Interesting Videos On The Snake Skin Trade *Graphic*

https://youtu.be/lzNm2lF1UUE
Interesting Video on The skin trade for Reticulated Pythons, goes all the way from catching them in the bush to the tanning, to the companies in Europe that make the goods.

Very cool video. It would be my hope, that they could convert to farming for any snake skin production in the future. I would think providing food would be the biggest expense, as they wouldn't have to provide heating living in the snake's natural environment. Providing food for the feeders though might be more money than they can afford... At the poverty level many of the people there are at, I don't think they could afford grains to feed rats... Rabbits might be easier as they can feed them grass / hay.

I know there have been rumors that some of the retics produced here in the US by the large-scale breeders end up as skins (or at least sold to those would would grow them out for skins).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by artgecko

Very cool video. It would be my hope, that they could convert to farming for any snake skin production in the future. I would think providing food would be the biggest expense, as they wouldn't have to provide heating living in the snake's natural environment.

---

Well, to be fair, foraging in the wild for the snake's natural prey might be a better option than foraging in the wild for huge 20-foot snakes.

Also, I need to slap myself whenever I get the itching to read the comments on a YouTube video. I'm very sad that people still have the idea that snakes are literally incarnates of Satan himself.

That was very interesting, thank you for sharing!

That video was a downer, but still educational. I really hope that farming catches on so at least they are not harvesting wild-caught retics anymore. I was also kind of disgusted by how little the western importers even cared about whether the skins were legal or not. I have a lot of sympathy for the impoverished people in Malaysia who rely on catching snakes so they can feed their families, but no sympathy for someone in Paris selling 7000 euro handbags. :mad:

I'll have to watch the video when I get home from work. I wonder if they are doing this with the burms and retics in Florida that are destroyed. If they aren't, they should.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by andrewross8705

I'll have to watch the video when I get home from work. I wonder if they are doing this with the burms and retics in Florida that are destroyed. If they aren't, they should.

---

There is a python elimination program going on down there, wouldn't surprise me if some of them were processed into skins.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by savora

Also, I need to slap myself whenever I get the itching to read the comments on a YouTube video. I'm very sad that people still have the idea that snakes are literally incarnates of Satan himself.

---

It's depressing how little people care when the animals aren't fluffy and cuddly, imagine the outrage if they were skinning dogs.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MD_Pythons

It's depressing how little people care when the animals aren't fluffy and cuddly, imagine the outrage if they were skinning dogs.

---

like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvhsQam0zjs (CAUTION, may be disturbing)
"Thailand's Dog Meat and Skin Business"

When countries process animals for any use, we can hope, push and outcry for humane treatment and industry oversight. Sadly in many countries (including the US) the value on an animal life is so low that nothing is done to ensure the humane dispatch or care. It is depressing.

I've seen some on-off discussion in the forums for giant snakes about the viability of raising them for meat and leather here in the US. The last time I priced python meat online it was about $40 per 8 oz filet, and if the leather produced could fulfill the demand so that leather from wild snakes wasn't needed any more, I don't see that as a bad thing.