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Sad news, my one question on this, if you had a love one killed by one of your snakes, would you want it back?...

Pet python kills man in Indiana
Associated Press
LANESVILLE, Ind. - A 14-foot pet python crushed its owner to death, authorities said Tuesday after finding the snake loose in a southern Indiana shed with the man's body.

Patrick Von Allmen, 23, was found Monday evening in the shed near Lanesville, about 15 miles west of Louisville, Ky.

A medical examiner determined that the death was consistent with asphyxiation caused by compression of the neck and chest, said Conservation Officer Mark Farmer.

"When you're dealing with a wild animal species, you take on a certain amount of risk," he said.

Von Allmen had told family members he was going to treat the snake for a medical condition, farmer said. He was alone in the shed with the python for about three hours before his body was found.

Relatives said Von Allmen had 10 to 12 years of experience handling reptiles, according to authorities. The family got the snake as a pet five months ago, Farmer said.

Indiana law does not restrict ownership of snakes, and the python was returned to the family.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/15443701.htm
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Bryan, Atlanta GA

1-0-0 Rescued Ball Python - Apep
0-0-1 Rescued Bearded Dragon - Zeus
0-0-1 Rescued Non-Alpha Green Iguana - Bud
1-2-0 Rescued Rats... no wait... ROTTEN Little Cats - Ra, Bastet, Isis
0-0-1 Rescued Fit and Trim Panda Hamster - Mr. Fluffy
1-0-0 Horse... whoops... BIG Golden Retriever - Jake
0-1-0 Wife
2-0-0 Kids

This is indeed very sad news to hear and its a risk everyone takes when keeping large constrictors. If you use the proper management and handling skills, they can be as safe as any snake but most people don't know how to do it properly. I wouldn't blame someone for not wanting to keep the snake that killed one of their family members...but, people need to understand that it isn't the snake's fault, it was caused by human error.

>>Sad news, my one question on this, if you had a love one killed by one of your snakes, would you want it back?...
>>
>>Pet python kills man in Indiana
>>Associated Press
>>LANESVILLE, Ind. - A 14-foot pet python crushed its owner to death, authorities said Tuesday after finding the snake loose in a southern Indiana shed with the man's body.
>>
>>Patrick Von Allmen, 23, was found Monday evening in the shed near Lanesville, about 15 miles west of Louisville, Ky.
>>
>>A medical examiner determined that the death was consistent with asphyxiation caused by compression of the neck and chest, said Conservation Officer Mark Farmer.
>>
>>"When you're dealing with a wild animal species, you take on a certain amount of risk," he said.
>>
>>Von Allmen had told family members he was going to treat the snake for a medical condition, farmer said. He was alone in the shed with the python for about three hours before his body was found.
>>
>>Relatives said Von Allmen had 10 to 12 years of experience handling reptiles, according to authorities. The family got the snake as a pet five months ago, Farmer said.
>>
>>Indiana law does not restrict ownership of snakes, and the python was returned to the family.
>>
>>
>>http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/15443701.htm
>>-----
>>Bryan, Atlanta GA
>>
>>1-0-0 Rescued Ball Python - Apep
>>0-0-1 Rescued Bearded Dragon - Zeus
>>0-0-1 Rescued Non-Alpha Green Iguana - Bud
>>1-2-0 Rescued Rats... no wait... ROTTEN Little Cats - Ra, Bastet, Isis
>>0-0-1 Rescued Fit and Trim Panda Hamster - Mr. Fluffy
>>1-0-0 Horse... whoops... BIG Golden Retriever - Jake
>>0-1-0 Wife
>>2-0-0 Kids
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

the proper way to handle the large ones so we all know? we could be doing something wrong..i learn things everyday..i personaly never handle them alone i always have someone there with me just incase cause things happen..i have a very ill tempered female retic i will never get rid of because she is so aggresive and shes 15 foot and about 70 lbs..we all have got to be responsable owners..just my thoughts...joe
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wife
snakes
lizards
kids
dogs
cats

I'm not Rob but I can answer that. Once a sanke gets large it is always important to have more than one person present whenever handling or even working in the cage. There is no set in stone method for determining when the snake is to big but a common method is that at 8' an additional person is needed. Then for every three feet after 8' an additional person is required. So for example an 11' would require 3 people and a 14' would require 4. Now in my personal opinion this might be a little excessive but it is always better to play it safe then to risk catastraphe. It is also important then whenever handling them once they are big use utilize proper tools. When removing the snake you should use hooks and shields. The hook can help by helping assist in conditioning the snake. Whenever it feels the hook it will learn that the hook does not represent feeding time. The shield is used to put a barrier between you and the head of the snake while removing. As a rule most snakes are fine once they are out of their cage but can be a little more defensive while they are in their cage. Utilizing these methods will just give you a little extra safety if something was to happen. Hope this helps a little. Todd

Todd, I couldn't have said it better myself. I will also add that despite what may float around, it is always better to feed the snake inside its own cage; safer for the keeper and much better for the snake. That's why Todd mentioned the use of shields as the greatest time of concern is upon the initial opening of the cage; once the snake knows its not feeding time, they usually settle down right away (but a shield is an absolute MUST as Todd mentioned).

>>I'm not Rob but I can answer that. Once a sanke gets large it is always important to have more than one person present whenever handling or even working in the cage. There is no set in stone method for determining when the snake is to big but a common method is that at 8' an additional person is needed. Then for every three feet after 8' an additional person is required. So for example an 11' would require 3 people and a 14' would require 4. Now in my personal opinion this might be a little excessive but it is always better to play it safe then to risk catastraphe. It is also important then whenever handling them once they are big use utilize proper tools. When removing the snake you should use hooks and shields. The hook can help by helping assist in conditioning the snake. Whenever it feels the hook it will learn that the hook does not represent feeding time. The shield is used to put a barrier between you and the head of the snake while removing. As a rule most snakes are fine once they are out of their cage but can be a little more defensive while they are in their cage. Utilizing these methods will just give you a little extra safety if something was to happen. Hope this helps a little. Todd
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

To take this one step further, most large commercial cages and all the cages I have built myself have two doors. I use one door only for feeding. The other door I use for every other aspect of its life. I clean the cage, i change the water bowl and remove the snake from the other door. I have noticed that after a month or two most of the snakes will get conditioned that when the non-feeding door is opened they know that it is not feeding time. Todd

nm
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wife
snakes
lizards
kids
dogs
cats

I may not keep the snake, but I wouldn't let it go into foster care, I would house him or her until I knew for sure that the person who takes the animal could care for it properly. These are wild animals by nature, yes we've brought them into our homes and take care of them, call them our pets, love them, learn their personalities, etc, but they are still wild animals. All animals are a risk, regardless of what they are. Your dog has teeth, your cat has claws, your fish have teeth, etc, accidents can and will happen. It's not the animals fault, it's the humans fault. He went to administer medicine to a snake that's 12-14 feet long, depending on which newscast you listen to, I heard 14 on my local news station (I live in Indy), without a spotter, these snakes can easily overpower any adult regardless of how long you've been handling. I never once handled my burmese without another adult in the room to spot me if I needed help. This was just a mistake with tragic consequences. I wouldn't hold the snake responsible and yes he/she would remain in my household until I found it a qualified owner.

Dear Burm people: The emphasis below is mine, and it's the best I have so far that could demonstrate how the 'Burm vs Retic' question happened. respects, Wes

WHAS (Louisville, Kentucky) 05 September 06 Family says man's snake death "freak accident"
Patrick Von Allmen's love of snakes came from his father, who raised them for years.
Patrick himself grew and built most of the operation inside his shed, spending most of his waking hours down there. It was there last night that one of those snakes killed him.
In photos the coroner shared exclusively with WHAS11 News, you can see inside that shed are about a dozen snakes.
Patrick's 12-year-old brother discovered his body. The python was recovered from a box on a shelf. The family says Patrick was treating the snake for “mouth rot.”
“Whether the boy was attempting to clear the wound, whatever, I have no idea. Possibly the boy was working with the snake, it became agitated. We don't really know. We'll never know,” says Harrison County Coroner Stephen Hamm.
Patrick was planning to breed the female with this male python. Some offspring can fetch about $1,000.
The family says they will get rid of at least those bigger snakes.
The Louisville Zoo no longer has a reticulated python. They do have a 14-foot Burmese python, which is about the same size as the one that killed Patrick.
The zoo says they try to handle it on a regular basis so it's used to human interaction and will not act out aggressively. Zoo policy is for two keepers to handle such snakes in case something goes awry.
The snakes do not actually crush you. It's when you exhale and the breath comes out, the snake will tighten and then it makes it harder for you to inhale and each time you do that, you take less and less air in, until you finally pass out.
Patrick's family says this was not an irresponsible activity. Patrick raised snakes as other family members raised pigeons at their house. In fact, they won some ribbons for their pigeons at the Kentucky State Fair. They say what happened last night was a freak accident.
Family says man's snake death "freak accident"