Posted on 09/22/2009 12:44:22 PM PDT by JoeProBono
DELTONA, Fla. -- Snake owners say they love reptiles.
The slithery creatures have made local headlines lately after an 18-foot Burmese python was found in the back yard of an Apopka home.
But why do people make the potentially dangerous creatures as pets?
A group of snake owners in Deltona said they just can't get enough of the reptiles.
They're cold-blooded, sometimes poisonous, and depicted as evil, but Ron Doria, a white-collar medical sales director, can't get enough of his snakes.
"They have such a bad rap of being something so vicious and so violent. It's not like that. It's just, it's false," Doria said.
Doria keeps over 40 snakes in his Deltona home. He shares his passion with a friend, Brian Radenberg, who owns over 100 snakes. Radenberg made the news when the city of Deltona tried unsuccessfully last year to force him to get rid of his venomous snakes.
There's also Scott Quint, a software engineer who owns 35 snakes. Why do these men have such a fascination with the animals?
For Quint, it's the science.
"They're beautiful animals. I think, evolutionally speaking, they're one of the most unique animals," Quint said.
For Radenberg, it's the way they feel.
"They just kind of crawl around on you, and I don't know, they're comfortable," Radenberg said.
And for Doria, who owns rattlesnakes, it's the thrill.
"I like the risk, a little bit, of knowing we have something ... control something that doesn't want to be controlled," Doria said.
The men said because they have the proper caging, proper licenses, and the experience to handle snakes, it mitigates any danger. They get frustrated by the negative stereotypes assigned to snake owners....
Snakes are fine but keeping large snakes is foolish unless someone has the money to build a secure habitat for them.
I'll get one when they come with a handler.
I have heard of snakes getting loose from their cages and eating the kids of their owners.
Snakes should not be pets. Period.
Is it OK if I have 100 cats in my house? I think not. These idiots think they are special.
Now there’s a snake!
Really....??
Are you actually saying....I shouldn't have a Garter snake...as a pet.
And are you actually saying...it might eat my kids?
Well...my kids are bigger than a cricket...just to give you some reference.
ROFLOL!!
walking downtown wacko Minneapolis today, I passed an woman with cat glasses (looked alot like SCTV’s Edith Prickley if you remember her) walking 10 weiner dogs on ten leashes.
She was yelling out “Hup two three four! Hup two three four!” Then she’d keep turning around yelling “Maggie! You close your Mouth!” “Hup two three four!...Maggie you close your mouth!”
Look at a profile pic of a gerbil.
Then look at a profile pic of snake.
The answer to the question is left as an exercise for the class.
Maybe we can train ‘em to eat only pit bulls.
We elect snakes as Congressmen and President, why not have one as a pet? The special interest groups do!
A snake is a reptile without the ability to bond or even appreciate the care they get. Don’t feed that big snake an it will start to think of YOU as food.
Sounds like shes overcompensating due to some (most likely suppressed) control issues...
As for me, whenever I have had to make a split second decision, snakes have always lost.
Snakes have a limited cereberal cortex which mean unlike mammals they cannot process empathy as well as things like Cats, Dogs, Ponies, Goats, Gerbils, ect.....
Having a pet snake is like having a pet rock in terms of emotional bonding.
I guess people think they “are cool”.
*Wondering if it tastes like chikin*
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