Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone. I just wanted to share a quick story. Last night we all decided to go to the fair and see what they had this year. Like every year, the available items seem to be the same. On the other hand, they finally gave way and allowed an animal sanctuary to set up a booth. They had a leopard, an american alligator, a lemur, 1 very large burm and 1 very large anaconda. Of course, as soon as I saw scales, I made a beeline to their booth (lol, confessions...). I was amazed as I watched a teenager holding their, at least, 16 foot anaconda for a picture. He soon "handed" him back to the owner of the sanctuary and he then headed straight to talk to me. I literally discussed snakes for a good 15-20 minutes with the owner and a friend of his, holding a 15 foot Burm. After my chat, I really do believe that there are some people out there that do know how to take care of their animals. That's the first time I've EVER heard of an anaconda that never took a nibble off of the owner. It's also the first time I'd ever seen a burm over the 12 foot mark with an age over 5 years. So, to everyone out there who takes good care of their herps...Kudos.

Sam

P.S. The american alligator was spoiled. I'd never seen a herp prefer the rocking position in a woman's arms...I honestly believe that was her baby, lol.

You mentioned "fair" and I was instantly appauled. It's good to hear they really do take care of their pets because usually fairs are horrible with their animals.

DZ

I agree, they usually don't. Forunately, these snakes were from an animal sanctuary. At the fair we also ran into a man with an albino burmese python. Normally, you don't ease into a conversation with "We've got an albino at home, she looks much healthier (and spoiled) than yours", so I let him talk a little. After a few seconds, I was happier keeping my mouth shut than to open it and embarass the man, "This is an albino burmese python. He's about 10 feet right now. He's a little less than 1/4th of the way grown." I fear if I'd have said anything...we'd have gotten into it in the middle of the fair. Sometimes things are best left unsaid. On the flip side, however, this is why we all believe "fair" people are unfair to their animals.

Sam