OMG disaster.

[Skyrivers]

In all honesty, I have seen no bashing going on at all. If anything, everyone was quite respectful in posting their opinions. And opinions will vary.

I also don't think its quite fair to tell people they should not comment in a forum if they currently do not keep that species or haven't. This entire community will be fairly limited then. It was courageous of Skyrivers to share his mistake. But its only to be expected that there will be discussion because of it. Of the potential of such a situation being far worse, or what could/should have been done differently. I think Skyrivers took to it well.

Its the same with all species. Some don't agree with morph breeding or with breeding of particular morphs. That is their prerogative. No-one tells them to stay off of the forum or post because they may not have morphs or those particular ones. We ARE a reptile community here, not exclusive to the species we keep. As long as the discussion is respectful, it is no problem to have opinions coming from different angles. As well as then discussing a different opinion of the different opinion

These forums and posts will be read by others and for years to come. There is a lot to gain from discussions. As to stricter laws that have been established regarding more dangerous species, they usually are presented AFTER a incident that becomes news. Is there a lot of misconception in the general public when it comes to ANY snake, esp. giants or hots? YES. But having a teenager found killed by a large snake or a keeper killed by his hots doesn't help that misconception the public has about all of us. So yes, these incidents are definitely hits on our hobby. There absolutely has to be a higher degree of knowledge and prevention when it comes to the species that can cause harm.

A bite from a hot can kill you or put you in a world of hurt. But you may have a chance and time to get to a hospital. If you get grabbed AND wrapped by a giant just right, you have seconds or minutes before passing out and there is no one there to help or you cannot reach something to get the snake off, you are in bad trouble. Pointing fingers from one to the other doesn't help. A cat bite can kill you from infection, a horse can kick you to death in a split second. But its a fact, the general population is (mostly) not a fan of reptiles, looks at snakes as dangerous and every time someone is in the news people scream for more laws to protect themselves from the "crazy" reptile people and their animals.

No doubt are there very many VERY responsible keepers of the more dangerous species. I have seen no bashing of that at all. Just a general reminder that those animals are not and should not be for everyone. All the responsible hot/giant keepers I know actually agree with that and have strong opinions about that.

My point was mostly for Skyrivers to be aware that something going wrong at a show and tell can have bad consequences for him and to be aware of that. We live in a very sue happy country and one mistake involving the wrong person can turn his life upside down. That can happen when taking smaller animals as well, but of course, the stakes go higher when something happens involving such a powerful animal. My advice was to keep the giants home during these casual show and tells. (meaning, non professional held, no insurance, etc) It doesn't mean he has to take the advice, mine or anyone else's. But this is a forum to discuss. And discussion will happen.

I believe it has run its course now, though, as Skyriver has said. I'm glad both snakes are fine and no lasting damage has been done

Thank you. Something people don't know is that I am insured and licensed properly to do the things I have been doing. I take owning, displaying, and sharing them very seriously. Does this mean I will never have an issue? No. Anyone in the hobby can and will eventually have an issue of some kind if they are in it long enough. It is what you do when it happens. The reading here as well as other places helped me deal with the issue when it happened and I feel that that prepared me to deal with the situation properly as a result only Monty was hurt and not nearly as bad as it could have been.

I think making a post about what to do when things go wrong to help keepers in general should be a good place to continue discussion about the subject. This incident is resolved and brought education along with it.

Thanks.