View Full Version : DANGER croc monitor owners
Steeve B
04-06-03, 06:16 PM
nt
I agree with you on the outside point. I constantly have to wonder WHY people are always wanting to take their snakes, iguanas and other dangerous pets outside in the public. WHY WHY WHY? It makes no sense unless they want to show them off, because taking any animal in public is taking a chance. Even a dog.
But sure enough you see those idiots with their 7 foot boa out in public. Takes one second and that snake *could* bite someone right in the face. To which all us responsible people get to say "gee thanks for taking your boa out and giving us that great press!"
Nice story Steeve B!
Marisa
Steve, i saw the picture you are referring too (I think) I was disgusted too see it. If i saw the picture, it was a girl in a very busy area (near traffic) WHat if the monitor jumped off? Aside from the damage it may have done to the girl? what if it ran frantically into traffic? What a waste.
Steeve B
04-06-03, 06:52 PM
yes that's the photo, and I see you understand my consern.
many thanks!
J_Riley
04-07-03, 01:07 PM
They call them Crocodiles for a reason, they have the wickedest teeth of any monitor alive, Komodo included. Plus they have that really heavy head and can generate lots of crunch power. I certainly wouldn't let one on my body in any way, shape or form. That's just asking to have your genes removed from the pool (which incidentially might not be a bad thing in this particular person's case)
snakemann87
04-12-03, 09:16 AM
Hey, I totally agree ecspecially with large boids and croc monitors(there was a 4ft one at a store last night and this guy was MEAN). But to an extent. Everytime I got to the local pet store i take my 3ft Ball Python(as long as the temperatures are safe), he always causes a HUGE distraction, and a good one. I have at least had 5 people tell me that they never thought they would touch, let alone hold a snake! So as long as the circumstances are right I think its ok. But what steeve is saying i agree with him. I'm also bombared with ?'s mainly on the snake myths, and people are shocked to hear the truth, it feels good to put out good thoughts of snakes into peoples heads and to help them overcome their fears.
P.S.- After reading what marisa has said, do you think I should stop this?? Nothing bad has come but the chance is always there. What is your opinion?
I think you should keep your ball python out of the public...The only thing i take off of my property is my beardie... And if there are people around then he goes into my hoodie, which he feels comfortable in, and no one sees him so neither get frightened. I do not feel that this is dangerous in any way, as i always know where he is. He seems to like being outside,although i have to admit he isnt the sharpest knife in the drawer and it takes him a while to realize he is not in his cage.:rolleyes:
I won't take anything of mine outside aside from a photo shoot.
Snakes, lizards and all herps are WILD animals. Just because they haven't bitten anyone before doesn't mean that one time when someone comes up to me the snake won't freak and bite them. That would really be horrible.
I see absolutly no reason whatsoever to bring any herp outside aside from sun for lizards and photos in your own yard, and ESPECIALLY not out in public. I can't think of one reason. So that's why I don't do it.
Marisa
I dont see a problem with what i am doing, because the beardie is hidden from view, not attracting attention. My reasons are: he seems to enjoy it, and im kind of anti-social towards most people, so i have him to keep me company. I would rather be with him than most people (apart from Jess and a very few friends). As silly as it sounds....i prefer his company.
Which brings me to a question...
How many other people are like what i have described?<p>
As for using your herp as a attention getter...I am very against that. Even if your motive is good, The risks are avoidable and therefor not worth it.
Anyways...Im sure there are some people that will feel strongly that what i am doing is wrong... I wouldnt mind hearing your opinions...I dont feel that it is wrong...
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/512/1010iron_norman-thumb.jpg
By the way...
1. I didnt write the above post very well, so it may be kind of hard to follow.
2. I realize this is the monitor forum, and my post(s) didnt really have anything to do with monitors.
Sorry for that guys...
and 3. The pic in the above post is the REAL norman... For those of you that thaught that was my name and that i was a 40 year old man. heh...
-PETE-
I know this has nothing to do with monitors, but it's some relevant.
Vanan and I take a number of our reptiles out. Why? Well with our society the WSPCR we do a lot of educational shows where our snakes are handled. I think the pros far outweight the costs.
We also take our babies out to be photographed and just to get some nice fresh air and some sun.
When you mean public what do you mean? We take our snakes out near a creek where there are very little people. I hardly call that public, but depends on your meaning.
I just meant off of our property, but not in high traffic public areas or anything. I also take all the larger lizards out into the yard to get some sun...(yes.....i finally have a yard!).
Well here is my two cents worth, I think that you should never, never,never(is that too many?) take reptiles out in public,even if its in an out of the way place.
As for the bearded dragon in the hoody, what if it made a brake for it and landed on an old lady or someone how was frightened of reptiles or even just startled by the animal landing on them?
Don't say it would'nt happen, I've kept a lot of different animals over20 + years and seen various animals do things that they wer e not supose to do.
You should always think of the animal and the people around you,also just because you like reptiles and think that the fear of them is stupid and unfounded,to the people with the fear it's very real and shuving thier fear in thier fase won't help them and won't help the rest of us who keep reptiles.
Most people who take reptiles out in public do it mainly out of ego andsecondly out of ignorence(think I spelt that right?)
Finaly, Please think before you take animals out and also think when you let other people handle animals,I know a guy who stopped counting stiches at 36 from a croc monitor!!
Piers
Well said, Piers :) Norman, although you may not be taking your animal out for the same reasons as most do, it is still a risk for both the animal and public, as forementioned by Piers. The only time animals should be taken in public IMHO is for planned educational purposes (it doesn't count to take your monitor to the park in hopes of educating people). Taking them outside on your own property is fine, assuming all precautions are taken. I take most of my animals outside for photos and to catch a few rays as weather permits. My iguana actually spends most of the summer outside in a cage. But that's on my own property, not the public... everything is different, and the safety and security of both animals and people are compromised...
Gee, I sure wish we had a "property" like all you folk. All we have is an a balacony, so, an out of the way place it is for us.
What exactly is the risk if there is no one around?
Okay....Thats what im saying....there is nobody around...so it is pretty much the same as being on my own property, it just isnt owned by me. And if i do happen to pass someone or they pass me, In he goes to my hoodie.
You should always think of the animal and the people around you,also just because you like reptiles and think that the fear of them is stupid and unfounded,to the people with the fear it's very real and shuving thier fear in thier fase won't help them and won't help the rest of us who keep reptiles.
Most people who take reptiles out in public do it mainly out of ego andsecondly out of ignorence(think I spelt that right?)
Again....this is not what i am doing...There is nobody around...
So far I have had no problems doing what i am doing, and I cannot think of anything that could happen. I am taking a lot of precautions.
Gee, I sure wish we had a "property" like all you folk. All we have is an a balacony, so, an out of the way place it is for us.
Thats all i had for a long time too, which is why i started taking them out.It is only in the last 17 days that i have moved into our new place with a couple of freinds, that has a yard!!! This is very exciting to me as I love to watch reptiles wandering through the grass, and I LOVE BBQ'S!!!
With this large yard, however, I do not really see the need to take them off my property... BUT... I am still very interested in what good/bad points you guys can come up with.(im not looking for single liners such as "Dont take your reptiles anywhere", I want to see what reasons there are.) and the points i am looking for are not about the subject of taking your reptile into a crouded area or something like that, but of the subject of taking reptiles out of a appartment or something that doesnt have a yard, so they can get some sunshine somewhere not crouded with people/dogs etc...
Im not sure if this makes sense, but do your best to understand me.
-pete-
Crocodile monitors in public w/no restraint is rediculous, ignorant, irresponsible on the keepers part. There are 5 known unprovoked attacks of V.salvadorii to people, who were doing "stupid" things when their V.salvadorii was 'loose', and got bitten, some severely, all w/stitches. The sixth report, the "Artrellia" (= Dragon of the Trees in PNG) deliberately went after a 6 year old child, unprovoked (See my Reptiles article, June 1998 on crocodile monitor, photo inside of man restraining Artrellia - it was after his daughter!) These are Apex predators, ambush predators capabale of taking down prey larger than themselves and killing it outright - both of the peoiple in the parking lot, the smaller crocodile monitor could have been mauled by that adult animal - people playing with dynamite often blow up! Same applies to playing with an Artrellia!!
cheers,
mark b.
Even in your own private backyard you can encounter trouble by taking herps outside.
I personally am not saying never do it, but I find it irresponsible to do so in a way that shows the entire neighborhood what you keep (these arent cheap animals and people DO steal) or brings kids over. Education shows are one thing, when done by "professionals" with animals who are known to be better around groups of people than others.
Even in my own backyard once we had our friendly as hell bearded dragon out on a rock for sun. He doesn't even look real when he is out there and he sits perfectly still. One day a kid came running in the backyard, (no fence) and almost directly on top of where the beardie was sitting. Sure enough our "would never bite anyone" beardie FREAKED out and was about 4 inches from getting a bite on the kid. Our beardie is large, and too a little kid the bite would most likely be scary and probably painful. Now our beardie wasn't being aggresive but it goes to show you what can happen when they become scared. It was too close an encounter for me.
Those things that never would happen, sometimes happen. And thats why I don't take mine out very often.
Marisa
I think what Pete's trying to say here is, under controlled conditions, it's not a horrible thing to take a 17" Beardie out of the house...It's not as though Pete's waggling him in people's faces, bellowing, "Look, it's a lizard, I own a lizard, aren't I interesting and different? Admire me, respect me, bask in my magnificent individuality!" To take our beardie out in our yard isn't abhorable. He enjoys it, gets some sun, stays out for a couple minutes, and no harms done. I just think our beardie should have an opportunity to experience the great, big, sunny outside, for a few minutes.....I'm sure people could come up with a myriad of reasons that I'm a bad person and irresponsible keeper for doing this, but I don't think that it's that big a deal. Anyway, I hope I didn't sound overly strident, this wasn't ment to be a confrontational post, I just wanted to put in my two cents.
Jess.
I don't think anyone is a bad person for taking herps outside.
I just think people need to understand the risks. I take MY herps outside, but I also tell people about things that can happen. Like in my above post, often its the thing you can't even imagine happening, that does.
I just hope people are aware of that, and know there are other factors involved with taking a herp outside which have nothing to do with your ability as a keeper or the reptiles normal attitude. :)
Marisa
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