Exotics At What Price

[beth]

I wish I knew some people who weren't scared of snakes who would snake-sit. Some people are afraid to even come in my house. Of course, my snakes are not running around the house. Fear of snakes is quite amazing at times. And horror stories such as this one with the little girl only make it worse.

 

[deejeff442]

my friend that had the snake also had a small alligator.
maybe 10 inches long head to end of tail.
that thing was the meanest creature i have ever seen.
i dont know how he came across it but wound up giving it to the zoo.

 

[aw2x3]

Originally Posted by Beth
http:///forum/post/3076783
I wish I knew some people who weren't scared of snakes who would snake-sit. Some people are afraid to even come in my house. Of course, my snakes are not running around the house. Fear of snakes is quite amazing at times. And horror stories such as this one with the little girl only make it worse.
Thankfully, it's not like they need to be fed every day, like a dog. I do go out of town, sometimes, for weekends and don't think too much about it. I feed the day before I leave, make sure the water has been changed for everyone and that's it.
And, you're right, Beth...it's amazing what people are afraid of, for no reason.
I have people over at my house, quite often, to sit out on the patio and drink, talk, bbq, etc and some won't even enter my house, even tho all of the snakes are in my basement, in locked enclosures.

 

[teresaq]

I love snakes, I have always played with them since I was a child. I just dont think they belong in a home with toddlers. Especially if you dont have proper knowledge of thier care and housing

 

[meowzer]

LOL...I have always been frightened by snakes....I have never been bitten or attacked by one..just one of them things I guess...I by no means would ever say anything negative about someone having one though...YES I would enter their house....I just choose not to pet the pet snake...

No having them with toddlers...well I guess that goes with just about anything....if you are responsible, and know what precautions have to be taken...well that should be good enough...I keep knives in my house..my kids never stabbed each other....or medicines..my kids never got into them either....It's a RESPONSIBILITY issue here....I do not think the species should be blamed for peoples carelessness....whether I like snakes or not

 

[aw2x3]

Well, the new aquisition never happened. After getting only 3 hours sleep, Sat night, I woke up at 8am (sunday morning) to make the 2.5 hour trip to go pick up the big girl. I called the guy, an hour into my trip and he'd backed out, for some BS reason, but wanted to reschedule for this coming friday. So, I had to turn around and come back home, waste gas, got no sleep, for no reason.
I think I'm gonna pass (as he's not turning out to the best caliber of person) and spend a little more money on something I really want. I found a great price on a 5' male Reticulated Python, that's 100% het for albino. He'll go along great with my normal female Retic.

 

[petjunkie]

I can't believe they haven't charged the parents for this crap yet, they were keeping that snake in a bag in a glass tank with a quilt over the top and rope keeping it in. And it's escaped before. One of the reports said they let the toddler play with it and pick it up by the head and that they let it hang around the neck of a 7 year old relative. Sorry but they only have themselves to blame. You need a secure locking cage and a door inbetween if you are keeping large snakes with kids in the house.
I only have a ball python and there's no chance of him escaping his cage unless I left it wide open. And yet this will go down as a strike against keeping large snakes when it should be an example of irresponsible ownership and bad parenting. If they had actually fed and properly contained the snake this never would have occured.

 

[florida joe]

WASHINGTON — Eat. Sleep. Kill.
This is the constant focus for a python.
David Tetzlaff, director of the Naples Zoo, said the prehistory creatures are animals, after all, and defense is their natural instinct.
After 46 years of experience handling snakes, Tetzlaff bares the scars of dozens of snake bites.
A Burmese python reaches an average length of 14 to 18 feet and can weigh more than 200 pounds, Tetzlaff said. Once a snake reaches five feet, it could easily kill a small child and anything longer than 10 feet could kill an adult.
“There is no reason these types of snakes should be readily available for the public,” Tetzlaff said. “The average person shouldn’t have a snake this size as a pet. It could kill you. There is no reason to have that in your house.”
And Tetzlaff is not alone in that belief.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson presented a bill to Congress that would restrict access and transportation of pythons at a hearing Wednesday.
Nelson, D-Fla., began his argument by describing the recent death of a 2-year-old girl caused by a pet python in Sumter County.
“An eight-foot albino Burmese python escaped from its container, slithered through the house and up into a crib where 2-year-old Shaiunna lay asleep,” Nelson said. “The snake bit the child and wrapped itself around her body. By the time the paramedics had arrived, the child was already dead from asphyxiation.”
Shaiunna is the fourth death by a python in the U.S. since 2006, according to the Humane Society. There have been 12 since 1980.
Senate Bill 373 would classify pythons as an injurious animal, and would prohibit the importation of the snakes between states.
The hope is that the bill would make the transportation and ownership of a python difficult and eventually lead to the demise of pet pythons in the U.S., according to staff from Nelson’s Washington office.
Beth Preiss, director of the Exotic Pets Campaign for the national Humane Society, said preventing interstate trade of the snakes will go a long way toward decreasing the number of pet pythons.
“We strongly support Senator Nelson’s bill,” Preiss said.
To keep a python in Florida, an owner must comply with state restrictions which include handling experience, permits and implanting a chip in the snake.
Mike Shepherd, owner of Pets Plus in Golden Gate, said lawmakers are trying to destroy the pet industry completely and this bill would make it nearly impossible to get a python.
Shepherd said the recent tragedy is an isolated incident that is being blown out of proportion and is an excuse to shut down the snake industry.
“It’s not the snake’s fault, what happened to that little girl,” Shepherd said. “Just like any other pet, it’s the responsibility of the owner to make sure the snake is in the proper cage.”
Shepherd said he has had hundreds of snakes, including pythons, in his house and never experienced any problems.
He said snakes actually make great pets because they are low maintenance and quiet.
“They won’t bother anyone,” Shepherd said.
Shepherd said that snakes measuring more than 12 feet are not appropriate house pets.
Nelson said the pythons are not only an unsafe pet but are also causing ecological problems in the Everglades by preying on other wildlife.
There are an estimated 100,000 or more pythons in the Everglades, according to a press release from Nelson’s office.
Nelson said pythons are an “endangerment to humans, and endangerment to the natural ecological phenomena of what mother nature intended because of this snake going after all other prey.”
The increasing python population is due to local pet owners abandoning their snakes in the Everglades, Nelson said.
Tetzlaff said he is also concerned about the pythons in the Everglades harming not only the ecosystem but humans.
“It’s only a matter of time before one of those snakes gets someone,” Tetzlaff said.
Nelson filed the legislation to ban the importation of Burmese pythons in February, but said he has been pushing for action for three years.
“Because we have this problem in Florida, I have been asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, administratively, to do something about the import and for three years, and they have not,” Nelson said during the hearing.
The bill will go to a vote by the full Environment Committee.
Nelson told members of Congress his proposal is a slight change in the law and that it would be a solution to the “ecological crisis” caused by the pythons.
Shepherd had a solution of his own.
“We should keep all the snakes and get rid of the senators,” Shepherd said.

 

[aw2x3]

Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3081994
Shepherd had a solution of his own.
“We should keep all the snakes and get rid of the senators,” Shepherd said.
God...I wholeheartedly agree!
When this story hit the fan, they posted a national average, of how many people had been killed by their "pet" snakes, since 1980. It was less than 15 people (and I'm being generous) and every damned time, it was because of irresponsible ownership.
I think this whole attempted ban on pythons is just a rediculous attempt to curtail what some people deem as "dangerous" pets. How many of us Python owners have never had one escapee? How many of us have never once been bitten by one our snakes? How many of us get our snakes out, on a daily basis, take them educational centers and let them interact with the public, so that people aren't afraid of them? I can answer "ME" to every one of those questions and know hundreds of other people who can answer the same.
I've had many, many, many people who have come to my house, for hanging out, bbqs, etc. and they've flat out told me, "I'm scared to death of snakes, please don't get them out" and 99.9999% of every person who's ever told me that, has been at least touching one of my snakes, before the night was over. Most of them ended up saying "Oh my God, you gotta take a picture of me cause no one will ever believe I did this!" and they've been loving it, while holding them.
Just like with "viscious dogs", it's not the animals fault, it's the owners fault. It's always the bad media coverage you hear about. Before this poor little girl, that just got killed, when's the last time you heard a national news story, about pythons?...it's been a while. Just like with Pit Bulls and Rotwielers...it's absolutely absurd, trying to impose a nationwide ban.
Snakes aren't dogs. They don't know the difference between right and wrong. They're intellegence is not advanced enough to know the difference between a child and food. Look at the conditions that snake (that killed the little girl, in Florida) was being kept in. Stuffed in a bag, inside an aquarium, with a quilt over the top of it, to keep this snake in. Every one of my big snakes are in 8' x 3' x 3' 3/4" plywood enclosures...secure and big enough for them to stretch out...the way it should be. If I was that snake, I'd be trying everything I could to get out of that hell hole too. If the conditions, for the pets, were that bad, just think about the conditions in the house.
I just went through the whole (very long) process of getting my permit to keep venomous snakes and come Monday, I'll have my first pair (Albino Monocle Cobras).
My 14' female Burmese Python has more of a chance of killing me than any venomous snake (within reason). Because there's a small possibility that I could be bitten by any snake I have, is that any concern of anyone else but myself?...absolutely not.
People's mentality, from the beginning of time, is if you can't tame something then it should be banned and no one should own it...doesn't matter if you're a responsible keeper or not.

 

[meowzer]

LOL...how many people get killed cause they slip in the bath tub.....should we outlaw them too...LOL....

 

[aw2x3]

Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3082582
LOL...how many people get killed cause they slip in the bath tub.....should we outlaw them too...LOL....
Exactly. How many people die, every year, from drowning? How many people die, ever from, choking on food? How many people, every year, die from car accidents? How many people, every year, die from smoking?
Let's ban it all! Pools, fast food, cars, cigarettes!...I propose a ban on all of it!

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by AW2x3
http:///forum/post/3082592
Exactly. How many people die, every year, from drowning? How many people die, ever from, choking on food? How many people, every year, die from car accidents? How many people, every year, die from smoking?
Let's ban it all! Pools, fast food, cars, cigarettes!...I propose a ban on all of it!

NOT THE POOLS

...LOl....Like I said before...I am scared of snakes.......BUT if you want one and take care of it it's your thing...go for it...NOWWW if you are a complete idiot...welllllll then you probably shouldn't even have a Hamster

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3082596

NOT THE POOLS

...LOl....Like I said before...I am scared of snakes.......BUT if you want one and take care of it it's your thing...go for it...NOWWW if you are a complete idiot...welllllll then you probably shouldn't even have a Hamster

I know people who should have their picture at every pet store in 100 miles..do not sell any living thing to him/her.
In a perfect world...People should have to take some kind of training on how to take care of a small person, A what is dangerous and deadly coarse or something.
I mean there are people out there breeding who don't even understand you can't shake a baby so hard you kill it.
I actually knew a guy who would put his crawling age baby in the middle of the table and walk away...when I protested, he told me the baby would learn about gravity soon enough, and not fall anymore.