Conservation organization calls for nationwide crackdown on keeping snakes as pets

[Bluebonnet Herp]

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/l...snakes-as-pets

I totally went haywire when I read "After a dog was recently killed in Florida by a pet snake that got loose," because of how blatant that b.s. lie is.

[Mephibosheth1]

I know I should be grateful to ya for posting about this stuff....but at the same time I hate you because every time I see you post I know it's got bad news attached to it



What else could go wrong for our hobby??

[BWyant]

Makes you wonder what they had to say about domesticating dogs and cats 5,000 years ago.

[Libby]

Check out "Born Free USA's" page on Charity Navigator! Only one star out of four and an annual operating budget of $1500:

http://www.charitynavigator.org/inde...0#.UkEBdNLii8Q

[Mephibosheth1]

One raindrop raises the sea

[Bluebonnet Herp]

My question is: Why Boa constrictors? They aren't giants. With the approximate girth of blood pythons and lengths like carpet pythons, they are impressive but not horribly big. Only one death has been associated with this species as a pet, and the guy was just asking for it. (Anybody who bounces a boa on a trampoline then wraps it around their neck just deserves a Darwin award as much as the guy going down a stairway in a wheelchair.)
The current targets are Green Anacondas, Reticulated Pythons, the anacondas nobody keeps anyway, and a particular focus on Boa constrictors, with Carpet Pythons, Scrub Pythons, and Blood pythons probably next in line, what with their large sizes and "aggressive" reputations.
Burmese Pythons are apparently downright evil, and African Rock Pythons are the new villain on the scene.
Any snake known as large, by the way, is simply an opinion, because to some people, anything that isn't a Ringneck or Blind Snake is a large snake. Gopher, king, and corn snakes? Yeah, they're apparently big too. Just wait for America to be some big damn blanket banning country, where you can't have anything but some freak prissy dog.

Makes you wonder what they had to say about domesticating dogs and cats 5,000 years ago.

Conservation wasn't a concept until about 150 years ago.

[Libby]

So is there anyone around here with Skype and some media training who can put on khakis and a button down and help out those poor reporters on their next slow news day? I bet we could come up with an awesome acronym. Snake Hobbyists United To Undo Prejudice?

[sorraia]

Any snake known as large, by the way, is simply an opinion, because to some people, anything that isn't a Ringneck or Blind Snake is a large snake. Gopher, king, and corn snakes? Yeah, they're apparently big too. Just wait for America to be some big damn blanket banning country, where you can't have anything but some freak prissy dog.

Pretty much this. I had a few of my ball pythons at an event one time. People loved seeing them, and had lots of questions, but one of the top few questions asked:
"How big do they get?"

Of course people are assuming they will turn into 10+ foot giants, because they are "pythons" after all!

I tell them "They only get about 4 feet in length, maybe as much as 5 or 6 feet for an exceptional individual."

Even that makes people gasp, and some bold personalities saying, "That's still pretty large!" There was no big fear reaction (granted this was also a targeted event with lots of people who love and respect nature, as opposed to the general public), but still... 4 or 5 feet in length is considered "Large". That's despite the fact the biggest animal that would have worry about a ball python would be a rat! (Which is what I told my grandmother one day when she said she was worried about my pythons because "don't they hurt people")

It's not very much different from the battle many dog owners have to fight, when their breed of choice gets a bad reputation. Current canine villain in the media is the "pit bull", which according to the general public's ignorance on dog breeds also includes bulldogs, mastiffs, boxers, and a number of other medium to large breeds with blocky heads and short coats. In the past it included German shepherds, rottweilers, dobermans, and chows. Some circles still villainize those breeds. I don't know if there is any solution. All we can do is try to educate and fight any legislative propositions. The good news is, legislation can be undone (although it is harder to undo than it is to prevent it in the first place). Some states and municipalities that have passed dog breed specific legislation are now recalling that legislation. If it can be done for dogs, it can be done for reptiles, but just for our sake and the sake of our animals, let's just try to make sure it doesn't happen in the first place.