Thanks Rob, I was just on the verge of posting a new topic to you simply suggesting that we bury the seemingly insignificant hachet, that we don't agree on the cause of the very problem that we both obviously care so very much about. It suddenly struck me as so very ironic that we could waste precious time and energy with *almost* irrelevant details when we are both on the same side with the same concerns. Besides which, I like and respect you greatly and something about it just felt very wrong deep inside.



I think I might be a little more optomistic about the issue with whether or not there are enough good homes for these snakes and future snakes yet to be born. It's a growing hobby and I see growing interest all the time. Genuine interest often bordering on obsession. I see new faces every week and my take on it is that every year there is a whole new "generation" of would be snake fanatics. I'll never forget when I was a boy in the mid 70's and I got my first burmese. I was too young, by most standards, and even my own standards now with what I know,.. but nobody knew it then and I got them as a result. I'll never forget the feeling that I had inside. I can't really describe it, but it was a feeling of pure knowledge that I just knew at that moment that I would be in this thing and have these animals for the rest of my life. When I voiced this the older people around me (adults) chuckled in a condescending and "knowing" way and informed me that I would grow out of my phase,. would get into girls and forget all about keeping these silly pets. I tried in vain to better explain how I KNEW that I would never outgrow it, but they knew more than me, you see, and they wouldn't have any of my babbling nonsense. Well years passed and indeed I did change and find that girls were very interesting, but I found a clever way to have two major interests, lol. To just do it. And I would never sacrifice the one for the other. To me my animals came first. Well, life went on and I finally realized it was best to look for girls with the same interests. After this life was purrfect. It was so simple and easy I suppose it was just automatic. Not that I would have ever compromised my animals for anything. They are my life and I love them and would do anything in their best interest. Heck, I have sold my home before to move to a better place JUST for the betterment of my animals before. And I would do it again in a heartbeat if I needed to.



The point to my long and boring story? That I honestly believe that each and every year there is a new group of teenagers reaching the age where they are old enough to raise a burmese (or other python) that would have the same love and dedication as I did/do. I believe this wholeheartedly. Even if they don't know it,. they are there. And it's my job, and other breeders' jobs to reach out and find them and cultivate and nurture future reptile lovers out of them. This is where the "good homes" are to be found. Homes that don't even exist yet. Herpers that aren't even herpers yet. The same as you inadverdantly do when you have a presentation at a local junior high school. Maybe one kid in the crowd of 30 might suddenly have something go off inside of him or her. They might see this and suddenly know what they want to do or what they want to have. The same goes with people that trickle through your wildlife/reptile center. So I am really glad that people like you are out there doing what you do. I'd have to say that those ripples become tsunamis in a very positive way. So there is hope in my book. And I intend to do everything in my power in my lifetime to make as many changes for the better wherever there are problems or suffering animals. And I feel that all of this will branch off geometrically too and that more people that share these concerns will do their parts too, and so on. So yes, I certainly feel there is hope and that any existing problems have only a limited time before they are solved by folks that care.





>>You are right and I certainly don't want to down play the importance and great strides that folks like you (and I and many others) have done with captive breeding. There's no doubt that we wouldn't have the quality that we have today if it wasn't for captive breeding. But, I suppose, that there just seems to be a flooded market of BURMESE pythons....it is a much different ball game than say, olive pythons, carpet pythons, bloods, borneos, etc. That is really my biggest concern....just too many burms and not enough GOOD responsible homes for them (even if someone is willing to pay a big price). Yes, I am aware of the various market variables; if we stop breeding burms, we can and will import them, get inferior quality and bad tempers and on and on. I simplified the problem quite a bit in order to make my point but I realize that it is a VERY complex issue. It just frightens me a bit to see how many burms, retics, rocks, anacondas are produced on an annual basis when we barely have enough good homes for the ones that are abandoned. So, keep up your hard work and visionary ideas...I really do hope that they pan out and perhaps influence other breeders of giant snakes. That's the kind of out of the box thinking that could make positive changes.

>>

>>Take care, Rob
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If 50% of one's enemies are still breathing,... it just means you're doing a half-assed job.

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