'Snake Man' raises hundreds of snakes on his property

CINCINNATI, Ohio (WKRC) — Have you ever had that one neighbor who has sort of an unusual hobby? Well, in Williamsburg, Ohio, John Chausmer is that neighbor.

Indiana Jones would not like what’s in this building.

"There is a neighbor that lives up the street who when he first moved into the neighborhood, you know, he asked the other neighbor, 'hey, is anything, are there any crazy neighbors I need to know about? Well, there is the snake guy."

"Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?" says the famous quote from Indiana Jones.

For John, it had to be snakes because he’s been enthralled with them since he was a kid.

"My father was always into animals, snakes. We’d go to the creek and capture stuff. Black rat snakes, queen snakes, ringneck snakes, whatever we get our hands on. Just keep it for a day or two and then release it back into the wild. I wish he was still here today to see what I've created."

And, as an exotic snake breeder who fields 50 to 100 calls a month about his reptiles, what he’s created is something akin to a series of serpent skyrises, in a couple of different buildings on his property. Approximately 700 snakes, give or take. And each python or boa sort of has its own apartment. Until it’s time for some companionship that is, something John tracks very carefully.

I ultrasound all the animals to see where their follicle development is at. So, I know when they're going to ovulate."

And depending on who visits with whom, so to speak, in the resulting offspring John always sees something spectacular.

"The patterns, the color, the way they act, everything fascinates me."

Indiana Jones isn't the only one with a fear of snakes but John has suggestions for getting over that fear.

"The whole lack of knowledge is where the fear comes in. I encourage everybody to come to the reptile show. And there you get more information about it."

The Cin City Reptile Show happens once a month at a Holiday Inn in West Chester. It’s an opportunity to see thousands of animals and ask experts all kinds of questions.

When asked how many times he's been bitten, John replied, "More than once".

"It's like asking a welder if he’s ever had a spark hit him before. It's going to happen."

Of course, it’s a lot less likely to happen if you have one pet snake versus a business that cares for 700 snakes. That’s a different level of care; the cleaning, the feeding, a lot of feeding.

"Everything is fed mice or rats. I raise my own rats. So, I mean, that's a whole other job I have."

And while that might sound a little strange, for the snake guy, we are the oddballs.

"Most people, you know, think I'm a crazy guy with snakes. But, you know, I know I think people who have cats and dogs are crazy. I'm like, why would you want that run around your house all day?”