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Thread: OMG disaster.

  1. #51
    BPnet Senior Member Skyrivers's Avatar
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    Re: OMG disaster.

    The truth is I was a little lax in my own home and my friend has lots of experience. When I do shows I am much more cautious about what the animals are doing. I almost never have 2 out at the same time at home and will never from here on. As for my experience, well I have been studying my entire life. I have successfully kept them for the past 2 years as a result of the research I have done and with little issue till now. I am not perfect and any keeper can make mistakes if they don't stay on their toes. I have seen videos of people who keep HOTS get laxed and pay a much heavier price than I did learning from this one issue. Everyone in the hobby knows that at any time they are wild creatures with wild emotions and instincts that they act on in a moment notice. We all accept that as we keep them as pets.

    I do think you are coming from a good place in the things you have said her and thank you.


    Quote Originally Posted by zina10 View Post
    Thank you for the courage to share your mistake and the consequences. It IS a learning experience.

    I did not realize you are relatively new to the hobby, unless that one poster is mistaken about you.

    And you are right, a lot of learning is NOT about book learning and reading. Its hands on practice. That said, if I was you, I would not take these animals to any educational or otherwise "show and tell". And I'm saying this with all the respect.

    Those giants are no walk in the park, many times the power of them is not fully realized until something bad happens. It takes years of practice to truly learn to read the body language. It takes a very long time to truly get to know your own animal. And even then, you can NEVER predict what they will do 100%. The risk is simply not worth it. Your animals are all still fairly young. They are going through hormonal changes. If one of them were to cause a bite or worse, bite and wrap, you may find yourself sued for all you have and future wages. For pain, suffering and mental anguish. And don't think it cannot happen.

    All in all, you were lucky that your animals "only" engaged each other, as bad as that was. You were lucky there is no permanent damage. You already know it is breeding season, I'm fairly certain a inner voice already told you this wasn't a good idea, no matter what. Even if 4 feet apart. They cross this distance in less then a second.
    You already know you shouldn't be handling a snake that is on feeding strike. No matter why the fast is going on. That goes for any species.

    I'm not trying to stomp on you. I'm sure you feel bad enough.

    If you want to live and learn with your giants, keep them close, don't share them with strangers or at any kind of show and tells.

    If you want to do this (and I have quite a bit) you take snakes you have had for a long while. Very established animals. Animals that can not do true harm. Even then, you have to be aware.

    Education can quickly turn to the opposite when stuff goes wrong. Let your giants grow. Grow with them. Learn about them by handling and keeping them for a few years. Learn from your mistakes.
    Its one thing to have a Ball Python or even a Carpet Python go spazzy. When its a giant, things can get very ugly, very fast.

    just my 2 cents

  2. #52
    BPnet Senior Member Skyrivers's Avatar
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    Re: OMG disaster.

    Quote Originally Posted by Bogertophis View Post
    So I take it that retics are willing to consume other snakes then? A "whatever prey fits" outlook? Not saying that they'd go out of their way to eat another
    snake, but it's been my impression that the giant snakes cannot afford to be fussy eaters, and so they aren't. That makes them very dangerous for us too,
    I'd have to say, since snakes are never logical about the size of prey they pounce on, it's only after it stops moving that they find out if it slides down or not.

    (Please be careful...)
    True that retics care about satisfying hunger more than if it fits to go down. They are true powerhouses and can do serous damage faster than we can react. When she lunged she pushed me back with the force of the strike. Never underestimate them on any level.

  3. #53
    BPnet Senior Member Skyrivers's Avatar
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    Re: OMG disaster.

    Quote Originally Posted by Snakeboyaz View Post
    Glad Monty is ok. I only ever have one out at a time, for no other reason than I'm the only handler in my house. Never would have imagined a retic would look at another snake as food. I'm glad you shared this, I'm more inclined to call this a crap happens event than a mistake. We all have had bad things happen or made mistakes in this hobby and the more we're willing to share the better I think.
    Thank you. Please share things you learn as well. I will never scold you for it. Might even laugh with you about it if no one is hurt.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Dianne View Post
    I’ve been keeping snakes since 1991, and in that time have had several opportunities in that time period to experience bites with and without constriction....sometimes my fault, sometimes not. I have found rubbing alcohol to work every time by actually pouring a little around their mouth at the bite. They will spit you out with this method, and as long as you don’t try to pull away the cuts are less damaging. They will drool quite a bit initially, but it doesn’t do any damage (confirmed by my reptile specialist vet), but evidently tastes like �� which is what makes it so effective.

    Just for the record, I’ve tried this out with a 13’ 90lb burmese python that grabbed my hand when I reached into her enclosure to take her out for cleaning. I didn’t realize she was in shed when I touched her, and she was startled and bit. She didn’t constrict, but she didn’t let go either until Mom poured the rubbing alcohol around her mouth. Lesson learned, they are fast and still wild, no matter how much of a baby they normally are with you.

    Thank you.

  4. #54
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    Re: OMG disaster.

    Quote Originally Posted by Skyrivers View Post
    ...When she lunged she pushed me back with the force of the strike. Never underestimate them on any level.
    I won't ever have a giant snake so that's no problem... I think they're a bit much as "pets", the same way I don't see lions replacing house cats.
    No matter how magnificent, there comes a point where people either can't or don't control them, & "stuff happens". Anyway, I'm not the one who underestimated.

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  6. #55
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    Re: OMG disaster.

    Quote Originally Posted by Bogertophis View Post
    I won't ever have a giant snake so that's no problem... I think they're a bit much as "pets", the same way I don't see lions replacing house cats.
    No matter how magnificent, there comes a point where people either can't or don't control them, & "stuff happens". Anyway, I'm not the one who underestimated.
    Surprisingly enough.... Rainbow is one of the easier animals I have and by far the largest. Every now and again she reminds me she is a wild animal still and I think Monty was talking dirty to her and said the wrong thing. LOL... JK

    Monty is sulking. He would normally pop up when you walk by and see if you have food for him but now he just flicks his tong and slightly lifts his head. After work today I am going to do a full clean up of everyone's enclosures because it is time to do so and add some plants to a cage or 2 also. Looking forward to him feeling better in a couple of weeks. Other than that I will not be holding him at all.

  7. #56
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    Many, many years ago I had a retic that went two weeks past feeding date as the local pet store hadn't gotten any shipment of rabbits in as scheduled. She would get very active at night and was literally making enough noise one particular evening that I was having a difficult time sleeping...she would stretch out across the eight foot long cage and stretch upward and outward until she plopped to the cage floor. This went on for hours...caught the attention of my daughter's cat who was in there watching the action. Well...the retic was probably about 14 feet long at that time and managed to buckle the glass doors out of the track--I awoke to the sound of a screaming cat and could not understand what I was seeing in the mostly dark room, illuminated by a red lamp. It appeared to me that the retic was outside of her cage but I could see reflections in the glass doors, which were still propped up against the cage (rather than laying flat on the room floor) and it appeared to me that the retic was outside of the cage and the doors were still properly in place (which they weren't). I turned on the light and realized what exactly had happened and realized the retic had grabbed the cat and was wrapping her at that point. I grabbed a bottle of rum from the next room and literally started dousing the ball of snake with rum (couldn't see the head at this point). Managed to get the snake off the cat and tossed the retic back into her cage as the cat wandered "drunkenly" into the living room and hid under the couch. The cat checked out OK at the vet later that morning but she never, again, went into that room with the retic cage. Never had any aggression out of that snake towards me or anyone else, but it goes to show that animals have behavioral instincts that they act upon and that can lead to unplanned scenarios and when the animal is big and strong, things can get bad quickly.

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  9. #57
    BPnet Senior Member MR Snakes's Avatar
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    I am way too much of a chicken to have a giant snake. I just think there comes a time when "Giant" is just too big. I saw the beautiful giants at NERDS and my jaw hit the ground. I said to myself, "Not for me there Chico!".

  10. #58
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    Re: OMG disaster.

    Quote Originally Posted by MR Snakes View Post
    I am way too much of a chicken to have a giant snake. I just think there comes a time when "Giant" is just too big. I saw the beautiful giants at NERDS and my jaw hit the ground. I said to myself, "Not for me there Chico!".
    It's more responsibility (& liability) than most are ready for in a private home. It's a challenge even for professionals & if there's one thing that "we" (the community
    of snake-keepers) don't need, it's any more strikes against us in the court of public opinion & the laws that get passed after mistakes. I once held up a small part of a
    giant snake for a photo, along with a group of others. The power of such snakes is impressive, to say the least.

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  12. #59
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    Re: OMG disaster.

    Quote Originally Posted by Bogertophis View Post
    It's more responsibility (& liability) than most are ready for in a private home. It's a challenge even for professionals & if there's one thing that "we" (the community
    of snake-keepers) don't need, it's any more strikes against us in the court of public opinion & the laws that get passed after mistakes. I once held up a small part of a
    giant snake for a photo, along with a group of others. The power of such snakes is impressive, to say the least.
    This is why I believe there should be an application process for purchasing such animals. Granted, I believe that to be true about ALL living creatures, but especially the giants. It seems asinine to me that it takes YEARS to adopt a child, but you can come home with a new animal in a matter of minutes as long as you have the cash. Both are living creatures. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing the life of a hamster to that of a human, but....both are lives.

    If you can't pass a general competency test and show proof of a proper enclosure and living space you shouldn't be able to purchase the animal. Obviously, this will NEVER happen, it's just not feasible...
    But for the "GIANTS" I believe it should be the responsibility of the breeder to make sure the buyer is qualified to keep such animals. If this were the case, maybe our hobby doesn't have the rep it has, maybe FL doesn't have the invasive snake population it has...we'll never know since we can't go back in time.

    OP, please understand this is IN NO WAY a dig meant for you.

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  14. #60
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    Re: OMG disaster.

    Quote Originally Posted by craigafrechette View Post
    This is why I believe there should be an application process for purchasing such animals....

    If you can't pass a general competency test and show proof of a proper enclosure and living space you shouldn't be able to purchase the animal...

    But for the "GIANTS" I believe it should be the responsibility of the breeder to make sure the buyer is qualified to keep such animals. If this were the case, maybe our hobby doesn't have the rep it has, maybe FL doesn't have the invasive snake population it has...we'll never know since we can't go back in time.

    OP, please understand this is IN NO WAY a dig meant for you.
    I "second" this...and also for "hots" (& I have owned hots in the past for some 20 safe years, btw). Either one is too dangerous to belong to just anyone with cash
    & enthusiasm, & what's more, regulation IS feasible. Even though the "barn door has been open for a while" it's not too late to regulate. We have to think about
    what's good for our country (human & wildlife both) as a whole, and also about the improper care given to many dangerous exotics that end up in the wrong hands.
    Last edited by Bogertophis; 01-20-2019 at 01:44 PM.

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