ethical snake sources

Hey Stephen, from my experience the ones you obtain that died of natural causes are not good for taxidermy . You never know how long they have been dead before some one puts them in the freezer . It is important to freeze any reptile as fast as possible the epidermis of snakes is very delicate . The best ones for taxidermy are the ones caught alive and put straight in the freezer no damage what so ever . Hope this helps you out .
Tommy

 

Down here in fla. you wait for a really cool night, maybe after it rains the snakes crawl out on the highway for warmth and you can usually find what your looking for.....be careful you might find something you don't want to find

 

I really hope that no one actually does this for the sake of getting a good specimen. Freezing is considered an extremely cruel method of euthanasia for reptiles larger than 4 grams.

Source: http://www.research.psu.edu/arp/euthanasia/front-page

 

Snakes will get no sympathy in this forum...

 

Anyone else notice the surge of "taxidermists" with moral conflicts about dead animals.

 

The "dead" part isn't really the issue. Personally I wouldn't want to use an animal that I know that was killed in an unnecessarily cruel way, especially when there are more ethical ways to acquire a specimen. So on that note I can sympathize with OP. Also there are a number of skilled rogue taxidermists who only use roadkill or animals who died of natural causes. I'm not one of those, but I've got to give credit where credit is due... some of them do some damn fine work.

 

Yeah, I've been waiting for the new generation of taxidermist to be "against anything killed for taxidermy purposes"! LMAO! Death is the first step in taxidermy, regardless of how it got there.

 

I don't know if this will help but I would think that snake breeders may be a good place to try. I am sure they have animals die, even with the best of care, and if they know you want one they may be willing to sell or give one to you. Another source may be venom sellers who I am sure loose animals too. Make sure to let them know you need it frozen asap after death as another poster said. Good luck in your search.

 

I know this thread is a couple of months old, but I thought my input may help others in the future.

Check local pet stores. Things die all the time in pet stores. Some stores throw out the carcasses (which is illegal in some areas) while others freeze them and have a crematory pick them up for disposal. The crematories charge the stores by weight, so you might be able to get them to hand over the bodies to you if it means they save a few bucks in the end.

 

I raise snakes and know some breeders. We put down old snakes and have dead critters pop up often when ya breed a ton they are out there. Plus, I check all some hundred of my snakes daily - 3x so they are good for taxidermy LOL

 

So how is the killing of a snake so different from buying a waterfowl for competition? The waterfowl breeder has to put the bird down. I like snakes, but unless it is an endangered or threatened specie - I see no problem in putting one down for taxidermy