Abit of a vent

[sclark]

Hey all,

Figured since Clay has this new forum up and running I would make a post I was going to earlier today.

I was relaxing abit, watching some TV and put on Animal Planet. They had a show called "The Big Squeeze". I can not tell you how P**sed off I got. They really were trying so hard to give the impression that a Retic could swallow an adult, plus they kept showing freak stories of people that had these calm and loving snakes until the one day when they struck and tried to kill their owners. Not to mention their BS staged figts with the attacking snakes. Lets face it, we all know that having a giant snake can be a bad situation is we are not careful, but snakes already have a bad rap and shows like this just add to the fear some people have. The show made a claim that every year in the US, 2 people get killed by thier pet constrictors. I have not been able to find any real info if this is true or not. I have only been around a few rare cases where a big snake has bit someone, or the worse case was when some local nucklehead was tending to his 14 rabbits in the yeard and came into his house and wanted to play with his 14 foot Bermise Python and guess what, he smelled like rabbit, the snake was hungry and the snake grabbed his hand, wrapped his leggs and swallowed up to his elbow before his brother came in and chopped this poor snake with a cleaver. Lets blame the snake for our stupidity. Give me a break. And thanks to the ignorant local news. They made this story seem like this guy was being a loving owner and the crazy snake planned on eating him. It is unreal. I have not been dealing with snakes as long as some have, but I have some years under my belt as a reptile owner and 2 years doing snake rescue locally. Yes I have been bit by snake that were 10 inches to 6 foot. And even had my ear chomped by a big Iguana. And ya know what, every time I was bit it was my fault. I will say that to my last day on this planet. Even the Iggy I was thinking about taking in as a rescue that a local pet shop asked me to take (the one who lunched on my ear). I say it was my fault because I picked this guy up, not knowing his temperment and let him run up my shirt to bite my ear. Instead of securing him properly and learning him before I allowed myself get in to that situation. Only good thing about that incident was that big boy could have taken my ear off, but he only chomped and released. Gave the back of my ear a wicked bite, and I bled like a stuck pig. But it all healed and I learned.

OK, I am ranting, sorry about that. But just please, if you ever do get hurt by a reptile and have to visit the ER or doctor. Do let your embaressment get the best of you and tell the Dr the truth, not the story where the poor guy egts attacked by this heartless animal.

Have fun with your reptiles. Be safe.

Also, sorry about the spelling, its almost 3am here and I am tired..
Steve

[Barracuda_41]

Re:Abit of a vent

b25.gif Very nice Steve, you know alot of people do get bit because they didnt wash there hands befour handling there snake and that snake picked up on the smell. There is alot of ways to handle a lizard without getting bit and to calm it down.. People dont understand rep's like they should and just asume that they are all sweetie pies and that they could never get bit.. I remember the time they had a story on the tube about a baby that got eattin by a Burm...All the b10.gif s5.gif that went around about that story was just unreal.. Everytime someone talks about these stories they get changed and made worse than it really is.... My kids was both thaught to wash befour and after handling all animals and also never to put any near there face and to fully know what they was doing when handling any of the animals.. Even a small turtle can bite the end of a finger off if its having a bad day or feels threatend.. Most these animals that are hard to work with and people think they just have a bad attitude is because there scared or feel threatend... "And wow the new forums looks great Clay"!!!!!!!!! ;D

[T.C.]

Re:Abit of a vent

Okay I understand that these programs go a little overboard and do some blowing up on a story to make it sound better, but Steve I must break the news to you and I'll try to do it gently. The average on death by constrictor is in fact 2 a year, but that is the entire US. That is the 10 year average though. One may bite it one year and two another, but when you average it out it comes to 2 a year. It is absolutely true that these are the result of stupid people not doing what they are supposed to. And the parents of that baby from last year I believe the incident occured, but the parents were charged by the local police because that was the second child they had killed that way and the situation was sketchy to say the least. Basically they fed their child to the snake.
As far as the Retic thing...YES a Retic can devour a person. Maybe not so much the smaller ones that you'd find in captivity, but the 30 foot monsters in the wild can swallow and digest a person. Think about how a snake can take a pey item ten times the size in girth of their head and they are a good 25 to 30 feet long in the wild as a norm. The average person is from 5'7" to 6'3" unless your talking about their region where people tend to be thin and short. Think about it. Retics and Anacondas are roughly in the same size bracket in the wild. They can and probrably have eaten people in the jungles. Just because there is no proof that people have been eaten there have been eye witness accounts of such things that were unable to be proven because the witness was drunk or high or just a crazy babbling village person that was unreliable. I didn't care for the way the show went, but they were not dishonest in their reports. They just need Steve Irwin or Jeff Corwin to come on after and tickle the chin of a retic and say "See these cuties can be big love cuddles" And leave it at that.
It is also a fact that 91 out of every 100 attacks by a snake, the person involved is intoxicated.

[Slither]

Re:Abit of a vent

Now that I am a retic owner and see how big of prey they really can eat (mine ate a rat that was 1.5x his girth by folding it in half and eating it from the middle making it 3x his girth) I have no doubt in my mind that he could eat me (5'10" 160 pounds) when he is full grown. I think retics can eat larger prey than any other snake around (just my opinion). I have seen retics eat 100% of their weight before.

As for the show I think it concentrates on the bad aspects of these creatures and insinuates they will attack you when you least expect it. The fact does remain that in each of the circumstances it was always the owner's/handler's fault and that fact was either withheld or barely mentioned in that show. If they would only mention the fact that there are only two reasons a snake will bite you (fear and mistake for food (ok 3 if you count gravid)) it would make things a little better.

I would really like to see a show done which portrays (sp) real snake owners (knowledgable ones that is) and shows people how to respect them and take care of them. Better yet a show exclusively about one of the top name breeders, how he takes care of his snakes, his thoughts, etc. etc. Of course that won't ever happen. :P

[sclark]

Re:Abit of a vent

Like I said I couldn't find any info on if two people per year were really killed by their constrictor pets. But TC said he is aware of it. so atleast I know now. But one thing I might argue abit about is if a full grown retic could swallow a normal adult male. Frowm what I have read and it was even stated on that show last night. A full grown retic or Green anaconda could not get out shoulders down. Let face it I wouldn't want to be the one the snake tries to swallow :P

I just wish that the people who report on these happenings had abit of commen sence. They do nothing but work the fear angle. I do some education on snakes here locally in NY. I visit schools, Let strangers come over and I talk about my snakes and snakes in general, etc. It is amazing what some people think about snakes. Maybe we should pass a law that if you want to own a snake you have to pass an IQ test..LOL

Steve

[redtailedmel]

Re:Abit of a vent

lol id personally take an iq test lmao my iq is 145 though so i wouldnt be sweating it. but here is my 1 and a half cents. i love my snakes but.... i own smaller snakes, my 2 babys both male will only average 7-9ft that is plenty big enough for me! my hubby and i work different shifts sometimes and id rather not own anything i couldnt really handle alone if i had to. i think the larger snakes are very pretty but just not something id like to have in my home. im responsable enough know that what i have now is all the size i need.

[sclark]

Re:Abit of a vent

Hey Redtailedmel,

I am with you on the size. My lagerst snake will get about 12 foot, thats the surinams, but most are smaller. I just figured if people want giant snakes, they should have some brains. I know several folks that own Burmise, retics. rocks and anacondas. Even a few on this forum like Slither, Baracudda, but I know that have a brain and know what to expect. And something tells me if they get tagged, they are not gonna be out telling all the news cameras that the snakes was just evil..

Certain things rub me wrong and they way they portraid the snakes in the show made me sick.

May be interested to know that they said the retic is by far the most likley snake to try and kill a human. For what thats worth..

Steve

[SnakeDan]

Re:Abit of a vent

I too saw the same show . It was definently distorting the facts of reptile behavior. Yes , snakes do bite their owners , but what did these owners all have in common?They all were lax in their methods. That is how almost all accidents occur , reptile or not .
These programs don't tell about how many good snake keepers there really are out there .
As for stupid people. Being a co-owner in a auto repair bussiness, I get to deal with them all too often . No, there wouldn't be any "useless" laws on the books without stupid people . But someone has to save them from natural selection .
That show and other one sided viewpoints will always haunt our hobby .
I guess all we can do is help educate the dumb ones ,so they don't get too much dumber and cuase us all more problems in the future.

Later on,
Dan


PS Natural selection may not be such a bad idea for some of these stupid people that we always hear about.....

[Barracuda_41]

Re:Abit of a vent

8)Hey Steve, now if i get taged by my tiger retic il be tellin ya Ouch, Ouch, Ouch,,stupid me.. :-\ LOL!! No seriously i have been working with extremly large snakes for a very long time and i always have someone with me when doing so.. My retic is always in strike mode when i open the cage door , he gets his head pushed to the side with a snake hook, then moved to the side of the door then pull him out and work with him.. Never do i let any of these snakes close to my face and i always watch there moods and movements. Do i ever expect to get bit, oh ya sooner or later by accident one will tag me reguardless. But someone will always be there with me for help.. Will i be mad at the snake, no.. will i be cryin my brains out to the world, no.. will i be spuing nasty dirty words at my better half snakeman JR, YOU BET YA!!!! LOL!!!!!! ;D :P

[Slither]

Re:Abit of a vent

But one thing I might argue abit about is if a full grown retic could swallow a normal adult male. Frowm what I have read and it was even stated on that show last night. A full grown retic or Green anaconda could not get out shoulders down.

This retic is only 3 foot long and the rat is easily 1.5x his girth when NOT folded in half as it is when he ate it.

http://www.bobclark.com/bcforums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12940&FORUM_ID=11&CAT_ID=13&Topic_Title=Retic+Eating+Hard+Way+%2AModem+Warning+19+PICS%21%2A&Forum_Title=Picture+Forum

Or better yet check out this link! Can you say, "I can eat 100% of my body weight!"

http://www.bobclark.com/bcforums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3030&FORUM_ID=11&CAT_ID=13&Topic_Title=BIG+meal+for+a+retic%21&Forum_Title=Picture+Forum

Still doubt they could get the shoulders down when they are full grown? I know I don't!

[sclark]

Re:Abit of a vent

Hey Slither,

I still am not 100% on that. Its ok to disagree..

The show was saying that a full grown retic can eat an adult analope. They are not as wide as a adult male. It showed a 29 footer that was huge eating one and trust me when I say it took about 10 trys to get it down and took forever to eat it. They also stressed the fact that a full grown Retic can only swallow something 3 times their head. Keep in mind its a real big head..LOL But they said it could eat a small person or maybe a thin girl, but couldn't get the shoulders of an adult male past its mouth. Like I said I wouldn't want to be the one to see if he could fit me in its mouth. My shoulder, side to side are about 24 inches and I am about 10-11 inches thick from front to back. Thats abit big for a snake in my oprion. I persoally don't see myself owning a regular retic, but that is mainly because every one that I have dealt with was very pissy and wanted to get a bite on me in a bad way. the longest I have removed for the local animal shelter was 17 foot long and didn't want to leave with me. It took 4 adult guys with me to get this bad boy in the sack and he was flinging us around like we were rag dolls. No fun..

I may be wrong on this, but like I said, wouldn't want to be the one to prove it..LOL

Steve

[Barracuda_41]

Re:Abit of a vent

I dont doubt it, look at the ones that can down those antalope with horns, now i think if they want to eat it they will no matter how big it is, they are way to capable of streching those jaws to epic praportions... :-\

[T.C.]

Re:Abit of a vent

[quote author=sclark link=board=18;threadid=2293;start=msg14454#msg1445 4 date=1054150880]
Frowm what I have read and it was even stated on that show last night. A full grown retic or Green anaconda could not get out shoulders down. Let face it I wouldn't want to be the one the snake tries to swallow :P
Steve
[/quote]

Hey Steve if this shoulders thing is accurate how do you explain the long horned Gazelles that retics take down. Their horns are out there alot more than our shoulders. Not to mention with their power they would just crush our shoulders into little pieces either before swallowing or during the swallowing. Plus move your arms and shoulder blades to the middle of your back(I hope you know what I mean) and you'll see you know are just as wide there as your waist. A retic or a Green could swallow a person with no problem provided they were of the larger ones. Okay got a plan we grab lets say hmmmm Benttoe and take him to the Amazon since that is closer. We dangle him in the water along the river and hope we get an anaconda to eat him before something else does and then we'll have first hand knowledge. ;D I think that would be a great idea!
Hey Benttoe are you up for a little vacation. :P