Unfair bias due to visiting a sick reptile breeder

[SatanicIntention]

If I went to someone's house and their dogs/cats/marmosets were carrying rabies(and the virus wasn't advanced enough to show signs), and it was possible that I had gotten exposed to that virus, and then went home and possibly exposed my household to said virus, how would that make you feel?

How would it make you feel if you exposed your entire collection of snakes to something that would kill them and it could have been prevented?

This is why only people I completely trust(maybe 3 people total) with my snakes, and I know their collections are clean, are the only people who come into my snake room.

[Bruce Whitehead]

Well. It is his perogative... but this is someone that was considering a breeding loan with you (a total stranger)... so yeah.

I would only do loans with people I knew really well and was 100%sure of their QT etc.

Just saying... what if you'd never mentioned this to him? How hard would he have questioned you to find out his information?

He seemed pretty quick to get his hands on your snake...

Bruce

[Montessa Python]

I lived near her and he asked if I knew her due to our proximity.
I understand where he is coming from, and not wanting to take the chance.. its the other things he said. That make me feel like a pirah.
I only have one ball python left, and the others have gone to private homes OR to a rescue center. I rescued them over the last year and finally found a great reptile rescue to work with. AND they have taken all of those to vets. I have done the same with my own snakes.
I just don't want to feel like a person with leoprosy or that I have to wear a sign, that I once entered a diseased place. I am around livestock, and people go to the pound and to humane societies as well as a vets office all the time. And there are sick animals there.

I understand his point of view. But I don't want a stigma either.

[sweety314]

I honestly wouldn't be able to know what to do in this situation. Even though you were only there ONCE, and you were there BEFORE it happened.. your chances are extremely low of ever having any type of contact with the disease..
But no one can be sure that the chances are 0, which is why it probably will stick around until the disease is identified.

Does anyone have Jens story about this or a news article or something? I know very little about the situation.

go to her website. She's got a very open, blog about the events, the vets, diagnoses (or starting lack thereof), detailing what took place.

http://www.pinkladyconstrictors.com/

[kc261]

go to her website. She's got a very open, blog about the events, the vets, diagnoses (or starting lack thereof), detailing what took place.

http://www.pinkladyconstrictors.com/

I do not believe her blog there is up to date. Actually, from what I've seen, there isn't any one place to go to get the whole story.

Here is a link to one of the more recent installments on fauna. WARNING! Not for the faint of heart. And it wouldn't hurt to have a tissue box and/or a puke bucket handy.
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...&postcount=383

To get back to the original post, I agree with all those that say it is the guy's right to change his mind about the breeding loan, regardless of his reason.

As far as the rest, you'll have to decide how you feel about it. The fact that the only time you were there was before the disease is believed to have entered her collection, and the fact that it has been so long, probably means there is no problem. And if you are ok with that, then I wouldn't worry about what he said. As pointed out by Becky, those that want to be super-protective about their collections (and there are LOTS of people like that, for good reason) will not rely on strangers volunteering that kind of information. They just won't let the stranger and/or the strangers snakes come in to contact with their snakes.

[Sonya610]

Wow...that is one very disturbing story on so many levels. The part that really got me was killing all of them because the risk was just so great, except for the three "pet snakes" that had some emotional value. Sounds like a business decision to me.

And if people want to flame me for expressing that opinion, flame away. I wish now I had not read that story.

[frankykeno]

Wow...that is one very disturbing story on so many levels. The part that really got me was killing all of them because the risk was just so great, except for the three "pet snakes" that had some emotional value. Sounds like a business decision to me.

And if people want to flame me for expressing that opinion, flame away. I wish now I had not read that story.

Sonya, we don't "flame" here. Having said that, I will attempt to explain my feelings about that sort of incident. You may well not agree with them but that's fine too.

Were I to face the horrible situation of having a deadly virus in the collection - one that as yet is not fully understood, one that wipes out entire collections, one that seems untreatable for the most part - and in that after full testing and advice from a variety of experienced vets that they could not explain nor really treat the collection - nor could they guarantee anything about the other seemingly healthy snakes being carriers....then yes I'd face the horrible decision to euthanize.

For you that may be a coldhearted business decision but I don't see it that way. My family's heart and soul are in our snakes, they are not dollar and cents animals but I do not believe we could live with possibly being the vector of this horrible virus spreading. Could we live with never attending another snake show because we might carry this virus from our collection? Could we live with never having another snake owning friend enter our house for fear they'd be exposed and carry home to their own beloved collection? Could we sit everyday wondering when the next outbreak will cause these glorious animals to sicken, suffer and die because there seems no effective treatment for them? Could we live with knowing that we may have shipped out hatchlings exposed before the first adults died and therefore put our friends and customers at a horribly unacceptable risk?

Sometimes Sonya, when you breed animals you make tough, gut wrenching decisions. I doubt most breeders would call those decisions just cold "business" decisions. I highly doubt most would easily come to the conclusion that no other recourse is there but to face the harsh reality of responsibility. That responsibility is to the snakes, to yourself and to the greater community of snakekeepers out there. Refusing to face that because it would hurt your heart may end up spreading a deadly virus to other collections. Could your heart deal with that?

I pray I'll never be faced with a decision like this. That's why we work so hard with QT procedures and such like to strive to avoid this awful thing happening. I pray more though, that if it ever did happen, I'd have the guts to face what might have to be done.

[Peter Williams]

I was not familiar with the story until now, but to be honest, I probably would have made the same decision as him.

[Sonya610]

For you that may be a coldhearted business decision but I don't see it that way. My family's heart and soul are in our snakes, they are not dollar and cents animals but I do not believe we could live with possibly being the vector of this horrible virus spreading.

My point being she DID keep potential vectors, the ones that had emotional value. If the virus is that dangerous and it requires such dramatic action one would think it is an all or nothing proposition. To keep some because they are “special” changes things quite a bit in my opinion. The rest were not "special" and not worth keeping, even though the risk remained the same.

[bigballs]

didnt she say she sent a G-stripe back to its owner? i know it sounds crazy but i dont know if i'd take it back...