Thoughts on Ralph Davis' newest controversial youtube video?

[Freakie_frog]

I personally have a really good reptile vet however there are times that things come up that I have delt with that a vet will not have the first bit of experience dealing with. There are some situations that a vet is needed due to the extent of the procedure required, things like a twisted ova-duct inside the animal, or other major trama.

I think Ralph did a bang up job of patching that little girl up. This type of thing isn't going to be done by the average keeper. Why do you ask, the average keeper isn't seeing fresh out of the egg babies, and even the hobbiest breeder isn't likely to see some thing like this.

For those asking if Tim, Ralph, Me, or any one is qualified or trained to sew up a snake I pose a question. Are you a trained chef? I only ask because most feel perfectly comfortable preparing food for themselves and their family. A task that if done wrong carries the risk of infection of the bacterial, and wrommy kind that can kill or harm people. If stored or prepared improperly food is extremely dangerous and yet most people have no reservations jumping in the kitchen and whipping up whatever Alton Brown just made. They do so with no training or schooling and never give it a second thought We pick out our own meat and yet have no formal training by the USDA on what to look for when spotting spoiled or contaminated meats or Veg. So before people start jumping all over Ralph for not being trained I suggest they look at their day to day activities that they engage in like treating themselves or other for illnesses with OTC meds you're neither trained or licensed (required by all states) to dignose or treat any illness and yet we do it all the time, simply home repairs ect ect..there is a time for the professionals to step in but when that is needs to depend on the person who owns the animal.

Also there is another option if they feel comfortable doing this so be it, I've personally had baby snakes die in my hands from far less. If this happens to you and you feel like this is something a vet needs to treat, load it up, have it anesthetized, sewn up, treated with antibiotics, leave a fresh hatched snake with your vet or take it home, then in a few weeks take it back to the vet and have the stitches removed..Bravo..Me I'm going not stress my new born animals out that much. I'm going to wash my hands, poke organs back in the body cavity, throw in a couple of stitches, and set the baby up on moist paper towel. Is it for every one most surly not but neither is bungee jumping, or body mods but I'm not going to sit in judgement of some one with decades more experience than me on a topic that I have no first hand experience with and demand they cease and desist..