Burns / Infection / Unknown Disease : One of the Worst Snake Owners

[Kcl]

As I said earlier on the thread, you can't save all of them and you can't accept guilt for the ones that you can't. No matter what anyone else says, this poor snake is not your fault - it is the owners' fault. Accepting responsibility for all the mistreated animals you come in contact with is one of the big things that leads to animal rescuers becoming awful hoarding cases or becoming horribly burned out.

With the kind of rapid escalation that they seem to be demonstrating, your mother is correct and it's probably best for you to completely uninvolve yourself. There certainly are no possible legal repercussions for calling animal control but that's not the same as no repercussions. Police will only get involved after the harm has already been done if anyone decided to come after you for this. From the experience of a family member, stalking, threats, multiple sets of tires slashed and the car keyed was not sufficient to get any action from police even after repeated requests. People hold grudges for a very long time and can make your life a misery. Don't get in over your head.

You've done a great thing for Dave and likely will do great things for others in the future. Unfortunately this one is one of the painful lessons in when to give up the fight. You've done what you can. Thank you for doing so.

[ladywhipple02]

I'm a bit sickened by the behavior of a couple people on this thread. Bullying to make a point? Bullying a CHILD to make a point?? And a 16 year old is a child, no matter what people say. They live at home and by their parent's rules, they go to school and live by the rules of popularity, they are impressionable, learning about themselves and the world they're growing up in, and THEY HAVE NOT reached maturity.

Beyond that, someone came here for advice on a situation, not to be belittled and mocked for their decision. I'd leave and never come back after some of these comments, especially if I was 16 and impressionable. I'd never get on another reptile forum for advice, either.

It's one thing to debate with an adult. It's another to try and pressure and bully a kid into doing what in YOUR OPINION is right (behind a computer screen, no less).

This absolutely infuriates me.


Nixon... you've done more than a great many people would've in the same situation. I'm in agreement with the suggestions to separate yourself. High school isn't life, and in a couple years everything will be completely different anyway. I've only kept in contact with exactly one person from high school and could give a crap less about the others. I went from a graduating class of 97 people to a college of more than 130,000 people, and met lifelong friends and acquaintances, and then moved another 200 miles away for a career in which I met other friends and acquaintances. You don't need these people in your life. The world is a gigantic place, and you'll be a better person for removing that toxicity from your experiences of it.

[Nixon]

Thank you all. Of course I won't lose interest in this forum. It's full of a lot of great people that have helped me more than hurt. There's always going to be someone to disagree with anything so I can't hold that against the entirety of the forum. I'm planning to mention and praise this website when I present Dave at the reptile show because he wouldn't be where he was without all of the help.

I can tell my attitude has changed. I've told how I can get mean and I'm not all passive as I seem to be; agreeing with everybody and trying my best to please everybody. Obviously, nobody can please everybody but if somebody is going to insult me or my family for their choices then they have another thing coming. If they keep responding, I'm not feeding the troll.

That being said, the legal issues is what both me and my mother are worried about. Obviously they can't file a lawsuit for taking away their snake or other animals for all the right reasons but they could target me and my family or find another way around to hurt us. Yes, I do care a lot for Scorchmuffin. If I lived alone and was all grown up in my own house, it'd be a different story. I'd call animal control in a heartbeat and not care if they went after me. However, I don't want them after my family. They do know where we live, you know. I don't know just how crazy Arthur or the rest of the family would get.

I'm so sorry it seems like I"m giving this up completely. They did say they'd hand him over if he got worse so there's always some chance.

Thank you all for the support.

@lady

I agree. However, their tangents won't stop me from coming on this forum. Like I said, this forum is full of more gems than bad eggs and I do get really fantastic advice from people. I know there are a lot of fish in the sea in terms of friends, too, but I have been friends with Ariana for around four years now. My mother would be more upset with the breakup than me, though. She's not the best. I'm not either, but as said before: she is toxic.

[tttaylorrr]

I'm so sorry it seems like I"m giving this up completely. They did say they'd hand him over if he got worse so there's always some chance.

Thank you all for the support.

remember: you will always be your #1. your thoughts and decisions are what matter, as you are the one who has to live with them. don't think of it as giving up! you exhausted all options that you were comfortable trying; you did your BEST in the situation — that's all anyone can ask of you — and stepping away is all you can do now. you are a lot braver than i think i would be at that age and in this situation.

keep us posted on any updates!