Found an old pic, should I be mad?

[RandyRhoads]

Because it doesn't seem too safe to me... I'm an adult now and still very careful around my burm...

All this talk of snakes not being put around the neck regardless of size, well..... When I was a wee lad at a "professional" snake exhibit thing in New Mexico/ Colorado (I can't remember...) The owner and main guy put this big ol' burm around my neck, and others, and let us walk around holding it. :suspicious:
What level of idiot was this guy? 10/10? Just a little irresponsible? Somewhat ok if he was standing right there? Should he have been shot for this? I'd like to hear some thoughts...


http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d86/randy666rhoads/Snakes/DSCN2018.jpg

[shaunyboy]

had that burm got spooked and constricted,you would not have been here today Randy mate

imo they would never have got such a powerful snake off you in time

cheers shaun

P.S.who would have thought that cute wee guy in the picture,would have grew up to be a fire dancer,who lives up a mountain lol

[RandyRhoads]

had that burm got spooked and constricted,you would not have been here today Randy mate

imo they would never have got such a powerful snake off you in time

cheers shaun

Huh... check that out. Always dancing with death playing with snakes...even as a kid....:smug:

[shaunyboy]

Huh... check that out. Always dancing with death playing with snakes...even as a kid....:smug:

did you ever look for a video of that song,the one i reccomended for your next fire dance video ?

fire starter,by the prodigy

i'm sure you'll pull some crazy moves off,to the beat of that song,especially after watching the video for it mate :D

go on you know you want to ;)

cheers shaun

[RandyRhoads]

did you ever look for a video of that song,the one i reccomended for your next fire dance video ?

fire starter,by the prodigy

i'm sure you'll pull some crazy moves off,to the beat of that song,especially after watching the video for it mate :D

go on you know you want to ;)

cheers shaun


I sure did. Tonight if it's not too windy, i'll do some fire breathing and spinning to it just for you Shaun. I know i've been putting it off.:bouncy:

[shaunyboy]

I sure did. Tonight if it's not too windy, i'll do some fire breathing and spinning to it just for you Shaun. I know i've been putting it off.:bouncy:

DON'T go rushing it for me mate.....

the last thing i want is you doing it in the wrong weather conditions,and setting yourself on fire...:shocked::wacky::D

that said i am looking foward to it mate

cheers shaun

[Kaetlinv]

Well, if he was an idiot, he wasn't the only one.

In my 4th grade year, on the last day they brought 'The Reptile Man', or called him that at least. At one point i was called up and a juvenile Retic (maybe 5ft?) was put around my shoulders and arms (arms were spread wide and he was draped across, he wasn't like the burm up there but close enough!), and while he stood no less than two feet away, he completely let this young retic settle on me while he talked to the crowd.

This is what ultimately got me fascinated with snakes, but still. Probably not the best idea, haha.

[RandyRhoads]

Ah cool. Just curious how people would react to seeing this, and what they would do, after all the arguing about it.

[StudentoReptile]

We were all young once, man. Like I said in my society meeting, I am guilty as charged with doing a lot of the things I wanted to discourage going forward. You can't fault yourself too bad with how you did things back then.

This is just a "Here's how NOT to do it, kids" kind of thing, IMHO.

[Lankyrob]

I would never let anyone put a snake like that onto my child, they would get an earful at least!!

[Kettennatter]

I wouldn't do it with a burm like that, but as a matter of principle, as it is just too powerful of a snake. The imminent danger you were in was probably small. I know of a burm who has been exposed to children's birthday parties for 15 years without a single incident.

[SnakeyJay]

I do put mine over my shoulders and around my neck when cleaning vivs... Had all of them tighten up if they've started slipping and believe me they're strong. Even with my boa's being small at the moment they're incredibly strong, and it's not a risk I'd take with anyone but myself. We all know the risks of doing it, should know better etc...

However if I saw a snake around a child's neck i would go mad.. They're smaller, weaker, more prone to panic and may not be aware of the danger they're in. As adults we choose to take that risk if you put them there.

[Lankyrob]

I do put mine over my shoulders and around my neck when cleaning vivs... Had all of them tighten up if they've started slipping and believe me they're strong. Even with my boa's being small at the moment they're incredibly strong, and it's not a risk I'd take with anyone but myself. We all know the risks of doing it, should know better etc...

However if I saw a snake around a child's neck i would go mad.. They're smaller, weaker, more prone to panic and may not be aware of the danger they're in. As adults we choose to take that risk if you put them there.


Whilst yuo are only putting yourself at risk of injury or death you are also putting every single snake keepers right to keep animals at risk, just imagine the headlines should you be killed and the repercussion on all herpers :)

[StudentoReptile]

It's hard to enforce the "Do as I say, but don't do as I do" policy....which is why now, I simply don't do it, which makes it much easier to lead by example.

[Snakefood]

I dont even put my Corns around my neck/shoulders, let alone my pythons.

[RandyRhoads]

I think the only part that bothers me is him reassuring parents it's completely safe, of course they don't know any better, and they let it happen. I mean i'm sure had my father or other parents known the real danger, they wouldn't have let it happen. But hey maybe not, maybe he had a plan for taking me there haha....

[Rogue628]

We've all made mistakes at one point. Noone is perfect. You have better judgement now. What I wonder is if the owner of the animal is a better keeper now and knows better without anyone learning the hard way from it.

[Gregg M]

I do not see a huge risk to be honest. Just think of the hundreds of thousands of times big snakes have been put over peoples shoulders and around the neck. How many people over the last 20 years have been killed by a pet burm, retic, or boa? Certainly, more people are killed by dogs in one year than large constrictors have killed people since we have been keeping reptiles in our homes. Statistically, how dangerous is putting a snake around your neck? It is safer than driving or even walking across a busy street.

[moshirimon]

I do not see a huge risk to be honest. Just think of the hundreds of thousands of times big snakes have been put over peoples shoulders and around the neck. How many people over the last 20 years have been killed by a pet burm, retic, or boa? Certainly, more people are killed by dogs in one year than large constrictors have killed people since we have been keeping reptiles in our homes. Statistically, how dangerous is putting a snake around your neck? It is safer than driving or even walking across a busy street.

i totally AGREE. although it is a dumb move, i jut don't see why dog are so loved even though they kill SO many people compared to any other animal. they put out bylaws on pits in some places, but there should be a size limit on a dog if there is on a snake. not at all saying i want there to be, i love dogs and have met many very well behaved dogs including PITBULLS. but i just find it stupid, as a 100lb snake is much more predictable, and easier to manage/handle , than a 100lb dog. bugs me how deaths by dogs are just brushed off and they are just led to "happen". this topic gets me so furious i don't even know if what i typed made sense:angry:

large snakes are banned and prohibited due to (mostly) uneducated people who don't know what theyre doing and end up being attacked/killed by them. although dog attacks, and deaths are also usually caused by uneducated, careless owners but this doesn't seem to affect the dog as a pet.

love dogs.. but i love snakes more as do many. just my point of vieww