Trying to scare people away from reptiles ...

[Marla]

Probably as a not-so-subtle way of pushing a position in the battle being fought in the UK over whether individuals will be able to keep herps at all, The Sun newspaper has published this article trying to scare people about snakes, spiders, geckos, and similar pets. This article makes me angry.

[JLC]

Stupid...stupid...stupd.....

that's all I got to say about that...

[Smynx]

OK - call me twisted - but I find that story hilarious. It sounds soooo exaggerated. It reminds me of something you would read in "The Globe" or "The Star" here in the states.

But I understand your anger Marla, and there is a "contact us" link on the site. I think we should all flood them with email.

[freakoverdose1]

I have flooded them already...

[steelsack]

OK - call me twisted - but I find that story hilarious.

Definitely! LMAO!!!!

[Marla]

Well, just to give extra context, I got that article from an email from my father today with a subject line of "Choose your pets carefully." Grrrrr

[Smynx]

Ohhhh. Well then, Marla, your anger is definitely understood. My father is still in the dark about our legless pets - I'm sure he would not approve. You know, I'm 35 years old with 3 kids of my own, but I will still get upset if my father sent me a message like that. He's a good guy, and I know he would only mean well, as I'm sure yours does, Marla, but still . . . .

[Marla]

I'm 33 and have two kids of my own in middle school who have never come to any serious harm in my care (Jess did once break a finger, in the interest of disclosure). Does he really think that I'd be stupid enough to put them in danger when they're just a few years from being self-supporting? He has two nuisance boxers and a cat who wanted to be a sniper this time around. They're a lot more dangerous than ball pythons and crested geckos for cryin out loud!
/ranting

[Smynx]

I know that if it was my father, he would have warned me out of a lack of understanding of the pets, not out of a lack of faith in my ability as a parent. We know you're right about which pets are more dangerous, but I know that people who don't keep herps or take the initiative to learn about them can't understand that.

[Marla]

I just had to vent a little here, and I figured y'all would understand how misleading that was more than the average person I see. As far as I know, it is based on a lack of faith in me, though, as he and his wife see me as a screwup because I never finished getting my degree and was divorced with two kids at 23. And now I'm endangering them with vicious reptiles. Ugh.