Jed, Jed, Jed...

Where to start?

"My wife and I have a 4-year old son and are expecting our second in November"
Congratulations - raise your kids and quit whining. There are a lot of us who can't have and may never have kids. I compensate by keeping cats and snakes.

"...some of the larger species of snakes and Monitors become aggressive"
DUH!
No, really - they can and sometimes do. Mind you this is not a put-down of any snakes or their keepers. All snakes, lizards, and reptiles are wild animals. They can be habituated to human contact, never tamed. The creatures you mention are large, carnivorous, predators. Both snakes are specialists in taking large mammalian prey - a 10 lb baby or 75 lb child is right in the size range they like. The monitor is a generalist that will eat anything it can catch and kill.

"... to allow a child to have the ability to handle such an exotic would be like giving them access to a loaded gun in the home."
Worse, actually. Guns are inanimate objects - they can't do anything by themselves. Guns don't escape, get hungry, or constrict and eat people. Predatory reptiles can and do injure and kill people - especially children and babies.

Every year there are stories about tragedies involving people and large constrictors. In most cases, the snakes are allowed to run loose, or get loose, mistake the person for prey, and do what comes naturally. This almost never ends well for either party. Many keepers have been overpowered and in several cases, assistants had to kill the animal to save the persons life. No one should ever try to handle any of these animals unassisted. A simple mistake can quickly escalate into a life-or-death situation.

Your choices...

Reticulated Python - It is very well documented that retics kill and eat humans. They grow fast - easily reaching 10 ft within a couple of years. A 10 ft retic is strong - very strong, and hungry.

Anaconda - Human deaths and ingestion are recorded in the literature. This is a difficult snake to keep in captivity, even for experts. Like the retic, it will quickly outgrow any practical aquarium, and become more than one person can safely handle. It is also the largest, and most powerful snake on the planet. In the wild they capture, kill, and eat 150 kg capybaras. (Think sewer rat from hell.)

Water Monitor - One of the largest and most difficult monitors to deal with, second only to the Komodo in potential danger to humans.

"... would never be careless enough to let it go."
Uh-huh. Yeah. Sure. Every few weeks there's a story in the papers about so-and-so's retic, bumese, boa, or rock that got loose and had to be recaptured by the cops, fireman, etc. Or worse, that was killed by someone.

KNOW THIS - an enclosure can be made escape-proof, but it CAN NOT be made idiot proof. Probably 80% of escapes happen because the keeper simply forgot to secure the door. All snakes are escape artists extraordinaire - if there is a way out, they will find it, and you wont know it until its too late. Finally, no enclosure can be made tamper proof - what kind of stuff did you get into at 4 years old? At 6? At 8? In 4 years, that 2 ft baby retic will be pushing 12 ft - how big will your kids be?


"I Could really use some advise..."
Ok, here goes...

1. Please, DO NOT keep a large constrictor or monitor in the same building as your children. It is a risk you have no right to assume.

2. If you really want a snake, think native, nonvenomous, and reasonably sized for a child to handle. After all you are getting it for the boy aren't you? What's the point of getting a snake for a boy if he won't be able to handle it?

3. Kings, Corns, Rats, Bulls, Balls, all come in many beautiful and exotic varieties, and all are no threat to you or your family.

4. If you simply must have something like a big retic, have a separate building for it - not the garage, not the basement, not anywhere near your children. Be prepared. These animals are not easy or cheap to keep, can live 20 years, and zoos just aren't interested in taking them off your hands when they hit 20 ft, 225 lbs, and want a 30 lb pig every month. Oh, BTW, what goes in, must come out. Hope you don't mind really, really big poop.

5. The things that can happen when giant snakes and monitors are kept in homes with babies and children are the stuff of nightmares. This just the kind of thing you see on CNN and in the National Enquirer. All of us, amateur and professional alike, are smeared by the same tar brush when one stupid mistake occurs.

Oh, and
6. Never post your email on the web, unless you really like spam.

THINK, THINK, THINK!

JPD
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I am so not lesdysxic!

0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake "Yolanda"
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake "Steely Dan"
0.1 Desert Kingsnake "FATTY"

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