Lifelong venomous snake keeper reacts to how Florence man handled inland taipan before bite
FLORENCE, S.C. (WBTW) — Florence man Jeffrey Leibowitz was bit by the most venomous snake in the world — the inland taipan, in his home on Sept. 6, according to city police, and a lifelong snake keeper was “flabbergasted” at the way Leibowitz handled the snakes.
After seeing various posts of Leibowitz’s videos on Facebook, Al Coritz said Leibowitz was not handling or caring for them properly in his Marion Street home.
On Friday, Leibowitz posted a video on Facebook, confirming he was bit by the inland taipan.
Coritz said the plastic containers shown in Leibowitz’s posts are not suitable for snakes over a long period of time as they can easily slither through the cracks.
He also said that handling them freely without a snake hook or tongs made it only a matter of time before the snake would strike back.
“There’s no predicting these animals,” Coritz said. “I think I was totally flabbergasted when I was watching him handle the little taipan and I saw its little tail wagging, which means that ‘I’m very upset. Don’t bother me. I don’t want you to touch me.’”
Having owned a variety of 67 venomous snake species since 1973 and an important permit to purchase some of his snakes, Coritz said he has loved the unique reptiles since he was young and grew a passion for educating people about the venomous creatures he owns.
Some of the snakes he owned have consisted of a blue insular pit viper, water cobras and even a taipan himself.
“This has been a lifelong passion. I first started keeping nonvenomous snakes when I was a teenager and acquired my first venomous snakes in probably 1973,” Coritz said. “I had my own passion towards these very specialized animals that have modified over the centuries.”
“Certain components available inside their bodies, turning them into toxins and developing a delivery system for these toxins, primarily for predation,” he continued. “So I’ve always been very interested in that, you know, a biologist pretty much by training. So naturally this all all fell into place.”
Having invested so much time and passion into learning about his pet snakes, Coritz said having antivenom on-hand should be a necessity for all venomous snake owners.
Though Coritz said it can be very expensive, some upwards of $4,000 a vile — it’s worth it. Leibowitz is having his antivenom flown in from another state.
“This one happens to be a polyvalent, which means it will neutralize the venom of many of the Australian snakes all in one bottle,” he said. “It’s like, you live 10 hours from the nearest firehouse and your house catches fire. What’s going to be left in your house in 10 hours when the fire department finally arrives? Not much. So, this is having your own local fire department in your house.”
As many in the reptile community purchase their nonvenomous and venomous snakes from reptile shows, owner of the Ultimate Reptile show, Maria Marinopoulos, said that their show travels across the U.S and was at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center last month.
She said each state has different laws and regulations, but that Leibowitz did not get his from their show.
“It wasn’t sold at our show. It was delivered to the show,” she said. “It had nothing to do with the show. It was a deal that was made over Facebook and another vendor that was a friend of the person that sold the snake. They delivered it for Jeff.”
She said although the Ultimate Reptile Show holds no liability toward Leibowitz’s situation, their staff will continue to go through protocols with snake vendors and implement new safety measures in the near future.
Coritz said that the venomous snake community should come together and practice safe handling, wishing Leibowitz a safe recovery.
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Gabby Jonas joined the News13 team as a multimedia journalist in April 2024. She is from Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from Kent State University in May 2023. Follow Gabby on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, and read more of her work here.
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