Reptile & Amphibian Forums

There is a show on right now. I tuned in figuring it would be an interesting documentary on large constrictors, but instead it talks about how dangerous boas and pythons are in captivity. It mentions how Burmese are responsible for the deaths of the most pet owners each year! It also states that Green Anacondas have a determination to eat humans and they judge the size differance between men and women (Yeah, a determined snake with judgemental capability). I am not even done watching the show and I am allready furious.

I allready live in a city with strict exotic animal laws, and this type of show is what makes other citys do the same. These shows are based on opinions rather then facts becasue that will draw in higher ratings.

I just want to rant a little. I pretty much own at least one of each species listed on this show and I know many others that do also. This is the type of misinformation that causes the responsible keepers to get into trouble, and somehow it has to end. I wish I knew how we could make that happen.
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Billy
Reptile World
http://www.reptile-world.net

If you are talking about "the big squeeze" then i think you got some of the facts wrong. NO, the show didn't give a completely positive view on big constrictors, but it did not claim they were evil by nature. Numerous times the show pointed out that when these animals hurt people, it's usually because of poor decisions by the owner and the animal simply acting on instinct. The show displays the best ways to get a constrictor off of you without hurting it (alcohol, warm water, unwrap from tail first). They even had a cop on the show pretty much saying he didn't have a problem with people owning these snakes as long as they take the proper precautions (two people present when handling). I think we can all agree with that opinion. THey never said the anaconda judged between male and female humans. They simply said that they will kill something before knowing whether or not they could actually swallow it. They said that if there were a "Voluptuous" women or "broad shouldered" man, they probably wouldn't be able to swallow them. The show is actually very informative, especially if you don't know much about snakes. SUre, they use the sinister sounding narration and cheesy overly dramatic reenactments, but it was overall a decent show.

Oh yeah, one more thing. They said that they were responsible for about 1 to 2 deaths per year, NOT the most deaths per year.

No, actually they quoted over 20 deaths per year just from burmese. I also stated as an example that they said the anaconda could determine between a large male and small female. I didnt mean to sound like I said they can determine sex.

Either way, we could have done without this show. It still had more negative misinformation then facts, and the negative information is what all the idiotic people who watch the show will remember.
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Billy
Reptile World
http://www.reptile-world.net

I'd like to know where they got the statistic of 20 deaths per year by burmese pythons. I have done ALOT of research on this and the most i can find is 1 death every 1.5 years. Now dogs kill 15 people per year, but not burms. This is only in the United States, i'd don't know about the rest of the world. Did they say the 20 deaths was in the US or the entire world?

n/p
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Billy
Reptile World
http://www.reptile-world.net

Unless someone can sho me the documentation from a reliable source, i'm sticking to 1 death every 1.5 years. If they accounted for 20 deaths a year in this country, no one would be able to own these snakes anywhere.

Do you remember the name of the show?

I posted this same message on a few boards. On the Boa Forum, someone mentions a date that the show will re-air. I think it is this sunday, but you can double check over there.
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Billy
Reptile World
http://www.reptile-world.net

network: Animal Planet
series: The Big Squeeze

episode: The Big Squeeze
rating: pg | cc

... The Big Squeeze The Big Squeeze. How does it feel to be squeezed to death by the largest snakes on earth? Go on a journey inside the killing coils of giant ...

airing: — Jun 01 2003 @ 02:00 PM [ remind me ]

i found this on the animal planet website. I would say the adverstistment for this show isnt very good for snakes either. "Go on a journey inside the killing coils of giant ..."
a healthy respect of large snakes is good but trying to scare people is not

Rob Woods

I agree with repti world. I also live in a city where there are a lot of laws against large constrictors and all this episode did was give people more of a reason to hate our hobby. The only good thing about the show was incase of being constricted it stated what to do.
Brian

I saw this show several months ago so I don't remember all the details but after watching that show I was afraid of snakes....lol
You make some interesting points and I would agree some of the information wasn't half bad but over all it put owning these large snakes in negative light. As I remember the scrub story was very rediculous. They had a guy in the hospital that was bitten on the face and constricted by his large burmese, but he didn't have one scratch on his face. Also, how many people here really think a retic could chase down a monkey like they said they do? I remember they said that retics regularly hunt down people or something along those lines as well. I don't doubt that it could happen, but they say it like it happens all the time when there is no proof of that.
The overall message I got from the show was that if you own a large snake expect it to try and kill you sooner or later and I think something like that might have even been said towards the end of the show. So, even if there was some good information they don't portray these snakes in a realistic way which I think isn't fair. Maybe you don't see anything wrong with feeding on the publics fear of snakes. Unfortantly for me because of my neighbor's fear of snakes I almost lost my right to own anything over 5 feet. He is still actively giving the city council with as much dirt on these snakes he can get as well the homeoweners board in the community I live in. He's doing all this and he has never seen one of my snakes in person. So, if I had my way I would have made the show a little more balanced. Yes they did have some good tips and a information, but it wasn't very balanced.
I don't deny that these snakes can potentially be dangerous, but with a few simple precations I they are for the most part safe to keep. That's just not the message you get from that show. I'm done rambling.

Thanks,
Ben

The show did have some good points, and it also had a couple of really experienced handlers. The overall theme of the show was to play on peoples fear of snakes and portray them potential killers, which they are. They could have done a better job at giving the hobby a better name, but that wouldn't entice viewers. Most of the people who claimed to have been attacked shouldn't have had those big pythons to begin with. It wasn't a show you would want your neighbor to see than walk out in their yard and see you exercising your 16' burm.

bily,i agree with you exactly.except i only own blood and burmese pythons,and a red tail boa ,well for now atleast,i will own more as i go,funds and space are keeping me from doing so.