Ugh....anacondas should NOT be sold in pet stores....

[wilomn]

You know, back before the internet and people 'knew where to get them', back when you couldn't get an anaconda two days after you decide you wanted one, pet stores were the only place to see one. A lot of people bought them, and burms and retics and rocks and all sorts of snakes that are just not good pets for the average person. I can't see any difference in the snakes between then and now, other than quality and selection has improved, so either people are more stupid than ever before, or more willing to try to make others adhere to standards they may not be in agreement with.

We don't carry giant constrictors at Ratamatic, I also think they just aren't for the average person. But I'd sure order one for someone if that's what they wanted. I've gone further than I'm really comfortable with, but I realize there is a greater responsibility to the reptile keeping public, in not carrying these animals. Really, who am I to decide what legal thing you should or should not do? Who are any of us, really, to make this decision for others? I, we, certainly do not like it when decisions in other matters are made for us, even if I, or perhaps we, agree.

At any rate, in this instance, I don't think the evil pet shop rant is warranted so much is the missing- how did you live so long- thread about prospective owners of giant constrictors. I suppose it is like so many other things, alcohol, fast cars, fast women, any thing we want badly enough to do without knowing, really, anything about it. Of course, were it not for just such pioneers, or luckless snake purchasers who were lucky enough to be successful in their attempts at exotic animal keeping, doing just such chance taking, I don't know that most of us would have any reptiles at all.