Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was curious to hear comments about Nigel Marvin's presentation.

I have enjoyed Nigel in the past. However last night he appeared to be almost drunk.

I think that he was very wrong by bringing a Burm from the glades and then stating that there are 50,000 of them in the glades. Then..... it was an aggressive burm. Really not what we need right now.

Aside from that he was very odd acting. He was waving the snakes around and just strange in general.

I was not happy about it, but I guess it made good TV for most.
-----
1.3 Albino Burmese Pythons
1.0 Green Burmese Python Het Albino
0.1 Granite Burmese Python Het Albino
1.0 Albino Boa Constrictor
0.1 Hypo Boa Constrictor
0.1 Het Albino Boa Constrictor
1.2 Purple Albino Retic
1.0 Tiger Retic Het Albino
0.1 Sunfire Retic Het Albino
A lot Ball Pythons
A lot of Corn Snakes
A lot of King & Milk Snakes
0.1 Savannah Monitor
Yes I have the space for these reptiles and yes I am a responsible keeper and breeder!

Well, he DID promote the show coming up, but I think his reactions were for Conan. It reminded me why I have not watched the Tonight show since Leno left. Conan is a complete a@@hole and I can't stand to watch him. Neither Jay Nor Carson would have reacted to the animals the way he did. He must have told Nigel to bring the animals on and he would act like an idiot for him.

That's one big albino he had there, tho.

Conan had nothing to do with that.. in fact he discouraged it.

Sorry, but I saw nothing to indicate that Conan discouraged anything. He played it up for the ratings. I think Nigel knew that Conan would react that way and simply went along with it to get attention for the upcoming show.

Nice to see the Burm took a dump on his desk, though.

i only caught the last part of it but i was quite shocked at how it went down. I totaly understand goofin around a little bit for ratings but that was way to far, Nigel seemed intoxicated in some form or another.

n/p

Laura,

You brought it up. What is your opinion of the show and Nigel?

Rick
-----
1.3 Albino Burmese Pythons
1.0 Green Burmese Python Het Albino
0.1 Granite Burmese Python Het Albino
1.0 Albino Boa Constrictor
0.1 Hypo Boa Constrictor
0.1 Het Albino Boa Constrictor
1.2 Purple Albino Retic
1.0 Tiger Retic Het Albino
0.1 Sunfire Retic Het Albino
A lot Ball Pythons
A lot of Corn Snakes
A lot of King & Milk Snakes
0.1 Savannah Monitor
Yes I have the space for these reptiles and yes I am a responsible keeper and breeder!

I'm not a fan of Conan and can't wait for the Jay Leno show. I don't know if Conan was really scared or acting, but I really don't care, LOL! I like to watch Conan's interviews, but don't care for his monologue.

I posted this on another forum:
"Here's my beef: The reptile community is very tense right now with the python ban popping back into the legislature soon. USARK, PIJAC, and others are working double time to keep the reputation of reptile owners and the animals themselves on a presentable level. I thought Marvin was in line with that sort of thing, but the caliber of his show proved otherwise. A show like that destroys the hard work of many people in 10 quick minutes.

You can be entertaining and in control at the same time. C'mon, a thrashing, striking, pooping python? Are you kiddin' me?"

I'll add my real feelings here:

His water monitor was either obese or swallowing air. The retic was definitely obese. Bringing out snakes and letting them bite you for effect is, in my opinion, poor taste. Handling them in a way that allows them to scratch your neck to the point of bleeding and swinging them toward people's faces is also in poor taste and unprofessional.

Maybe if the political climate was different I wouldn't feel so worked up about it. I do not claim to be a reptile expert, but I have a reptile/science education business. Every time I bring my Burm out, the parents and teachers ask, "Is this the snake that killed that little girl." Then I feel like I'm defending the animal against the irresponsible handlers out there. I take pride in my professionalism and the care of my animals and I felt that Nigel Marvin gave a slap in the face to that level of professionalism.

We had a photo op with Nigel Marvin and hubby wanted to post it on our website as an endorsement. I'm not so sure I want to be linked with him now. He looked like an idiot.

*I want that to read, "Is this the type of snake that killed that little girl?"

Yeah I'm getting pretty tired of having to answer that question also. I've started saying "No we don't keep any coked up boyfriends here" some people get the joke some don't
-----
"We don't inherate the earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children"

I get the joke and think it is a reasonable reply.

Laura - I like your thought out opinion and commentary. I tend to agree. I will be at the NARBC show in Anaheim next week and I plan to let Nigel know what people are saying and ask him his opinion.

If I get the opportunity to do so I'll let you know his comments. The animals on the show were all from Prehistoric Pets with except for the biting burm. The monitor is actually not obese and is extremely calm and a very cool animal. He walk free in the pet store and is very tame and nice (maybe the camera put on the weight). The retic was a lot more obese when Jay got her. He built her a huge room with a pool to swim in etc., and she has lost a considerable amount of weight since then, but still some to go! Jay provided the animals but had nothing to do with the presentation from Nigel.

Jay also does a lot of educational work with schools, etc. I can not believe he is happy with how Nigel presented himself at all.

I am fortunate that I live about 5 minutes from Prehistoric Pets so I get to see these great animals at the Reptile Zoo a few times a week.

Rick
-----
1.3 Albino Burmese Pythons
1.0 Green Burmese Python Het Albino
0.1 Granite Burmese Python Het Albino
1.0 Albino Boa Constrictor
0.1 Hypo Boa Constrictor
0.1 Het Albino Boa Constrictor
1.2 Purple Albino Retic
1.0 Tiger Retic Het Albino
0.1 Sunfire Retic Het Albino
A lot Ball Pythons
A lot of Corn Snakes
A lot of King & Milk Snakes
0.1 Savannah Monitor
Yes I have the space for these reptiles and yes I am a responsible keeper and breeder!

I am somewhat familiar with Prehistoric Pets.

I've heard people in forums say that the monitor was obese, but I also saw it air gulping while sitting on the desk. It had a balloon look and may have just been inflating itself as a stress response, y'know. It was also rather mushy when his hand pressed on its chest, leading me to believe it was more air than just fat.

Feel free to pass on my comments, they are public. I would also be interested in hearing his response since I believe in hearing both sides of a story before making snap judgments.

first impression--what an idiot. He got tagged more times in that short show than I do in a year. He was flinging a freaking mangrove snake at the TV guy (and himself), which is....just wow. I mean, yeah it isn't exactly a cobra, but it is venomous and a bite might be significant. That poor Burmese he was shaking like a rag doll...no wonder it was PO'd. I'd try to bit him too.
I'd heard lots of good about him, but this was the first time I'd actually seen him, and I'm not impressed.
And what sort of idiot feeds a steak to a monitor? I really, really hope that isn't normally part of his diet. If it belongs to PP, then it probably usually gets well cared for I guess.

Although, I do hope my albino retic gets as long as that one they showed *drool*

Wasn't too impressed with Conan either. I mean, jeez, running across the stage to get away?

Having been closely involve with TV over the years, I can only assume Conan told Nigel to play it up with all the animals and that he (Conan) would play it up for "good" TV ratings. Conan looked like a spastic spider, which is normal for him. I don't think Nigel was overly happy with his role in making Conan react the way he did.

Ass I said before, both Leno and Carson would never have reacted the way Conan did. Conan's ratings must be headed for the toilet.

I think Carson always like to have Joan Embry on. From what I can remember Jack Hanna set the modern era standard for the crazy goofy animal guy talk show appearance. I don't know what Jack thinks about the pet trade but he hates AR groups. Irwin raised the bar by becoming the pop star of the animal world with his over the top antics . Now I think everyone is expected to act or thinks they have to act a certain way when the cameras are on. Conan is Unwatchable no matter who's on or what their doing.

Note: Bill Hasst back in 1956 was bitten by a Siamese cobra on national television. They immediately cut the broad cast off .
Hasst has siad it was his worst bite ever.

Ernie Eison
WESTWOOD ACRES REPTILE FARM INC.

I remember Jack Hanna pulling a stupid publicity stunt in Central FL in the late 70's or early 80's. He took a large Burmese python for a swim in Lake Monore (Sanford) and acted as if it tried drowning him in an effort to draw attention to his new zoo location. He has a long history of idiocy.

"Conan is Unwatchable no matter who's on or what their doing."

Ain't that the truth!!! Needless to say, I gladly missed the exploit.

Someone else said, "Conan's ratings must be headed for the toilet."

Headed? Ha! I don't see how the turd has stayed afloat this long.

Later!
HH
-----
Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

www.natures-signature.com

oh...now you can say turd? jk Actually, I looked it up and Dave has passed The Tonight Show for the first time in years.

Is Leno going to be on every night at 10? That's a pretty tough gig. What he's doing has been tried before, by the late Steve Allen. Steve (showing my age) was a genius at what he did, but even he couldn't pull it off for any lenght of time. He used to have Marlin Perkins on a lot, then Jim Fowler.

As a comedy writer, Conan has a history of doing decent work. As a "performer", no.

currious as to if any1 was able to question him about the show and how he acted and what his responce was

On Letterman. While Dave reacted to a pelican sort of foolishly, he did tell Jack that he knew the Matamata turtle was a male because of the concave shell. You could tell Jack was shocked that he knew that.