A Bit of Reality About Owning Snakes and Raising a Family

[Kysenia]

Excellant post! the truth of the matter is that this is the reality of exotic pet ownership..................the issue is the perception of others............

Perception is reality...............how does one go about making reality the right perception? I have no clue what I just said there lol

[Colin Vestrand]

excellent points jo...

in all seriousness, i think the one thing that needs to be looked at is that burms and retic and a couple other species really are dangerous animals. i'm not advocating a moratorium on ownership, but i think things today are getting pretty silly and out of hand. i mean, there are inherant risks with any pet... and when you take an exotic pet into ownership, the risks usually go up. going one step further, when you take an apex predator on as a pet, and don't respect it for what it is.... then you're creating a recipe for disaster... and that's all this situation was. an absolute tragedy, i couldn't even imagine.

i'm not trying to call anyone out, but i think there's a culture of ineptitude and apathy with large constrictors that is pretty alarming. from the owners all the way up to the breeders, i think the general mindset is alllllll wrong. i mean balls, boas, carpets, etc are one thing, but the difference between a ball and a retic is like the difference between owning a bengal cat and a tiger.

i'm all about letting the people govern themselves, but this event (plus having a two year old myself) has really opened my eyes further to the fact that a lot of people out there just aren't taking things as seriously as they should.

[TheresaBearden]

First of all-Joanna-GREAT POST!!!!

i'm not trying to call anyone out, but i think there's a culture of ineptitude and apathy with large constrictors that is pretty alarming. from the owners all the way up to the breeders, i think the general mindset is alllllll wrong. i mean balls, boas, carpets, etc are one thing, but the difference between a ball and a retic is like the difference between owning a bengal cat and a tiger.

I understand you are not pointing fingers and I agree you make some excellent points but I want to clarify that not all breeders are this way. My husband and are are burm breeders and I can assure we take that very seriously. We spend countless hours caring for our animals and while we can not control or choose who buys every animal we produce we can and do try and sell them to those who understand what they are buying is a huge commitment. We try and ask if they are aware how large these snakes can get and if they are able to care for, feed, and house them properly as they grow. We make it abundantly clear that we are available should any questions or concerns come up. We get calls from burm owners every week (whether they bought from us or not) seeking advice, asking questions, or just wanting to chat and we welcome these calls-we enjoy them. We have spent hours fighting legislation-typing emails, writing letters, making phone call. We have offered to open our home to members of Congress, representatives, senators so they can see first hand what we are fighting so hard to save. We do what we can to try and educate those do not understand the effort and time put into owning large constricotrs (or any reptile). We feel we have a responsibility to do so as burm owners.

That being said-our main focus in life is our children (we have 4) and we have always put our childrens safety and well being first and foremost. We know the power and the strength of a burmese python and have taken every precaution imaginable to ensure the snakes could never get to the children and cause them harm.

As I stated before I agree with some of what you said but it does not apply to all breeders and owners. Just wanted to clarify that.

[Qetu]

incredible!

[SlitherinSisters]

LOL!!! This is a hilarious thread!!!!! All housework should cease.....I like that

And avoid getting old at all costs! ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GregBennett]

Any pointers on how one would avoid getting old? I would pay $19.95 for a step by step tutorial.

This thread is priceless. Now if we could only make the rest of our closed minded country wake up to the fact that our reptiles are not going to hunt them all down and kill them.

[dmaricle]

thats awesome and makes a great point.

[hud556]

great post!

[wilomn]

Any pointers on how one would avoid getting old? I would pay $19.95 for a step by step tutorial.

This thread is priceless. Now if we could only make the rest of our closed minded country wake up to the fact that our reptiles are not going to hunt them all down and kill them.

It's a 2 step process at which I have miserably failed.

Step 1

Remain single

Step 2

Have NO children

It's as easy as that.

[dc4teg]

if more snake owners read part of this forum no "accidents" would never happen with a snake, accidents like childern being consticted to death CAN BE PREVENTED by a KNOWLEDGEABLE pet owner and yall provide all the KNOWLEDGE that owners need to know sorry for the rant and if i spelled some words wrong sorry