# DWA mentor in sussex area?



## D3470 (Nov 24, 2020)

Hi there guys, sorry if this has already been posted but I couldn't find it. I would expect that most people won't want to take me on for my age. I am 16 and looking to get experience with venemohs snakes and get a mentor so that I can apply for my DWA when I turn 18. Just wondering if I am even allowed to be mentored under 18 and if so whether there is anyone in the Sussex region who would be willing? In terms of experience I have a fiji banded iguana, 5 geckos (breeding project starting next year) carpet python, burmese python and boa imperator (soon to be 3 imperators). Hope someone can help.

Have a great day.


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

DWAL holders tend to keep their licence and collections very quiet for obvious reasons.
There was, and probably still is, a Sussex Amphibian and Reptile Group, a bit of online searching should help you track them down. 
If there are DWAL holders in Sussex then that would be your first point of call.
At a push, you could try both East and West Sussex County Councils. Explain what you are trying to do, make clear you understand under GDPR and Data Protection they cannot give you details, but you give your consent for them to pass your details onto any holder of a relevant DWAL to see if they would then contact you to offer mentoring.


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## D3470 (Nov 24, 2020)

ian14 said:


> DWAL holders tend to keep their licence and collections very quiet for obvious reasons.
> There was, and probably still is, a Sussex Amphibian and Reptile Group, a bit of online searching should help you track them down.
> If there are DWAL holders in Sussex then that would be your first point of call.
> At a push, you could try both East and West Sussex County Councils. Explain what you are trying to do, make clear you understand under GDPR and Data Protection they cannot give you details, but you give your consent for them to pass your details onto any holder of a relevant DWAL to see if they would then contact you to offer mentoring.


Right. I'll get onto that then, thanks a lot for your help. I'll update if I get any luck! Cheers!


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

D3470 said:


> Right. I'll get onto that then, thanks a lot for your help. I'll update if I get any luck! Cheers!


It might get you nowhere but right now, it's the best I can come up with.
Good luck!
If I have any other ideas I'll let you know.


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## D3470 (Nov 24, 2020)

ian14 said:


> It might get you nowhere but right now, it's the best I can come up with.
> Good luck!
> If I have any other ideas I'll let you know.


Sweet cheers!


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## LiasisUK (Sep 30, 2019)

Ask in your local reptile shop if they know of any customers. But yes DWA keepers are had to locate, most don't shout about it


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## D3470 (Nov 24, 2020)

LiasisUK said:


> Ask in your local reptile shop if they know of any customers. But yes DWA keepers are had to locate, most don't shout about it





LiasisUK said:


> Ask in your local reptile shop if they know of any customers. But yes DWA keepers are had to locate, most don't shout about it


Right, fair enough. Thanks!


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm a little confused now.
You asked questions about a DWAL in Sussex.
Initially your location showed with a UK flag.
But now it's the New Zealand flag??
If you are in NZ then little point asking about mentoring on a UK forum.
If you are in Sussex, UK, how come the location change?


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## D3470 (Nov 24, 2020)

ian14 said:


> I'm a little confused now.
> You asked questions about a DWAL in Sussex.
> Initially your location showed with a UK flag.
> But now it's the New Zealand flag??
> ...


Haha, good question. I am half kiwi, half English so I normally visit NZ for my summers. Because of Covid I haven't seen my dad who lives here in a year and a half so 3 weeks ago I flew out here and spent a 2 weeks in quarantine. I am returning to the UK for late July/early August. I am just asking so that I can be prepared for when I return to England. I have to say, being here and not having to wear a mask and being completely covid free feels very weird. I think we in England should try it some time lol.


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

D3470 said:


> Haha, good question. I am half kiwi, half English so I normally visit NZ for my summers. Because of Covid I haven't seen my dad who lives here in a year and a half so 3 weeks ago I flew out here and spent a 2 weeks in quarantine. I am returning to the UK for late July/early August. I am just asking so that I can be prepared for when I return to England. I have to say, being here and not having to wear a mask and being completely covid free feels very weird. I think we in England should try it some time lol.


Fair enough!
And I completely agree.
Covid was a worry at first. But honestly? The fear of the virus has proven to be WAAAY more significant than the virus itself. It's here and here to stay. We all have to accept that, learn to live with it and also accept that actually, it's not the extinction plague it was feared to be.
Yes, I agree. We need to get rid of these pointless restrictions.
You can't have a wedding or funeral with more than a handful of guests yet sports events can be staged with thousands of spectators. One brings in money, one doesn't. Not hard to see where the priorities lie for the government!!
Anyway, that's me off the soap box for a while.


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## D3470 (Nov 24, 2020)

ian14 said:


> Fair enough!
> And I completely agree.
> Covid was a worry at first. But honestly? The fear of the virus has proven to be WAAAY more significant than the virus itself. It's here and here to stay. We all have to accept that, learn to live with it and also accept that actually, it's not the extinction plague it was feared to be.
> Yes, I agree. We need to get rid of these pointless restrictions.
> ...


Hahaha. Those are all good points and very true. I totally agree. Have a good one!


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## Jibbajabba (Jan 31, 2011)

I had a DWA years ago (now expired) and the way I got to learn and work with them was I volunteered in a small reptile shop. 

Also in terms of the flag - that's actually quite annoying ... I am using VPN sometimes so my flag is sometimes all over the place. Bit silly really.


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## D3470 (Nov 24, 2020)

Jibbajabba said:


> I had a DWA years ago (now expired) and the way I got to learn and work with them was I volunteered in a small reptile shop.
> 
> Also in terms of the flag - that's actually quite annoying ... I am using VPN sometimes so my flag is sometimes all over the place. Bit silly really.


Yeah considering it's a UK server, what store did u work at? I tried to get a job at purple pet centre but they don't ever have hots in from experience and they didn't have any jobs so I'm working at an lfs rn. But I'll keep looking, I tried my local council and they said there was 1 dwa holder in brighton and they passed my details over but I haven't heard from them.


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## Jibbajabba (Jan 31, 2011)

A small shop in Essex. They closed long time ago. They didn’t actually sell hots but boarded and rescued them. They had about a dozen but they ranged in various sizes, which was good. I dealt with small ones like eyelash vipers to king cobras. They had a mamba too but no one touched it as that one was crazy. So we even refused to tong feed and only drop feed when she was asleep. Anyway, yea that is gone now.


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

D3470 said:


> Yeah considering it's a UK server, what store did u work at? I tried to get a job at purple pet centre but they don't ever have hots in from experience and they didn't have any jobs so I'm working at an lfs rn. But I'll keep looking, I tried my local council and they said there was 1 dwa holder in brighton and they passed my details over but I haven't heard from them.


I'm amazed that the council actually tried to help in that way.
So if you are, or will be, in the Brighton area, off the top of my head I can't think of any shops that could help.
You will almost certainly need to travel a bit unfortunately.
On the plus side, there is nothing in the DWAA that requires a licence holder to have any experience or knowledge in keeping a dangerous species!
The key is security. The Act has literally NOTHING to do with keeper safety, its all about keeping the public safe


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## Jibbajabba (Jan 31, 2011)

ian14 said:


> I'm amazed that the council actually tried to help in that way.
> So if you are, or will be, in the Brighton area, off the top of my head I can't think of any shops that could help.
> You will almost certainly need to travel a bit unfortunately.
> On the plus side, there is nothing in the DWAA that requires a licence holder to have any experience or knowledge in keeping a dangerous species!
> The key is security. The Act has literally NOTHING to do with keeper safety, its all about keeping the public safe


one thing our system falls short tbh. In other countries and Staates in the US you have to prove x number of hours for example. I never mentored anyone that is new to snakes, nor did I help if I noticed they got 0 financial means to go through with the process.

I think just creating the room itself, license cost, vet cost etc. were easily £3-4k.

In fact I remember the vet denying my license at first because whilst I had a double door leading into the room, the first glass door had a wooden panel at the bottom and despite being able to see the floor, he was not happy with it. 

When I moved councils the vet couldn’t care less. Seems such an unregulated area it’s mad.

When I sold hots I even insisted on dropping them off so I can see how they house hots and handle them. I tended to insist handling one of their own hots so I felt comfortable dropping them off.

if the keeper was new and it was the first hot they purchased I brought my false water cobra for them to handle so I can see that.

None of it was mandatory but it made me feel better.

Kinda miss the days lol.


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## Shellsfeathers&fur (Jan 18, 2009)

Just my thoughts!

There's now a similar post from another young person. What happens when/if you decide to go into further education, get a job away from home, or even go and live in New Zealand - are family members happy to take over?


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## D3470 (Nov 24, 2020)

Jibbajabba said:


> one thing our system falls short tbh. In other countries and Staates in the US you have to prove x number of hours for example. I never mentored anyone that is new to snakes, nor did I help if I noticed they got 0 financial means to go through with the process.
> 
> I think just creating the room itself, license cost, vet cost etc. were easily £3-4k.
> 
> ...


Yeah, it is a shame, don't suppose you are too large a distance from me? If you arent would you be willing???

Really trying to find people😂

Regards,

Sam


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## Jibbajabba (Jan 31, 2011)

As I said though - I have given up the venomous hobby and my license expired just over 7yrs ago.

What you need to get used to - and make it second nature, is using a hook. Get some non DWAL but still 'don't want to get bitten by' snakes. Like a false water cobra - and train on her. I believe right now it is still not listed on the DWA list - as far as I am aware, _Hydrodynastes_ are not yet listed as DWA so it makes a good test. In fact, I always used one to 'test' my mentees. Get in the habbit of hooking, open cages with a hook rather hand, use felt tape to close the gaps between glass sheets if you got a small one, make sure vents are escape proof. Use a bin with lockable bin as temporary storage when cleaning enclosure, if you need to transport them, double bag and storage container ... There are a lot of common sense things that you don't need to care about when the odd ball python, but should become second nature with hot ones. 

More importantly, if you watch youtube - don't use people like Chris Weet as example how to deal with them (freehandle). Just don't ... 

One other thing that is something people forget when it comes to hot snakes. There might not be many vets around happy to treat them. You may need to learn how to treat the odd illness yourself. If you do find a vet, they will likely tell you it is up to you to keep them secure. Which is where restrain tubes come into place. 

So even if you cannot get a false water cobra etc. Try to never touch your current snakes and only deal with them with hooks and whatnot - you will see it is DAMN hard at the beginning. 

If you want to clean some poo from a corner somewhere you will find yourself quickly sticking your hand in, taking out the hides etc., even if the snake is in the far corner. You'd be surprised how fast they can be 



Shellsfeathers&fur said:


> Just my thoughts!
> 
> There's now a similar post from another young person. What happens when/if you decide to go into further education, get a job away from home, or even go and live in New Zealand - are family members happy to take over?


THAT is very important and even I forgot that because I am just that old and it won't apply to me  That is one of the biggest issues. I was breeding snakes, mainly ball pythons and specialised on expensive morphs, but I also bred the odd hot one. I had probably around 30 or 40 BPs and about two dozen adult hot ones. Almost 50% of those hots were rescues. 

You need to think not just further education but things like vacation / holiday. What do you do ? Who takes care of them ? Even if you end up with semi automated setups (remote monitoring, cameras and the lot - which is what I do) - unless you live around the corner there is no way to get there if something happens. 

Actually that was one of the reason I have given up. I had 0 people to take care of them. The one reptile shop I knew in Essex (closed years ago) was happy to board the odd snake, but not two dozen ... He took care of my 30x30 Exo with a yellow eyelash viper, but he'd have said FO if I'd drop my 12ft King or 20lbs Gaboon lol 

So yea - it is a shame that, for me, the most beautiful snakes are venomous ... but nowadays I prefer my 10ft boa that I can actually touch and let loose in the garden for a bit. Make sure you think about why you want to keep hot ones. And make sure you know the consequences. 

When I stopped keeping them I had a hard time to get rid of them. I tried to sell them but the buyers that contacted, even though they had a license, barely knew how to tie their shoes so I refused. I ended up donating a lot of them for milking, one zoo took my King and the Gaboon etc. - but you cannot guarantee that so you may end up with a dangerous noodle that will essentially causes you to lose your freedom because you cannot go anywhere for long  

It's a commitment ...


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## D3470 (Nov 24, 2020)

Shellsfeathers&fur said:


> Just my thoughts!
> 
> There's now a similar post from another young person. What happens when/if you decide to go into further education, get a job away from home, or even go and live in New Zealand - are family members happy to take over?


I won't be moving to NZ or any other sort of situation similar to the one you describe simply because I already have a large reptile collection that prevents it, I will be going to further education but with a combination of current savings and a few small side hustles I have got going on I am going to buy a small place with someone near where I study so I don't have to find a landlord who is happy with reptiles. I won't be travelling and I won't be working far away because like I say, my reptiles simply prevent it.


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## D3470 (Nov 24, 2020)

Jibbajabba said:


> As I said though - I have given up the venomous hobby and my license expired just over 7yrs ago.
> 
> What you need to get used to - and make it second nature, is using a hook. Get some non DWAL but still 'don't want to get bitten by' snakes. Like a false water cobra - and train on her. I believe right now it is still not listed on the DWA list - as far as I am aware, _Hydrodynastes_ are not yet listed as DWA so it makes a good test. In fact, I always used one to 'test' my mentees. Get in the habbit of hooking, open cages with a hook rather hand, use felt tape to close the gaps between glass sheets if you got a small one, make sure vents are escape proof. Use a bin with lockable bin as temporary storage when cleaning enclosure, if you need to transport them, double bag and storage container ... There are a lot of common sense things that you don't need to care about when the odd ball python, but should become second nature with hot ones.
> 
> ...


It's definitely something for me to think about and I have still got a few years for that to settle and to really think about it, I should mention that I won't be keeping many, I will only have 1 or 2 and I would ideally like to make them smaller species like eyelash or some sort of trimereserus, I will either find someplace that is ok to look after them in a situation of absence or just re-asses the situation closer to the time and decide not to go with hots. At the end of the day it isn't a bad idea to at least get experience with and understand the animals to better understand reptiles in general, that way when the time is right I can either decide or not decide to get a hot. I just want to make sure that I am ready and have the full experience, I will probably prepare my next reptile room so that it is 'hot-ready' so the double doors etc but I am still not sure as to where I will be in a couple years and what that will mean for hot keeping.


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## Shellsfeathers&fur (Jan 18, 2009)

Your reply to me and then the one to Jibbajabba contradict!


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## D3470 (Nov 24, 2020)

Shellsfeathers&fur said:


> Your reply to me and then the one to Jibbajabba contradict!


Not really, double check.


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## D3470 (Nov 24, 2020)

Shellsfeathers&fur said:


> Your reply to me and then the one to Jibbajabba contradict!


Because I said that things I would do were precautionary but still assume that your message is the status quo.


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## Pirate7 (Apr 7, 2008)

There's not much around Sussex unfortunetly, I've been looking on and off for years. There used to be a shop in Worthing that had a whole wall full of venomous, it was really cool. Alas they're no longer around. I suppose you could get in contact with the guys at the RSPCA Reptile Rescue, when I worked there for a bit they had some Eyelash vipers so you could always see if they can point you in the right direction. SxARG as someone has mentioned is a good shout also, I went out recently on a licensed smooth snake survey and we found a few adders so got on the topic on keeping venomous.


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## Jibbajabba (Jan 31, 2011)

D3470 said:


> It's definitely something for me to think about and I have still got a few years for that to settle and to really think about it, I should mention that I won't be keeping many, I will only have 1 or 2 and I would ideally like to make them smaller species like eyelash or some sort of trimereserus, I will either find someplace that is ok to look after them in a situation of absence or just re-asses the situation closer to the time and decide not to go with hots. At the end of the day it isn't a bad idea to at least get experience with and understand the animals to better understand reptiles in general, that way when the time is right I can either decide or not decide to get a hot. I just want to make sure that I am ready and have the full experience, I will probably prepare my next reptile room so that it is 'hot-ready' so the double doors etc but I am still not sure as to where I will be in a couple years and what that will mean for hot keeping.


People said before they keep only 1 or 2  The thing with hots is though - the cost involved and prep required, i.e. a dedicated room, double doors and all other things in place, makes it financially overkill to just go for one or two lol 

I mean nothing stops you from housing non-hots in the same room, but the room needs to be clean and clutter free, so you cannot just dedicate your gaming room as snake room for venomous snakes, throw a second door at it and call it even ...


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## D3470 (Nov 24, 2020)

Jibbajabba said:


> People said before they keep only 1 or 2  The thing with hots is though - the cost involved and prep required, i.e. a dedicated room, double doors and all other things in place, makes it financially overkill to just go for one or two lol
> 
> I mean nothing stops you from housing non-hots in the same room, but the room needs to be clean and clutter free, so you cannot just dedicate your gaming room as snake room for venomous snakes, throw a second door at it and call it even ...


Yeah that seems reasonable, given thr fact that I already have a growing burmese python to house as well as a carpet python, I have been thinking about converting s garage, if that could work to fit thr rules of housing hots then great, if not then I will just have a dedicated reptile room.


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