Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Same post in Retic forum

I recently had a thought I'd like your opinion on. It seems to me (perhaps inaccurately) the incidences of pythons killing their owners are overwhelmingly Burmese Pythons and not Reticulated Pythons. Do you agree or disagree?

Secondly, why do you suppose this is? It's my understanding Burms are more "easy-going" while Retics have the reputation of being more aggressive. If that's true, why wouldn't Retics be the aggressors? (I have very limited experience with Retics, while I do have experience with Burms.)

And third, with several new Retic morphs established, do you think we'll see a shift in headlines from Burms to Retics? Assuming more people are keeping Retics now than before.

I'm making several assumptions here. Feel free to prove me wrong, set me straight, share your opinion or anything at all. Just wondering...

Oh-It's also my hope there is never another death caused by ANY pet, especially one in our industry. I hate it when we make headlines, cause they're not often good.

Headlines I gathered from a quick google search of pythons killing their owners.

BURM:

http://www.anapsid.org/nyburm.html

http://www.anapsid.org/coloburm.html

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6620394.ece

http://arachnophiliac.info/burrow/news/burmese_kills_owner.htm

RETIC:

http://www.sareptiles.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=3127

I think the main reason is that every year countless pet stores all over the country sale cheap normal and albino baby burms to countless idiots that don't have a clue about the animal.

Low I.Q. big powerful animal = disaster.

retics on the other hand are not nearly as popular in pet stores and most morphs are out of the price range of the average high school drop out.

Yes, I do believe that there are more cases, at least within recent years, involving Burms than Retics.

"Secondly, why do you suppose this is? It's my understanding Burms are more "easy-going" while Retics have the reputation of being more aggressive. If that's true, why wouldn't Retics be the aggressors?"

I believe that because of the differences that you pointed out Burms are normally considered to be the better pet. Also, Burms are the overall largest of the two, making them more appealing to some people. Thus we have more people keeping Burms. However, Burms aren't the problem. The keepers in the unfortunate circumstances are the problem.

Some keepers may be good keepers that just let their guard down. We all get slack in one thing or another, from time to time. And yes, some keepers in those situations are/were flat out imbeciles.

In these situations I don't believe that the cost of either species, and/or morph, is a factor when it comes down to choosing between a Burm and a Retic. With that said, as long as people keep over-breeding Burms and dumping them on the street for a mere 50 bucks, we're bound to see more unfortunate circumstances. Not only that, it also doesn't help protect our investments.

"And third, with several new Retic morphs established, do you think we'll see a shift in headlines from Burms to Retics? Assuming more people are keeping Retics now than before."

I doubt it. Most of the injuries/deaths are related to the most common morphs. Plus, Burms are more powerful than Retics and keepers of Burms tend to be more relaxed in their procedures than keepers of Retics.

Have a good one!
HH
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