Pictures Snakes again of course!

[riddick07]

They are both wild dangerous animals that should not be owned by knucklehead people. And far too many of them are.

I can agree there are a decent amount of people that have giants and aren’t careful enough to have them. I’ve honeslty gotten more damage from just one parrot than all of my snakes combined in 15 years.

 

[SquawksNibbles]

Gorgeous snakes you've got there! The Butter Genetic Stripe Ball Python is cute!

I like snakes, they sure are beautiful! My sister and I saw a baby Ball Python at the pet store yesterday; his little face was quite cute and I felt bad for him because he was stuck in a small tank.

I really don't have anything against snakes being kept as pets, but I sure as heck wouldn't be one of those people to keep one! Not because I'm scared the snake might bite me or anything, but because of their diet. Snakes have got to eat, I realize that and if they need to eat live prey, okay, that is what they need and there's nothing wrong with that, but I, personally simply just could not feed live prey to any animal. Look, if I'm going to feed an animal meat, it is going to be dead, at least. And for that, I will leave snake keeping up to the more experienced people who can handle that stuff.

Plus, if I brought home a snake my mom would kill me. No, but seriously, compared to my mom I could be seen as a snake lover.

 

[AkasyaEllric]

Absolutely beautiful! I could feel the dollar amount ticking up as I scrolled though haha. I use to vend at reptile shows (nothing live) and it was always the highlight of my month just to go look at everything. I'm sure you've probably been to some of the shows too since we're both in PA!

 

[Mizzely]

Omg your snakes are gooooorgeous!!

Honestly, even having pet rats, I adore snakes. The thing I always remember anytime I think about adopting snakes is they are escape artists, and while I wouldn't mind, I think my landlord would object

 

[riddick07]

Gorgeous snakes you've got there! The Butter Genetic Stripe Ball Python is cute!

I like snakes, they sure are beautiful! My sister and I saw a baby Ball Python at the pet store yesterday; his little face was quite cute and I felt bad for him because he was stuck in a small tank.

I really don't have anything against snakes being kept as pets, but I sure as heck wouldn't be one of those people to keep one! Not because I'm scared the snake might bite me or anything, but because of their diet. Snakes have got to eat, I realize that and if they need to eat live prey, okay, that is what they need and there's nothing wrong with that, but I, personally simply just could not feed live prey to any animal. Look, if I'm going to feed an animal meat, it is going to be dead, at least. And for that, I will leave snake keeping up to the more experienced people who can handle that stuff.

Plus, if I brought home a snake my mom would kill me. No, but seriously, compared to my mom I could be seen as a snake lover.

Yeah not everyone can handle the diet and that’s fine. When I first started I was a little hesitant especially the cute baby rats. I had quite a few pet rats when I was feeding live haha

My mother said no to snakes for a long time. I convinced her by getting a blue tongue Skink first and it wasn’t much of a leap to a snake after having the Skink.

Absolutely beautiful! I could feel the dollar amount ticking up as I scrolled though haha. I use to vend at reptile shows (nothing live) and it was always the highlight of my month just to go look at everything. I'm sure you've probably been to some of the shows too since we're both in PA!

Just the first one can make me cry but I had to have the genetics that River has going on. Technically the beauty snake was free since she’s one from my first clutch but she still eats everything in sight lol I usually only go to Hamburg. I’ve been meaning to go to some of the others but never actually go. I live about 25 minutes from Hamburg so it’s an easy show to get to for me. I went to the one that Edison NJ had but they stopped hosting it fairly quickly.

Omg your snakes are gooooorgeous!!

Honestly, even having pet rats, I adore snakes. The thing I always remember anytime I think about adopting snakes is they are escape artists, and while I wouldn't mind, I think my landlord would object

Thanks! I have quite a few more. I haven’t had anyone escape really except for that one time that was my fault for forgetting the lock. She was found fairly quickly since she wasn’t a small one. I don’t use tanks just racks or enclosures with locks. The stand alone bins have multiple latches too. Definitely have to secure them

 

[AkasyaEllric]

Yeah, I heard about the NJ show. With the permits and rules they have in NJ it makes sense. I use to work up in South Brunswick and lived in Philly so it took me a bit to learn how they differ from us. I love Hamburg, I'm on the other side of the state now so I can't go easily. There is another good one up in Oaks if it's still around. The one I vended at was around here, we have 2 or 3 monthly reptile shows around the Pittsburgh area currently. With River you can tell though, I'm sure worth every penny!

 

[TikiMyn]

Those are Some pretty snakies

 

[Sylvester]

wild.... but so are parrots...

And way more blood has been shed in our house from parrot beaks than snake fangs.... way more.... way way way....

There was a news story a few years ago. It involved a family that was selling large snakes (illegally) in Canada from their house. They had a six year old boy who wanted to show his friend the snakes. It ended in tragedy.

They are nothing to fool with.

 

[Jenphilly]

There was a news story a few years ago. It involved a family that was selling large snakes (illegally) in Canada from their house. They had a six year old boy who wanted to show his friend the snakes. It ended in tragedy.

They are nothing to fool with.

But the snakes are not to be blamed there... much like with having a large parrot in the home, they are not safe for very young children to handle. Outside of whatever was illegal about the parent's selling of the snakes, they also were irresponsible for a young child having free aces to those snakes. In our home (and by the way if you don't know me or @riddick07 , she is my daughter, so all those large snakes in her pics are in my home), there are no small children, but we do have cats and obviously the birds. Being intelligent and safety minded individuals, the large snakes are in enclosures that lock. Even when we have small kids in the home (I have two 'adopted' grand girls), they cannot freely open cages to show off the snakes. While my heart goes out for such a tragic story, the parents are soley responsible for their lack of safety and simple precautions taken that would have prevented this horrible event.

But, even with thought that the giant snakes can be deadly, the reality, we have creatures in our home that have taken many more lives and inflicted many more injuries. Just random statistics...

In 2017 there were 39 deaths by dog attacks. The statistics for dog bites in total become quite muddy, but going with numbers from the CDC, approximately 4.5 million dog bites occur each year.

Now looking up snake bite info, unfortunately there is not info about just 'pet' snakes, all snake bites are lumped together which include venomous snakes you might encounter while out hiking. But, let's not split hairs, let's use all those numbers, so we are talking about every snake bite period... Again, using CDC numbers, the average for snake bites in the US is between 7,000 and 8,000 with an average of 5 deaths. And what little info I can find about 'pet' snake deaths, they most often involve someone that keeps venomous snakes, which is a whole different ball of crazy versus keeping a giant snake.

The reality, the dangers of a large dog biting and killing or severely injuring you is much greater than a giant snake.

I do not believe a giant snake is an appropriate creature to have in the vast majority of homes, but I also caught holy heck in my quite a few years as an Adoption Coordinator for a large parrot shelter, that I also do not find a large macaw to be an appropriate addition to a home with a very young child.

In no way do I downplay the seriousness of having a large snake in the home, it is very comparable to having a large unpredictable and hormonal parrot, but I also have to take a stand when the snake is seen as the villain in a situation of a child being injured.

I have tried to find the 'story' you refer to see what the facts actually were, but could not find anything related to the story. There were two incidents I found, one where a woman knowingly starved her snake, and another where a rock python escaped a pet store and dropped into the apartment below and constricted two young boys. The stories are horrible and sad, but again, the issue lies with human behavior and their lack of responsible behavior. If you starved a dog, would you be surprised to be bitten? Same as a snake, a well fed snake is really a lazy poop producer who would rather find a comfy spot to take a nap, they are not aggressive, pro-active hunters.

Again, I do not disagree that many people who have large snakes should have them with lack of education... but for someone with the knowledge and proving the proper care and enclosures, snakes can be a very rewarding creature to have in your life. I understand they are not for everyone, but heck I feel the same about a tank of fish, not for me... or spiders, nope, not a 'pet' for me either but I do know someone who has quite a collection of unique spiders - all properly housed and cared for.

It's like having kids... it's not something everyone should do

 

[Sylvester]

But the snakes are not to be blamed there... much like with having a large parrot in the home, they are not safe for very young children to handle. Outside of whatever was illegal about the parent's selling of the snakes, they also were irresponsible for a young child having free aces to those snakes. In our home (and by the way if you don't know me or @riddick07 , she is my daughter, so all those large snakes in her pics are in my home), there are no small children, but we do have cats and obviously the birds. Being intelligent and safety minded individuals, the large snakes are in enclosures that lock. Even when we have small kids in the home (I have two 'adopted' grand girls), they cannot freely open cages to show off the snakes. While my heart goes out for such a tragic story, the parents are soley responsible for their lack of safety and simple precautions taken that would have prevented this horrible event.

But, even with thought that the giant snakes can be deadly, the reality, we have creatures in our home that have taken many more lives and inflicted many more injuries. Just random statistics...

In 2017 there were 39 deaths by dog attacks. The statistics for dog bites in total become quite muddy, but going with numbers from the CDC, approximately 4.5 million dog bites occur each year.

Now looking up snake bite info, unfortunately there is not info about just 'pet' snakes, all snake bites are lumped together which include venomous snakes you might encounter while out hiking. But, let's not split hairs, let's use all those numbers, so we are talking about every snake bite period... Again, using CDC numbers, the average for snake bites in the US is between 7,000 and 8,000 with an average of 5 deaths. And what little info I can find about 'pet' snake deaths, they most often involve someone that keeps venomous snakes, which is a whole different ball of crazy versus keeping a giant snake.

The reality, the dangers of a large dog biting and killing or severely injuring you is much greater than a giant snake.

I do not believe a giant snake is an appropriate creature to have in the vast majority of homes, but I also caught holy heck in my quite a few years as an Adoption Coordinator for a large parrot shelter, that I also do not find a large macaw to be an appropriate addition to a home with a very young child.

In no way do I downplay the seriousness of having a large snake in the home, it is very comparable to having a large unpredictable and hormonal parrot, but I also have to take a stand when the snake is seen as the villain in a situation of a child being injured.

I have tried to find the 'story' you refer to see what the facts actually were, but could not find anything related to the story. There were two incidents I found, one where a woman knowingly starved her snake, and another where a rock python escaped a pet store and dropped into the apartment below and constricted two young boys. The stories are horrible and sad, but again, the issue lies with human behavior and their lack of responsible behavior. If you starved a dog, would you be surprised to be bitten? Same as a snake, a well fed snake is really a lazy poop producer who would rather find a comfy spot to take a nap, they are not aggressive, pro-active hunters.

Again, I do not disagree that many people who have large snakes should have them with lack of education... but for someone with the knowledge and proving the proper care and enclosures, snakes can be a very rewarding creature to have in your life. I understand they are not for everyone, but heck I feel the same about a tank of fish, not for me... or spiders, nope, not a 'pet' for me either but I do know someone who has quite a collection of unique spiders - all properly housed and cared for.

It's like having kids... it's not something everyone should do

Oh my goodness, I hope you didn't think I was vilifying the snake. I know that almost anytime a tragedy happens to a human from an animal that it was the human who crossed the line.

This happened in Canada, where buying, owning, or selling these animals is illegal.

Let's take this closer to home. A decade ago I became entangled in an argument with a guy in the middle of Walmart. The problem arise from him wanting to feed his snake the three kittens he had just gotten from a young girl outside of the store. I overhead him telling his friend, and I do have a temper. The police were called and the cretin was made to go back out to his car, retrieve the kittens, and give them back to the child. When I asked him why didn't he feed his snake freeze dried rats, he whined and told me that they were too expensive. Sorry, then you can't afford the snake.

I have no doubt that you and your daughter are excellent snake owners. It's the other 99% that I worry about.

 

[LesBirdman]

*starry eyed* I wish I lived in a country that allowed such creatures, in Australia we need very expensive permits to keep retics or anything not native, these are gorgeous, especially that purple sunfire!

closest you could get in Australia (power and awe-inspiring wise) is the olive python, which requires a similar license to epilads due to the size it grows to. If I didn;t already own birds my apartment would be slithering with these delights!

 

[LesBirdman]

sorry to double post but the likes have inspired me, I was at the shopping centre near my old place in North Perth and there was a snake keeper with an awareness stand, he had an assortment of epilads (venimous snakes, king browns, dugites, tigers etc.) and a few pythons including two olives, he let me hold one of his 3 metre olives, this thing weighed 8 Kg's and decided my jacket was worth killing with it's tail and I fell in love with it.

He also told me about the time his 3 year old daughter called 000 (Australia's 911) when his 9 metre olive had gotten a little excited and wrapped itself around his neck and forced him to pass out. Luckily she (A three year old girl, mind you) knew what to do and coaxed the python to loosen it's grip while emergency services arrived and did what they needed to do so he could survive after being accidentally strangulated. He works closely with Caversham Park, who deal with rare and endangered native herps and birds to bring awareness of these animals that need to be protected in the wild and cared for in captivity.

 

[Sylvester]

sorry to double post but the likes have inspired me, I was at the shopping centre near my old place in North Perth and there was a snake keeper with an awareness stand, he had an assortment of epilads (venimous snakes, king browns, dugites, tigers etc.) and a few pythons including two olives, he let me hold one of his 3 metre olives, this thing weighed 8 Kg's and decided my jacket was worth killing with it's tail and I fell in love with it.

He also told me about the time his 3 year old daughter called 000 (Australia's 911) when his 9 metre olive had gotten a little excited and wrapped itself around his neck and forced him to pass out. Luckily she (A three year old girl, mind you) knew what to do and coaxed the python to loosen it's grip while emergency services arrived and did what they needed to do so he could survive after being accidentally strangulated. He works closely with Caversham Park, who deal with rare and endangered native herps and birds to bring awareness of these animals that need to be protected in the wild and cared for in captivity.

LOL! I don't understand the fascination regarding these animals. Actually, I do understand the fascination, it is the 'pet part' I don't get. It's not like they are wagging their tails when you get home, or purring while rubbing up against your leg. But to each his/her own.

 

[LesBirdman]

@Sylvester I guess it's the same with people who keep rapotors, falcons, hawks and eagles seem to refuse to accept a dominant human, infact the only way to 'tame' one is to gain the trust in the fact that you will allow it to have access to a consistent food source. Similarly with almost any captive animal of great intelligence like those who keep and train dolphins or seals in aquatic parks and wolves or bears in nature parks.

Edit: Mind you I would love the opportunity.

Second edit: Hell, even cats aren't the most friendly though maybe they can be cuddly when they choose a human.

 

[Sylvester]

@Sylvester I guess it's the same with people who keep rapotors, falcons, hawks and eagles seem to refuse to accept a dominant human, infact the only way to 'tame' one is to gain the trust in the fact that you will allow it to have access to a consistent food source. Similarly with almost any captive animal of great intelligence like those who keep and train dolphins or seals in aquatic parks and wolves or bears in nature parks.

Edit: Mind you I would love the opportunity.

Second edit: HE double hockey sticks, even cats aren't the most friendly though maybe they can be cuddly when they choose a human.

Do snakes even recognize us, or do they only view us as a potential meal? I honestly would trust a tiger more, but maybe that is just mammal understanding another mammal mentality.

It's too bad that your country outlaws the owning of snakes because I think you would be a great owner to our reptile friends.

 

[LesBirdman]

It's too bad that your country outlaws the owning of snakes because I think you would be a great owner to our reptile friends.

Australia is home to a great many deadly species of reptiles, snakes or otherwise.

It doesn't quite outright ban the keeping of snakes, it restricts quite heavily which species you can keep though. It also restricts the importation of species between states.

I live in Western Australia and cannot own a Green Tree Snake despite it being native, because it is native to the northern forests of Queensland.

Mind you, we also impose fairly harsh restrictions on birds, I have recently acquired an Indian Ringneck that will cost me $30AUD a year or $40AUD/3 years to keep in my household. Australian government personel are just very zealous about protecting their native fauna against escaped/released/unwanted non-native wild life I guess.

I can accept this given the fact that Eastern states reptiles are exposed to many fatal/terminal diseases that Western Australian reptiles don't need to deal with due to these quarantine conditions.

 

[Sylvester]

Australia is home to a great many deadly species of reptiles, snakes or otherwise.

It doesn't quite outright ban the keeping of snakes, it restricts quite heavily which species you can keep though. It also restricts the importation of species between states.

I live in Western Australia and cannot own a Green Tree Snake despite it being native, because it is native to the northern forests of Queensland.

Mind you, we also impose fairly harsh restrictions on birds, I have recently acquired an Indian Ringneck that will cost me $30AUD a year or $40AUD/3 years to keep in my household. Australian government personel are just very zealous about protecting their native fauna against escaped/released/unwanted non-native wild life I guess.

I can accept this given the fact that Eastern states reptiles are exposed to many fatal/terminal diseases that Western Australian reptiles don't need to deal with due to these quarantine conditions.

That is understandable. As I noted before on this post that there were knuckleheads who decided to let their big snakes go free in the state of Florida. The impact on other species was devastating.

 

[LesBirdman]

As I noted before on this post that there were knuckleheads who decided to let their big snakes go free in the state of Florida. The impact on other species was devastating.

The reticulated pythons in the Everglades who found a niche there and since have been hunted are a perfect example of this neglected release.

 

[Sylvester]

There are always a few dummies who will ruin it for others. Some genius thought it was cool to introduce the snapping turtle to England.

 

[LesBirdman]

I love the snapping turtle, keeps the noodling scene interesting not that noodling is a thing in motherland England, might keep swimmers from shallow waterways though.

Mind you, there is no forgetting that we are the single most devastating and influential species out there. We should be increasing awareness of these problems to decrease the likelihood of them happening.

The problem lies with those who don't care about our great blue planet and the creatures that share it with us.