Customer Reviews

Venomous Snakes of the World

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book to add to my reptile library and to use a reference. Before my trip to the jungles of Costa Rica, I thought I'd read up on some of the more onery snakes that I might encounter, such as the bushmaster and fer-de-lance. Not only were there no pictures or information on the bushmaster, it wasn't even listed in the index! As for the fer-de-lance, there was a single picture but no information. I have since read the entire book, and have found it to be extremely lacking in useful species-specific information. The chapter titled "A Few Interesting Species" is very short (about 30 pages), not to mention it excludes some fairly important species! For the beginning enthusiast who just wants a general overview, this would be a good place to start, but don't let your education stop here! The book's only redeeming qualities for me were some nice glossy photos and the anecdotes written by herpetologists with snake bite or near miss experiences.

This book provides a basic general overview that is good, but is geared towards the inexperienced snake enthusiast and does not get into depth on any subject. Ironically, the subject that is covered in most depth is mouse breeding. That space could have given room to more thorough species descriptions covering most genera. Also, too many photos that have been seen elsewhere in TFH Books.

This was a good introductory book but did not go into enough detail for my taste.I did like the anecdotes and the pictures were great.

A well-assembled, passionate, generalist overview of venomous snakes. But the pictures! Over 200 pages of glossy photographs that convey a ton of information and a lot of drama.