Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Steve Irwin was on the Conan O'brien show tonight telling people how a Retic can swallow an adult man. I happen to be a big fan of his but giving this false information is irresponsible in my opinion. It just reinforces more stereotypes and misleads the public. I was suprised since it came from a professional. Just had to vent.

As any Afrock, burm, retic, conda owner knows, a large specimen most likely a female is VERY capable of eating an adult human, in fact it's been done before. Now just because it can or has happend does not mean they should be rejected as pets, only treated with TONS of respect at all times. Ofcourse none of us like to hear people especially respected profesionals talk down the animals we know, but that will never change. People like to hear of violence such as big snakes eating people, not that with respect and care one of these creatures can be turned into a lap snake.

In my opinion, and from what I've heard from professionals, a python won't be able to get past an adult mans shoulders to be able to swallow him. There haven't been any cases of a python swallowing a man. That's more of a Hollywood thing. Now can a man be killed by a python or anaconda? Absolutley, but unless you are a child or generally small framed, the average adult retic/anaconda wont be able to get past the shoulders. Even shows on Animal Planet (certain ones that try to portray snakes as being monsters) have disproven that myth. Everyones entitled to their opinion though.

There have been confirmed cases of reticulated pythons eating adults. There is NO doubt in my mind that they do take people from time to time; many that go undocumented or unverified. Many folks in their native lands are not big in stature so it is very possible. I don't think Steve Irwin was being irresponsible in the least. These are animals that don't make good pets because they can KILL their owner....but, for the very dedicated, responsible and mature individuals, YES, they can be wonderful animals to work. based on the number of burms that end up on our door step every year, most are not capable of giving these animals the proper care on a long term basis.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Lake Forest, IL

I never doubted that they should only be kept by responsible owners and that they have the ability to kill a human. I was just questioning their ability to swallow an ADULT MAN. I have yet to see some sort of documented literature stating specific cases of this. But Im not one to argue with the "Almighty Carmichael" (j/k Rob) Thanks for your input guys. It's good to hear different perspectives on topics.

I think it just depends on what adult man you are talking about...if you are talking about a 6' 300 pound guy than i doubt one could eat a man that size...if you are talking about a small 5' 100 pound man...then i believe it is very possible...alot of people in other countries are alot smaller than people here in the US

Jason

I mostly agree with the original poster. Just because something might be extremely remotely minutely possible doesn't mean it should be spread as fact over a national television audience. Irwin should know well enough already that our animals are totally misunderstood with tons of false information floating around to espouse such info in such a forum. That type of behavior adds to the walls that we must climb as python owners.

Right. I think the statement he made was basically for "shock value". It's what people like to hear because it seems outrageous and impressive. All about entertainment. Im not really bothered that much by it, but my main point was that it was irresponsible to say and more importantly I didnt think it was possible to have an adult man swallowed. I absolutely agree with jason in saying that maybe its possible with a 5 foot 100lb man but not a larger heavier built guy. That was basically what I mentioned before when I said it was dependent on size of the person.

...not Steve Irwin. Every time some idiot burm owner does something stupid to endanger his/her life or the life of another, it makes every headline in the U.S. (and beyond). Every lawmaker sees this type of headling and it gives them fuel to make more restrictive laws. That is the unfortunate thing because there are many responsible owners but too many irresponsible owners to ruin it for everyone else.

I would agree with that by itself however my point was that such information by itself is bad enough but then you have a "respected" herper such as Irwin (who many people know of and see as their only "informant" on reptiles) claiming to a national TV audience that such a snake is capable of swallowing an adult male, its irresponsible. The simple fact that such an occurance would be remote at best adds to the harm caused when she says something like that to the widely uneducated public. I did not see the segment but did he speak of how extrememly rare such occurances are or the physical limitations of such an act? Doubtful....

Ok well i am no expert on retics....but a lartge full grown female retic can usually be over 20 ft. at that length a girth of at least a foot is to be expected. The average man shoulders are around 2 foot. I am only 16 and 6' and 175 pounds and my shoulders are a good 18 inches. I am also bigger than most adult men so i say yes a retic could no doubt swallow an adult man...thats all Irwin said..."adult man" not a huge sumo wrestler...an average adult man...and many people feed adult burms and retics prey 1.5-2x their girth so in my opinoion this can and has been done.
Jake

Maybe Irwin said what he said to scare off potential irrisponsible keepers. I think more people need to be scared out of buying a burm or retic in the first case insead of leaving it on Carmichael's doorstep 2 years down the road. Too many people think its no big deal until they are trying to pull a stubborn 50 pounder out of the cage.

Just my 2 cents
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