Safe handling practice for large snakes - Page 2

SerpentineDream · 07-25-16, 01:29 PM

I see way too many photos of people with large snakes draped around their necks or shoulders. This to me seems like a tragedy waiting to happen. Sure, the snake may be chilling out at the moment, but it only takes an instant for the situation to change and then your neck is suddenly in coils.

sattva · 07-25-16, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannybgoode

I just hope some would be giant owners who do not know what they're getting into read this and think really carefully whether they really want to take on the commitment.

It terrifies me that I can go on Facebook and buy a Retic, Burm, anaconda-whatever with no checks, no questions.

Just daft really.

I'm not necessarily advocating licensing or similar but retics in particular are being over bred to a massive degree. Who's going to buy all these snakes?

There is no doubt about, this is not for everybody! This has to be taken very serious.
Me personally! They don't scare me! I'm 65 with nothing to do but take care of my 3 amigos... And if I die by one I will have a good laugh with god...

trailblazer295 · 07-25-16, 02:18 PM

So this is a no no?

Girl swims with huge Burmese Python | Local News - WMTW Home

dave himself · 07-25-16, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trailblazer295

So this is a no no?

Girl swims with huge Burmese Python | Local News - WMTW Home

Just my opinion but to me that's a very foolish thing to do. You would little to no control over the snake

trailblazer295 · 07-25-16, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave himself

Just my opinion but to me that's a very foolish thing to do. You would little to no control over the snake

My comment was intended as a joke. I'm not a large snake owner but I know that's foolish.

dave himself · 07-25-16, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannybgoode

I just hope some would be giant owners who do not know what they're getting into read this and think really carefully whether they really want to take on the commitment.

It terrifies me that I can go on Facebook and buy a Retic, Burm, anaconda-whatever with no checks, no questions.

Just daft really.

I'm not necessarily advocating licensing or similar but retics in particular are being over bred to a massive degree. Who's going to buy all these snakes?

If you think that's crazy Danny check out what it's like in the south of Ireland no licence needed for anything not even hots. If you can get to the Hamm show in Germany you can have a cobra for your first snake if your mad enough and there's not a thing the law can do about it

dannybgoode · 07-25-16, 03:22 PM

I saw the video of the Burm swimming. Madness but people think it's cool.

@dave. That is bonkers! Darwin award winners abound though. I don't know what the answer is when it comes to giants. The morph craze in particular seems to be pushing the Retic thing and at some point the market is going to implode and there's going to be a ton of very large snakes around that no one wants to home.

Makes the beardie problem seem like nothing!

Trouble is so few sellers vet the buyers. Thing that attracted me to the reptile store I go to is they make it really difficult for you to buy a giant but they're so much in the minority.

Ian of Oldham · 07-25-16, 04:38 PM

Just stop breeding to sale

dave himself · 07-25-16, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trailblazer295

My comment was intended as a joke. I'm not a large snake owner but I know that's foolish.

Sorry mate now I feel foolish :

dave himself · 07-25-16, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannybgoode

I saw the video of the Burm swimming. Madness but people think it's cool.

@dave. That is bonkers! Darwin award winners abound though. I don't know what the answer is when it comes to giants. The morph craze in particular seems to be pushing the Retic thing and at some point the market is going to implode and there's going to be a ton of very large snakes around that no one wants to home.

Makes the beardie problem seem like nothing!

Trouble is so few sellers vet the buyers. Thing that attracted me to the reptile store I go to is they make it really difficult for you to buy a giant but they're so much in the minority.

We vet everyone who comes into the shop I help out who wants to buy any large snake and just flat out refuse anyone who hasn't got a clue. But once the snake leaves the shop it's out of your control and they can do whatever they want

dave himself · 07-25-16, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian of Oldham

Just stop breeding to sale

Sadly mate that's not the way the world works. Normal female retics are selling for £80 that's a snake that has the potential of hitting 18ft and I'm not sure if the seller vets the buyers or not

trailblazer295 · 07-25-16, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave himself

Sorry mate now I feel foolish :

Don't worry man, hard with text to pick up the tone. Cheers

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave himself

Sadly mate that's not the way the world works. Normal female retics are selling for £80 that's a snake that has the potential of hitting 18ft and I'm not sure if the seller vets the buyers or not

No snakes are that cheap here but don't think the market for retics here is big enough. No breeders I'm aware of so any retics are expensive.

Though I've seen a lot of fish sold for cheap red tail catfish (3000g aquarium, couple hundred lbs) silver arowana (5ft and couple hundred gallon min tank) sadly these fish usually die. Unfortunately in the pet trade you can buy anything if you have the cash in your pocket. Even in a province where HOTS are illegal you can buy them if you know where to go and have the cash.

I'd never own giants or hots but keep the pics of your giants coming. Cheers.

bigsnakegirl785 · 07-25-16, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SerpentineDream

I see way too many photos of people with large snakes draped around their necks or shoulders. This to me seems like a tragedy waiting to happen. Sure, the snake may be chilling out at the moment, but it only takes an instant for the situation to change and then your neck is suddenly in coils.

When they get that big, you don't have a choice but to put them on your shoulders if you want to move them around. Around your neck, not so good, but good luck picking up 80 lbs of wiggling zooming snake just in your arms. As far as the neck, it's not a smart idea for even a 4' snake, they could easily cut off the blood flow to your brain even if they couldn't suffocate you. Just make sure the snake is on one shoulder. With such large snakes as adults, I would try not to drape them across the back of your shoulders, since they could still get to your jugular, but it's fine for smaller ones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannybgoode

I saw the video of the Burm swimming. Madness but people think it's cool.

@dave. That is bonkers! Darwin award winners abound though. I don't know what the answer is when it comes to giants. The morph craze in particular seems to be pushing the Retic thing and at some point the market is going to implode and there's going to be a ton of very large snakes around that no one wants to home.

Makes the beardie problem seem like nothing!

Trouble is so few sellers vet the buyers. Thing that attracted me to the reptile store I go to is they make it really difficult for you to buy a giant but they're so much in the minority.

I'm kinda hoping the morph and breeding craze moves towards the super dwarves, a pure or high content SD is 100% manageable by even one person, and there are morphs being bred into them all the time.

When I bought River, I was asked questions about my other snakes and my experience/research, but that's about it. She was being maintenance fed (one fuzzy mouse every 2 weeks, she was 6 months and still only 3'), too, so not too sure how much of a role model they are, but I feel at the very least you should try to get a feel for the person's knowledge before letting go of a giant.

Sublimeballs · 07-25-16, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sattva

There is no doubt about, this is not for everybody! This has to be taken very serious.
Me personally! They don't scare me! I'm 65 with nothing to do but take care of my 3 amigos... And if I die by one I will have a good laugh with god...

Everyone else overlooked this.... maybe it's because I've been involved in the fight to keep my rights to keep these amazing creatures but this statement bothers me. It's nothing to do with fear of the animals, they command respect... you'll see. There should be no lapse in proper safe handeling procedures because they don't scare you or you have no fear of dying by one. To put it bluntly, if you die the people trying to take my right to own these animals in a safe way from me have more ammo to use against me. And this may be completely out of context and not pertain at all to you, but someone will read this and they need know that's not the right mindset with these animals. I work with venomous snake both in captivity and the wild and it's, in my experience, easier to work with hots safely (not the top tier hots) than a male retic in breeding mode, or a tic having a bad day, or any anaconda over 9 feet.

Sublimeballs · 07-25-16, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

When they get that big, you don't have a choice but to put them on your shoulders if you want to move them around. Around your neck, not so good, but good luck picking up 80 lbs of wiggling zooming snake just in your arms. As far as the neck, it's not a smart idea for even a 4' snake, they could easily cut off the blood flow to your brain even if they couldn't suffocate you. Just make sure the snake is on one shoulder. With such large snakes as adults, I would try not to drape them across the back of your shoulders, since they could still get to your jugular, but it's fine for smaller ones.

I'm kinda hoping the morph and breeding craze moves towards the super dwarves, a pure or high content SD is 100% manageable by even one person, and there are morphs being bred into them all the time.

When I bought River, I was asked questions about my other snakes and my experience/research, but that's about it. She was being maintenance fed (one fuzzy mouse every 2 weeks, she was 6 months and still only 3'), too, so not too sure how much of a role model they are, but I feel at the very least you should try to get a feel for the person's knowledge before letting go of a giant.

I think they ment around both shoulder as opposed to the much needed over the shoulder method. There used to be a thread displaying the differences for the prospective buyer.

You're not kidding about SD stuff. My pure kalatoas are comically small, those things are bottomless pits aswell....