Parents arrested and charged with felony after child bit by python

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Originally Posted by sg1trogdor

That was posted on here already they didnt say anything about them being charged with anything. On the link that was posted originally.

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thats because some prosecutor thought they could make some charges stick!
the police can charge you or not.

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Originally Posted by JamieLynn

Stories like this are the reason my husband and I have been getting nasty phone calls from his family.
We only have Ball Pythons, nothing giant. We have had family members threaten to kill our snakes, and state officials threaten us on other grounds regarding the snakes.:taz:
I spend a good 3-4 hous a day trying to educate friends, family, and said officials.
I have small children, but the are now old enouph to learn about proper care of the snakes. There is NO unsupervised handling the snakes stay in thier cages unless mom or dad is there to help!

I can't stand the way people treat the animals badly, when it was the owner/keeper's resonsibility to keep the animal, and people around it safe.


like they say for pittbulls...punnish the deed, not the breed.

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Wow sorry to hear about your problems. Here is an argument I like. Not sure if you have tried it or not. Pick one of the family that is giving you a hard time who has cats. Ask them how much their cat weighs. An average cat weighs around 10 pounds. Cats are carnivores. They have no respect for your authority and pretty much just want to suck up your body heat (sound familiar). How can a person who keeps a 10 pound carnivore with claws and teeth who needs to eat every day be afraid of a smaller carnivore who eats once a week has smaller teeth and no claws. You are more likely to be scratched or bit (ironically I looked down as I type and have a scratch on the back of my hand now) by your cat than by your BP. I for one have a rule about not being afraid of animals that weight less than 20 pounds unless they are venomous.

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Originally Posted by JamieLynn

Stories like this are the reason my husband and I have been getting nasty phone calls from his family.
We only have Ball Pythons, nothing giant. We have had family members threaten to kill our snakes, and state officials threaten us on other grounds regarding the snakes.:taz:
I spend a good 3-4 hous a day trying to educate friends, family, and said officials.
I have small children, but the are now old enouph to learn about proper care of the snakes. There is NO unsupervised handling the snakes stay in thier cages unless mom or dad is there to help!

I can't stand the way people treat the animals badly, when it was the owner/keeper's resonsibility to keep the animal, and people around it safe.


like they say for pittbulls...punnish the deed, not the breed.

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I know that feeling. My wife's family keeps declaring that if she ever gets pregnant we are going to get rid of the snakes... right?

Actually, they are rather anti-snake in general and whole heartedly believe people only keep snakes for shock value rather than actually caring about the animals.

I guess it's right up there with the idea that everytime you tell someone you have snakes, you have to hear their story of how they brutally killed some innocent black snake or garter snake in their yard with a bucket... Honestly, it sickens me. How can people have that little tact and understanding. I wouldn't walk up to a cat lover and say "Ohh, you like cats? There was this one time that a cat was in my yard, so I beat it with a broom handle until it stopped moving. I'm so lucky that I killed it so it didn't kill me."

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Originally Posted by domingo

I know that feeling. My wife's family keeps declaring that if she ever gets pregnant we are going to get rid of the snakes... right?

Actually, they are rather anti-snake in general and whole heartedly believe people only keep snakes for shock value rather than actually caring about the animals.

I guess it's right up there with the idea that everytime you tell someone you have snakes, you have to hear their story of how they brutally killed some innocent black snake or garter snake in their yard with a bucket... Honestly, it sickens me. How can people have that little tact and understanding. I wouldn't walk up to a cat lover and say "Ohh, you like cats? There was this one time that a cat was in my yard, so I beat it with a broom handle until it stopped moving. I'm so lucky that I killed it so it didn't kill me."

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Wait, I'm confused.

Are we for or against playing dodge cat with cars?

Are squirrels ok?

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Originally Posted by JamieLynn

Stories like this are the reason my husband and I have been getting nasty phone calls from his family.
We only have Ball Pythons, nothing giant. We have had family members threaten to kill our snakes, and state officials threaten us on other grounds regarding the snakes.:taz:
I spend a good 3-4 hous a day trying to educate friends, family, and said officials.
I have small children, but the are now old enouph to learn about proper care of the snakes. There is NO unsupervised handling the snakes stay in thier cages unless mom or dad is there to help!

I can't stand the way people treat the animals badly, when it was the owner/keeper's resonsibility to keep the animal, and people around it safe.


like they say for pittbulls...punnish the deed, not the breed.

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I am in the same boat! My entire family (except for my brother whose wife is okay with snakes) will not come to my house anymore. My mom won't even open my emails anymore because I sent her pictures of my kids holding the snakes. They think I'm endangering my kids and that I should kill my snakes before they kill my kids. But, I can't really be mad at them, because prior to last year, I FELT THE EXACT SAME WAY! It wasn't until the reptile store opened close to my house and my husband took the kids to it every weekend that I learned to appreciate them to the point that I finally said okay to my husband getting a snake. From that time on, I'm addicted to them! We got the kids their own snake only 2 weeks after my husband got his. So, yeah, it is all about education and a close encounter with a pet snake to dispel that irrational fear. But even then, I watched that guy from Dirty Jobs talk (some guy posted it in one of these threads) and he said something about having a dream where he threw a snake aside and he interpreted it as throwing something bad aside. It is ingrained in our society to associate snake with bad. It is sad, but it is the reality. I am not exaggerating but I have been to work, to school, to friends' parties, to church and when I happen to mention my snake, there's always somebody who says I need to kill it. I hate to admit it, but snake-lovers are a teeny minority - probably in the ranks of the endangered species. So yeah, education - that's the key. I try to find any opportunity to educate somebody about our snakes.

These are all the reasons that we as snake keepers should never share our enthusiasm with anyone. Sadly we can't enjoy the same freedom other people have to talk publicly about our interests. You will never change anyones mind. And the harder you try the more problems you will bring yourself. None of my neighbors know I keep snakes. I have even had to lie about it when I was caught bringing in rodents (just babysitting for a few days). I don't have that problem now that I breed my own feeders. Trust me the fewer people who know what you keep in your house the easier your life will be.