@KevinB No idea, didn't ask! My mom hates snakes and was glaring at me, waiting for me to hurry up, so I petted it real quick and left; the keeper was talking to someone else.
@KevinB Pretty sure this is an Eastern Indigo Snake . The speckling on the upper half is new to me, but by size, build, and overall color looks like an indigo. They are cool snakes, especially large specimens, which are normally a beautifully glossy indigo-black.
@Arizona Docent The body reminded me of one, too. In person I knew it wasn't one because they only have north american animals... and because she was holding it, obviously
It does bear some resemblance to a king cobra. Unfortunately there are in fact people who do hold and handle king cobras and other fatally venomous snakes. I know of at least one Instagram page of a guy who handles and messes with fatally venomous snakes of different kinds, including several king cobras, all the time. This guy even takes them out of their enclosures and into his living quarters or even outdoors. Such an incredible amount of risk he takes doing that...
@KevinB And even more people actually keep the snakes even if they don't hold them much... When searching for reptile info I've seen a wide variety of venomous snakes posted for sale including various cobras, water cobras, mambas, rattlers, etc... It's a great risk to the keeper, some of whom know what they're doing and some don't... at times the snakes even endanger the neighbors... SDZ's white Monocled Cobra was loose for several days in a Los Angeles neighborhood before they managed to catch it. SDZ has it because they're one of only two zoos in North America with the appropriate anti-venom! I've heard of King Cobras running loose too... I have no issue with zoos or trained professionals keeping such snakes, since they respect the snakes and keep them appropriately contained. But the venomous snakes is the one group I wish had a few more regulations against general sales and members of the average public keeping... (I believe in most states it is illegal to keep such snakes without permit)
@Great Argus A woman in PA found a cobra on her porch recently and killed it with a shovel. It's now believed that the snake had been loose for 3 months, escaping when someone else in the apartment complex had 20 venomous snakes removed from their home by authorities.
@TinoPup That sort of thing is a lot more common that people realize... I've read many stories about people keeping numerous venomous snakes in their apartment or house... often with not the greatest containment. Let alone all the boas and pythons. My biggest hope is no species manages to establish a wild population in the US... We have enough native venomous species!
I am not an expert and have not researched this, but I think it is illegal in every state in the USA for private individuals to have venomous snakes without a special license. I am sure some people have them anyway, but they have them illegally. As for advertisements on the internet for venomous snakes, I imagine many of those are just scams and not legitimate offers.
