All that you say here, with your statistics and figures can not be deduced from taking in 35 rescues anually in one reptile center in one city in one state. How can you say that more than 50% of "all burms" will be abandoned regardless of value? Or that 99.9% of all burmese purchasers have no business buying them? How do you reach these statistics? Honestly, I have no clue. I have to STRONGLY disagree with ALL of it. In my 30 years of keeping and 20 years of breeding I have witnessed more positive results. MUCH more often than not the people love and respect the animal and learn about it and keep it for the length of its lifespan. Furthermore, I know several people that run rescues in my state and high end morphs are not abandoned. When was the last time you took in an albino retic?



And to say that it is the breeder, pure and simple where the problem lies. How do you come to this blanket statement conclusion? I know a lot of breeders besides myself that would not sell their offspring if they thought there was even a remote chance that the owner was not a suitable reptile keeper in it for the duration of the snakes' life. I personally would refuse to sell something to a person if they seem like they would be the type to abandon it at any point and I make it VERY clear that I will take the snake back at any time in the future if they choose to not have it anymore AND to give them fair trade-in value on something else so they are not out any purchase price.



And how can you state that the pet shops aren't the problem with the exception of bad advice?? It is the pet shops that sell any given animal to any shmoe that has enough money. The pet shops are the single most damaging contributor to any existing abandoned reptiles problem in my opinion. That's common sense! When a person goes to a private breeder they generally know what they want, what it is, and how big it gets and the WHOLE 9 YARDS. And let me tell you something else,.. I have known a lot of people over the last 20 serious years of my reptile keeping experience and none of them have abandoned the burmese that they got in the early 80's. In fact, I have never known anyone personally that has just abandoned their burms in a shelter. Anyone I have ever known would take the time to find a good home with a capable herper if changes in their lives forced them to get rid of their reptiles. I still have many reptiles that I had in the 70's and 80's and 90's. When I retire breeders or the market doesn't warrant producing that animal anymore I still keep them as pets and take good care of them. They all have names and are greatly valued to us. And I know that I am certainly not the only person like this. I won't ever abandon any of my pets/breeders, and I can think of a number of people on this very forum that I just KNOW will still have their retics and burms 20 years from now. And if they breed their snakes I would wager that they would place their offspring in good, capable homes. It is the @$$hole breeders that sell all their offspring to lousy pet shops that contribute to any abandonment problems. Not the folks that love and respect the reptiles and the hobby.



I still can't believe you posted this. Good day.





>>You are absolutely right. In the world of herpetoculture, it is, for the most part, all about being the "first" to breed a certain morph and making the almighty dollar. The "Lab" burm is a beautiful morph and one of my favorites because it maintains the "natural" color variants of the types of burms we typically see in the wild. Personally, though, I still find a nicely patterned and colored "normal" burm to be the creme de la creme of beauty in this species. But, you can't make money breeding normal burms so we set our sights on the newest morphs. Labs don't make money any more so it's on to the next "project". So where does it all stop? It doesn't! The cycle will continue as long as breeders are making money completely ignorant (perhaps deliberately so) of the fact that most of the burms, regardless of how much they cost, will eventually become abandoned. My stats at the wildlife center will prove this point. I realize this is far from what you originally answered as I know that this is far beyond the scope of your question, however, I just wanted to vent a bit (please accept my apologies for using your question to stage a bit of a rant). It isn't the folks buying burms that are teh problem. It really isn't the pet stores either (even though they don't help the situation with their utterly bogus advice that many give). Heck, I wouldn't even say it is the filthy reptile swaps (one that is close to me) that are the major source of concern. It is the breeders plain and simple. Now, guys, before you take your shot guns out and point them at my name on the screen, lets face reality. We pump out burms as if they are corn snakes. I breed snakes too (but stick with herps that the "average" person can handle). Irregardless of our intentions and how well we "educate" our customers, a burm is a burm....meaning, a burm is going to get big and ALL of the education in the world isn't going to help the 99% of the people wishing to get a burm but shouldn't. That leaves a lot of homeless burms to deal with! Don't get me wrong. I LOVE burms and absolutely LOVE working with them. They are a major attraction at our wildlife center because people love to see big snakes BUT, they simply don't make good pets because MOST people just don't put in the time, energy, resources, commitment, eye for detail and safety that is needed to keep them responsibly. So, should people not keep burms? Absolutely NOT...if someone truly wants to keep a burm I think that is great and their right to do so. Does this mean that breeders shouldn't continue to pump out tens of thousands of baby burms each year? NO. But what I am saying is that we need to be willing to admit where the problem lies. But, then again, maybe spending 6 hours in blazing 100 degree heat as part of my field research (long term herp survey) has taken its toll on my good judgement.

>>

>>Rob Carmichael, Director/Curator

>>The Wildlife Discovery Center - City of Lake Forest (IL)
-----
If 50% of one's enemies are still breathing,... it just means you're doing a half-assed job.

[ Show Entire Thread ]