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....
(I never noticed it...)
Why snakes as pets?
Well, they are a lot like orchids.
Most of them are quite beautiful animals in an exotic and different way. If you can get beyond the “snake reaction”, just look at the colors and patterns. They are not for everyone, but they are interesting and challenging enough for the person drawn to something different.
They require very little care -— just feed them once a week. They actually do recognize their owners, and respond differently when someone they know or some “other” handles them.
Most snakes kept as pets are neither overly large or poisonous, and pose no threat to anyone. It is only the really big or dangerous snakes you read about, but the vast majority of pet snakes are small mouse eaters that grow no larger than 4 feet and couldn’t hurt you if they tried their best at it.
title edit.
Why do people make good pets for big snakes?
I would agree that no one should have large snakes. Once they get past three feet or so, they should be given to a zoo or something.
Amazingly, those who have snakes as pets get quite attached to them. My son has had snakes as pets, but never kept them past a certain size. It always killed him to get rid of them because he got so attached, but he knew it was better for him and them.
“”I like the risk, a little bit, of knowing we have something ... control something that doesn’t want to be controlled,” Doria said.”
Hell, I just got married for this feeling...
Train them to eat Nanny-Staters...
I remember reading about a large snake getting out of it’s cage and killing an infant. It upset me so much; I hate reading about animals killing little children. Sometimes I think I should just stop reading the news.
We make the best pets! And I’m calling PETA if you try to eat me.....
Freedom was such a cool concept while it lasted. Now we have literally millions of busybodies who are more than happy to enable narcissitic egomaniacs in legislatures to decide what is best for us all. Oh, well. It wasn't that important of a concept, was it?
Good question. As a kid growing up next to a swamp forest I had at various times all sorts of collections of reptile and bug critters. Turtles, lizards, snakes. They were interesting, but not pets.
Probably for the same reason they elect them to office.
Corrected.
My biology teacher in HS had a little snake as class “pet”. Itty bitty leaf green thing about the size of a pencil, very docile...and definitely seemed to prefer some folks over others.
I was kinda fond of him and I’m fairly sure he knew it, much as any other critter figures out who likes em. He’d drape himself loosely around my wrist and put his head on the back of my hand. He’d come over when I went to his tank to get him and wait to be picked up.
Don’t think I’d care for one of the big fellas, but I wouldn’t have minded taking him home...
CRUEL
Please understand. . .I'm not saying that the law should step in and forbid the ownership of large snakes. I'm just stating an opinion on whether or not it is a smart idea. There are already laws on the books to deal with the issue if someone's large snake hurts someone.
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