News: 2 die in rock python attack

[sorraia]

I'm seeing a lot of emphasis on the "neglect" that snake keepers obviously subject their charges to. "Hadn't been fed in a week/ hadn't been fed in a month"! Oh no! The poor, hungry, perfectly on schedule... well-fed... uh. Umm.

I feel like making a general factsheet for the public, letting them know that snakes do not eat every day, among other things.

That isn't a bad idea at all.

I am sure that many people do not realise with a thermostat, one can with a fairly sound mind go on a weeks vacation and not have to worry about your pet. That alone is nothing to sneeze at.

Really once you get your husbandry requirements down, I can't think of many pets easier to care for.

No kidding! People are very ignorant about the needs of a snake, compared to more common pets like dogs and cats.

I keep seeing people say, "Why would you want a snake? You can't take it for a walk, you can't cuddle with it, you can't watch tv with it." What I want to know is why these are automatic criteria for what makes a "pet"? What if someone doesn't want an animal they can walk or cuddle? What if someone wants a critter they can just watch and admire? I'll tell you one thing... I have quite a few critters of my own, and they have their own unique needs, but one thing I LOVE about the snakes is the fact they do not need attention. I can watch them, I can handle them, but they aren't going to miss me or complain if I don't spend hours every day with them. My goats... they start screaming at me the moment I come home from work (mama goat wanting her grain and to be milked, baby goat just wanting attention). After I feed them and give them scratches, they scream at me some more when I walk away because I didn't spend enough time with them! I love that snakes don't care about that.