In all seriousness, wouldn't you have to pass a background check to own one?

Indigenous snakes, venomous or not, should not be considered a problem... the continental US has the water-moccasin (cottonmouth), coral snakes, timber rattlers, diamondback rattlesnakes, great basin rattlesnakes, and many others, and they pose no significant threat to the general population or the ecosystem.  

"Exotic"... meaning NOT INDIGEONOUS, are a threat to the both the general population AND the continental ecosystem.  Cobra, Mambo, and many other 'exotics' are very serious.  Even moreso are the myriads of constrictors (pythons, etc) that have been set free to thrive in many areas of the southeast.

In the course of my occupation's circumstances, I deal with snakes of all sorts, in very state of the CONUS... and in the lower provences of Canada.  None of the indigenous varieties pose a danger, as long as they're not startled.  Water Moccasins tend to be more curious, aggressive, and territorial, and timber rattlers tend to be less reserved in 'wet-strike' attempts (in comparison to desert dwellers), probably due to reduced stress of a less arid environment... but it is most often I resolve a snake issue with thick jeans, boots, a forked stick and my welding gloves.

If I were to come across a mamba, or a spitting cobra, I would be using a much longer stick (my collapsable painter's pole is 15 feet) and my grinding shield.  A swift swing that crosses just below the head, will break a 'standing' snake's neck with ease.

I have yet to do it in the US, but other parts of the world warrant vigilence.

IMO, if the kid failed to keep his dangerous examples contained, those examples should be removed from his custody, and a probation sentence applied.