Hi everyone. First might I say , that I will NEVER do a backround check on anyone that I sell a python to. BUT (big but) I will take the time to inform people to the best of my ability of the respect that these creatures command. I think that the #1 thing that I see going wrong in captive situations of these constrictors is that owners fail to realize these are not the family dog or cat. It is just not acceptable to have a large snake have free range of the home. That (IMO of course) is just asking of disaster. I'm not saying that they should not be in the living room during handling or the bathroom for a soak , but these will be supervised situations. Inexperienced keepers have to be informed that they are NOT doing the snake a favor by giving them free range. Besides the personal risk the snakes probably aren't recieving proper heat and humidity. To me this is one of the most important points to get across because most of the snake "attacks" that I have read about , the animal wasn't
in a freakin cage(and was not just out for handling). I believe one man was killed while feeding a chicken to a cageless snake. And of course there's the girl previously mentioned in the pet shop. The python may , or may not have responded initially to the smell of rodents. This very well could have been a "startled" response. Which brings me to my next important point to explain to people. ALWAYS make sure the snake acknowledges your presence before trying to handle them. I find it's just a common scense rule of thumb to keep implementing , no matter what!!! I just make sure the snakes head isn't near by and gently poke them and then kind of pat them until I know that they are comfortable with being handled. Sorry for the detail , but I thought i'd throw it in here in case somebody doesn't use this type of method or hasn't heard of it before. I think just as there's hunter-safety , courses people should organize simple classes that teach the basics of maintaning large boas and pythons safely and responsibly. I've been thinking about doing it locally.

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• Everyone Please Read - burmguy09, Thu Feb 12 20:31:34 2009