Extremely Disturbing.

While looking for a book on ball pythons on ebay I stumbled across this.

http://cgi.ebay.com/real-sweet-BALL-...efaultDomain_0

What sick and twisted person would do that? That BP couldnt have been that old when it was done, it only looks like a sub adult.

ugh. this is disgusting. I hate it when people do this to any animal, especially ones that are so harmless.

"this is a huge adult female ball python measuring around 4 ft long , as is positioned is roughly 25 " x 16 "

where does it say it was killed for it's skin? how do we know it didn't die of natural causes?

Either way it's not terribly respectful of the snake, and anybody who would want something like this is just.... *shudders*

providing the snake died of natural causes, i have no issues with it. as far as i'm concerned, if somebody wants to embrace a snakes' beauty by having it mounted and preserved, so be it, as long as it was done AFTER the snake lived a full life, and wasn't killed for the sole purpose of mounting.

but, who knows if that's what really happened...

i don't think it's that strange; i've heard of long-time snake keepers having wallets or purses made of some of the first snakes they've ever owned.

Well yeah, I don't mean anything against people who keep their pets like that after they go, it's just not for me...

which is fair enough. i know that my mom would absolutely have a heart attack if i ever had a taxidermy anything, regardless of weather or not it was in her place, or mine

Ball pythons are farmed for a many different reasons, the pet trade is only one side of it. They are used for their skins, meat, local medication reasons, even worship.

These commercial uses are on of the main reasons they are still so plentiful..If you want to find a way to preserve a species find a way for it to make money..then regulate the commerce..

What you see as crewel I see as another economic thumb print for the reptile trade..The more money changes in our hands the more pull we have with law makers..

If you compare it to the pop can they layed next to it, theres no was that was a 4 ft snake.

according to the snake measurer it's 52." has anybody contacted this seller to ask any questions?

i find it weird, but not disturbing. it doesn't bother me either. taxidermy has always been strange to me. it's just not for me. i had no idea people would want to keep a normal looking ball - it would be cool if it was a morph :P

interesting post :gj:

I see no problem with it. Many people use the snakeskins, and if they snake died, why not use it? Maybe a stuffed and therefor harmless and nonthreatening version of a snake will make someone appreciate the live ones for their beauty?

I've seen people skeletonize a dead snake to mount the bones for display and I find that gorgeous. I was going to send my adult red tegu's body to do that, but the guy in question lost his beetle colony.

I don't want an taxidermy critters in my house, but they don't bug me, and don't offend me. Heck, I once groomed a taxidermied poodle. And now THAT was weird. Talk about pressure! I couldn't say "Well, the hair will grow back over that mistake..."

Doesn't disturb me, I think it's kind of cool.

There's a ball python you can keep out in the open on display, since the living ones are crammed into their hides. ;)

I also like the skeleton mounts, they look extremely nifty.

Critters die for various reasons, I see no reason not to do something like this with the remains.

O.o If you think that's "cruel", you're going to hate me. I have a tanned goat skin on my dresser, three "raw" skins in the freezer, and..Shoot...five goat skulls in a building, plus the one in the freezer.

Taxidermy is a hobby no different than snake keeping. Yes, you don't know if the taxidermied animal was killed for its skin, or it died of natural causes. Just like you don't know if a snake was power fed as a baby or if its been exposed to boas. You have to go on the word of the seller.

what is wrong wit thous people!! i dont care if the snake deied of "natural couses" people shouldnt ware theyer SNIK as a "fashin"... humens dont do it to other humens (unless they are mentily insane) so what makes it it ok to do it to animals?? EXPLAINE THAT TO ME!!!

There's this exhibition in town right now called "Bodies".
It's preserved, skinned and partially dissected humans and human body parts on display.

Pretty cool.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wingedwolfpsion

there's this exhibition in town right now called "bodies".
It's preserved, skinned and partially dissected humans and human body parts on display.

Pretty cool.

---

and like that isnt messed up at all!!!!

Why?
They're dead, it's not like they care anymore.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by boa_mchugh

what is wrong wit thous people!! i dont care if the snake deied of "natural couses" people shouldnt ware theyer SNIK as a "fashin"... humens dont do it to other humens (unless they are mentily insane) so what makes it it ok to do it to animals?? EXPLAINE THAT TO ME!!!

---

Use spell check please.

There's nothing wrong with taxidermy. Taxidermy gives a use for something that would otherwise go to waste.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

There's this exhibition in town right now called "Bodies".
It's preserved, skinned and partially dissected humans and human body parts on display.

Pretty cool.

---

I saw that in California a few years back. Did you see it? If so, did they have the giraffe still?

We haven't seen it yet, but plan to, as soon as we can grab tickets. Hope to catch it before it leaves.

Ah. There's some mildly ick things, but still fairly interesting. The method they use to preserve the bodys is fascinating.

It doesn't bother me that much, if it died naturally. If it's "disrespectful" to the snake, is a museum disrespectful to all its mounts? Many of them were obtained from people who had hunted the animal.

I always thought taxidermy pets were kind of creepy...but definitely not wrong. I wouldn't do it, but if someone else does, good for them. I once saw a documentary on the subject and saw a woman who decapitated her own dogs after they died and mounted their heads. Very creepy.

I think people are far too removed from the cycle of nature, Death happens. I find great taxidermy to be very beautiful, and it so richly preserves the animal. I find the snakes preservation beautiful, and I will probably have one just like that in my home someday.

I also find animal bones and shells very interesting, we have a fox skull here, turtle shell and feet, and I hope someday to get a full skeleton set of some small predator like a cat to display. I would also love a snake one, but they look so delicate.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by boa_mchugh

what is wrong wit thous people!! i dont care if the snake deied of "natural couses" people shouldnt ware theyer SNIK as a "fashin"... humens dont do it to other humens (unless they are mentily insane) so what makes it it ok to do it to animals?? EXPLAINE THAT TO ME!!!

---

if there were something more powerful than humans with the mental capacity to do it...you'd bet they'd taxidermy us! (i'm aware that's not a verb but...didn't know how else to put it)

I mean it doesnt rly look all that great to me but it is an interesting way to keethe snake out without it getting away and may be used to educate others. As far as the people in the exhibit bodies, im sure they signed off or a family didvor something, they werent selected at random. Skeleton mounts on the other hand are awesome.

I really don't find it disturbing at all.

I have a lemon shark skin mount on my wall. Unfortunately it is a poor taxidermy job and we call him Lumpy :rolleyes:.

The Bodies exhibit is AWESOME. Seen it when it was here at the Detroit Institute of Arts few years back. Very interesting stuff if you ask me. And i have many Wild game mounts hanging.

I wouldn't mind being stuffed and mounted myself after I kick off. It would be kind of cool to leave something educational like that behind. The only thing I wouldn't like about it is that I wouldn't get a chance to see it myself... :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MarkS

I wouldn't mind being stuffed and mounted myself after I kick off. It would be kind of cool to leave something educational like that behind. The only thing I wouldn't like about it is that I wouldn't get a chance to see it myself... :D

---

If you believe in afterlife then you can travel with the show:gj:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

The Bodies exhibit is AWESOME. Seen it when it was here at the Detroit Institute of Arts few years back. Very interesting stuff if you ask me. And i have many Wild game mounts hanging.

---

I wanted to see that - until I started reading more about where the bodies came from. Very disturbing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rabernet

I wanted to see that - until I started reading more about where the bodies came from. Very disturbing.

---

Yes i read about some were not donated or were convicts that were executed, Still a great show as long as bodies are treated with respect i have no problems.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

Yes i read about some were not donated or were convicts that were executed, Still a great show as long as bodies are treated with respect i have no problems.

---

And there's some evidence that seems to support that some of those Chinese prisoners were executed specifically to become part of the exhibition. 20/20 did an expose on in the past few years.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rabernet

And there's some evidence that seems to support that some of those Chinese prisoners were executed specifically to become part of the exhibition. 20/20 did an expose on in the past few years.

---

That is crazy! I had to do some research, and I must say it is extremely disturbing, at least to me.

Not sure why I would ever want to see something like that anyways, educational or not. It makes my stomach turn. I understand that is just me though...

Have to agree with Danny Schiff on a quote:

"what does providing bodies arranged in showcases for a hungry public say about a society."

Simple diagrams and pictures in books are enough for me to learn about how things in the body work, and besides becoming a doctor I'm not sure why you'd want to see a human stripped down and displayed like that.

Seems like it would have more shock value than educational value.

Maybe I'm the crazy one :confused:

.:edit:.

And with todays technology, if they weren't going for the shock value, couldn't they just make high quality replicas? I've seen some amazing re-creations before, so I'm guessing they could! Why spend $300 on un-verified bodies in China, people who more then likely did not consent to be strung up in a display for everyone to gawk at.

That is just my opinion anyway.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HERETiC

That is crazy! I had to do some research, and I must say it is extremely disturbing, at least to me.

Not sure why I would ever want to see something like that anyways, educational or not. It makes my stomach turn. I understand that is just me though...

Have to agree with Danny Schiff on a quote:

"what does providing bodies arranged in showcases for a hungry public say about a society."

Simple diagrams and pictures in books are enough for me to learn about how things in the body work, and besides becoming a doctor I'm not sure why you'd want to see a human stripped down and displayed like that.

Seems like it would have more shock value than educational value.

Maybe I'm the crazy one :confused:

.:edit:.

And with todays technology, if they weren't going for the shock value, couldn't they just make high quality replicas? I've seen some amazing re-creations before, so I'm guessing they could! Why spend $300 on un-verified bodies in China, people who more then likely did not consent to be strung up in a display for everyone to gawk at.

That is just my opinion anyway.

---

Books don't really show how muscles interact with each other.

The ad is dead in the link, but from what people have said I'm assuming the hubbub was about a taxidermy piece/skin?

As a taxidermist I'm pretty biased on this, but I find that it's an art form that provides me with an opportunity to learn about animals on a very detail oriented level. I don't really judge people on where they get their material, I work mostly with birds, but it's not like there's a bloodthirsty bunch of people out to get every animal that ever lived. It's different, and there are people out there willing to do more than what could be considered humane to get a unique specimen, but there are also people out there keeping Burms and Retics till they get too big and then "liberating" them to replace them with another cute small snake. Every hobby has it's village idiots, and it's rather silly to call it disturbing on the grounds of it being different without perhaps considering more angles? Take a look in most museums to find something involving taxidermy and in some cases see animals that you can't find anymore

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Valentine Pirate

The ad is dead in the link, but from what people have said I'm assuming the hubbub was about a taxidermy piece/skin?

As a taxidermist I'm pretty biased on this, but I find that it's an art form that provides me with an opportunity to learn about animals on a very detail oriented level. I don't really judge people on where they get their material, I work mostly with birds, but it's not like there's a bloodthirsty bunch of people out to get every animal that ever lived. It's different, and there are people out there willing to do more than what could be considered humane to get a unique specimen, but there are also people out there keeping Burms and Retics till they get too big and then "liberating" them to replace them with another cute small snake. Every hobby has it's village idiots, and it's rather silly to call it disturbing on the grounds of it being different without perhaps considering more angles? Take a look in most museums to find something involving taxidermy and in some cases see animals that you can't find anymore

---

It was a bp skin that had been put over a custom snake mold. From what I could see, it was nicely done. I'm with you on the art form. It's not easy to get the hides just right.

On that note, I have several goat skins that I need to tan. Could you drop me a message on what tanning solutions you'd recommend?