 

A tame animal is “relatively tolerant of human presence” (Wikipedia). When people want an animal as a “pet,” they usually mean an animal they can keep without a specific designation. 

A pet, on the other hand, functions as a personal companion. Hence why so many state laws emphasize ownership by certified individuals and organizations, limited to educational and scientific purposes—they aren’t lovable pets masquerading as insecure bullies. They’re truly wild animals that want to be left alone.

Venomous snakes fall into the educational category of tamed animals. They can learn to tolerate people being around, but they won’t respond to people like a dog or a cat will, for two reasons:

• We aren’t sure if they can bond with people or not.
• They haven’t been domesticated to the extent that mammals have.

6. Handle Infrequently

Several snake species tolerate extended handling, but most snakes dislike being handled. If you want a social snake, don’t expect the venomous ones to exude friendliness—their first instinct when encountering large mammals is to flee. If they feel threatened, they strike. 

A venomous snake doesn’t receive handling and touch like a mammal might. To these animals, it is a sensory input that may be unwanted and could easily stress them out.

Snakes possess a rare and strange beauty suited for respectfully distant viewing rather than up-close encounters.