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I've played around with shot loads in my .38/.357 revolvers for a number of years now; no snakes in my area, but you never know when you might move!
Some of the things that I've found while experimenting:
1.) The closer you are, the tighter the pattern (might be obvious to some people)....anything past 5-6 feet gave weak patterns (in .38 special loadings).

2.) The smaller the shot, the better the pattern...in both density and even spread. I prefer #9 shot in the .38 loads.

3.) Barrel length doesn't make any noticeable difference...I've shot them out of two 2" barreled models (Colt Detective special and Charter Arms undercover), a 6" barreled Colt Trooper Mk III, and a Ruger Vaquero with a 4 5/8" barrel. All the patterns looked as if they were shot by the same gun at the same distances.

4.) If you decide to get the capsules and reload them, DON'T use military surplus cases; stick with commercial cases. The walls of the military .38 cases were too thick, which made seating difficult and when crimped, would crack the plastic casings, spilling shot all over the place (what a mess).

5.) I've experimented with the factory loads in .44 cal as well, and if you can use them over the .38, go for it....it's like shooting a 10 gauge vs a 20 gauge when comparing patterns......but the .38's don't perform too badly, so I wouldn't feel 'under gunned".

Here are a few photos I took:


Here is what the pattern looked like at 5 feet from a 2" Colt Detective special; the bigger holes are from the plastic "shrapnel" and the base plug.....both of which add to the lethality:


I often wondered about the penetrative properties of these things on non tissue, i.e. what If I had to use them in a boat, around a stock tank, etc. I took some scrap aluminum and tried to replicate the thickness of my aluminum johnboat. This was the result of that test (i.e. at 5 feet, there was some denting, but it didn't penetrate completely).