Why are so many breeding giants?

Yeah, but have you seen the BLACK retics' Mike Wilbanks has?????? They're incredible!

Jeanne - I got my info from a pit bull resource website. I don't have the link saved anymore.. I had never heard of them being used as cattle dogs.

Anyway.. at least at a later point in their breeding, they were bred as pit dogs.

EDIT - Jeanne, I am re-reading this stuff, and YES I do remember now reading about them being used by butchers to help control bulls. Faulty memory, what can I say. heh

Honestly guys.. is this not gorgeous? http://www1.kwic.com/~retic1/Snake_Images/25_QT.jpg

oooooooooooooo...................Lavender phase albino..................I want one

Woooooah.

Purple Haze much?

That snake would make Jimi jealous!

Whoa is right...looks like someone went crazy with the Photoshop color balance....=)

Hey all,
You knew I would stumble upon this eventually.
One quick thing
Pit Bulls were Pitted against Bulls for sport hense the name.
Good dogs, In all my vet teching and rescue rescourcing I still stand by a pit over a poodle any day.
Just my 2 cents on pits and poodles.
I'm sure I'll write something soon about big snake ownership, you know I always have alot to say about that issue....
It soon shall come
Rusty

Well let it never be said I don't like a good debate LOL.

Do I want giants banned? Nope. Not because I want to own one, I might one day, I might not, I'd like that choice to be allowed. Do I think they should be bred and sold willy nilly by anyone to anyone. Nope.

Example: Our local pet shop got in 3 baby burms awhile back. Two have sold. I know that most of the employees in that pet shop have zip personal experience with an adult burmese python. I know they do not provide caresheets or post forum addresses to encourage customers to educate themselves. Do I think that just anybody came in with the cash in hand ($250.00 btw) and nabbed a baby burm...you bet your butt I do. That worries me folks.

It worries me because when that snake is "too big" what happens to it. Go check Mid-Michigan Reptile Rescue and see just how fast they rehome the giants....very sad. Your burm or retic got "too big"! Just what in holy hades did you expect it to get? It worries me because I don't want your burmese loose in my backyard because you haven't a clue how to securely house a large snake. I don't want your retic dead because you bought it from somebody who didn't care if you knew squat about it's care or you didn't realize that geeze a giant snake costs just a bit to feed! I don't want to lose the right to own a giant or any constrictor for that matter, because the doofus down the road had $250.00, messed it all up and the local law makers have now freaked out totally.

I don't want bans on larger snakes. I do think licensing or some sort of regulation might be in order (whether that be for the new owner, for the seller or both) but unfortunately once the government, at any level, gets involved, it just tends to get stupid. Wish I knew the answer that would make sense for people and for the giant snakes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jglass38

Listen, I would have the same question for people who breed Pit Bulls.

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this is the perfect sentiment and captures the essence of this thread. If there weren't people who wanted them they wouldn't be breed. but, very unfortunatly, the people who buy them sometimes do so for the wrong reasons and with poor education on the species. I would love to one day own my own giant but I know that I could not support one right now. I have neither the space nor the means to do so. the people who release these beautiful creatures want them only for shock value and to be able to say the have/had one. it takes a special kind of person to love any kind of reptile and especially a snake.

:soapbx: Ok, here I go as well... For starters, I agree with Jo. There should be a burden of resposibility on someone for buying a giant without researching their needs. There should be a burden of responsibilty on someone who buys a giant and who eventually releases them into the neighborhood or where ever. And finally there should be a burden of responsibility on the seller who doesn't warn and try to educate a potential buyer of the risks and duties involved in keeping a giant. But as Jo has stated already, when the gov't gets involved is when it's all going to go down the toilet. We would, most likely, be lucky after then to be able to own a grass snake... Much less something originally from "wild" Africa! The Government doesn't care that not all snakes are aggressive or that not all snakes are extremely large. They seem to feel the same way as what appears to me to be the general public who say things like "a snake is a snake" or "the only good snake is a dead one". Without ever giving snakes of any species a chance...


Jamie- I honestly look forward to your posts, but I must say that this one surprises me. I don't know if you've just not had very much experience with pit bulls or perhaps you've had a bad experience. But either way I hope you will attempt to get to know them better. The pit bull is a very loving and devoted breed. Perfectly content to lie down with their owner after a hard day at work, play all hours of the day and night, or get ear-tugged, tail-tugged, and ridden by toddlers! I know this to be a fact because I and my family have raised pits for 10 or 15 years. My 6 year-old daughter loved my last pit, and the only reason I don't have him anymore is because I'm renting a house and they wouldn't let me keep a dog his size in the house and I couldn't just lock him up outside. So, I let my brother have him. And now he also has 2 more that he just got as pups, plus his wife is expecting a son in about a month! And he keeps telling me that all these people are saying, "You've got to get rid of that pit bull before the baby's born or it will hurt him." But that is just not the case! In 10+ years of breeding and raising pit bulls I have never had any dog make the slightest aggressive move toward me or any of my family, friends, neighbors, mail people, meter readers, house guests, you name it!! Most of the people who've purchased them from us have kept in touch with us (per our request) about the raising and temperment of their pits and not one person has ever had a problem with aggression to date. VERY long story short... My wife has a Pom-a-Poo (Pomeranian/Poodle) now, and she's much more aggressive than any of our pits ever were. Although I don't like to generalize any breed, because I've seen some poodles who were just little curly-haired dolls, too.

It's like we are with herps, when someone generalizes them with "oh they're gross", or slimy, or whatever false attributes people tack on (and I'm from Alabama so believe me, I've heard them all LOL), it just gets me irritated at their closed-minded-ness. I think that last one was a word!

Thanks for letting me rant folks!
:2cent: