Treating a python like a fashion accessory is wrong on so many levels. People in our hobby tend to forget that we are in the minority. The majority of the unwashed masses do not like snakes. They will look at them behind glass or on the television and that's fine. But the majority will freak out when they come face to face with a live snake. Taking a python down to the beach is not going to change these peoples attitude.This kind of irresponsible behaviour will only continue to give our hobby a bad name.
It's rare for me to agree with Greebo on anything, so when Greebo and I wholeheartedly share a point of view, it surely must be correct!
I find it quite disturbing that a thread like this would be started based on a rule being inappropriate because only 10% of the people it applies to might cause problems! :shock: Laws are not only passed because every single person is going to cause problems if they are not there. Fewer than 10% of the population would want to collect wild snakes, should we abolish all laws preventing people from doing so? If your snake bites some stranger in a shopping center, my license may not be available to me in the near future. Even if your snake terrifies someone in a shopping center (or park, on the street, etc) because they have an insane phobia, my license (and yours and everyone else's in your city/shire/state) is at risk. What kind of person might be this irresponsible? Well, it's a little known fact, but the late Steve Irwin once had a snake he was holding bite a member of an audience while doing a show down here in Victoria and after that he was not able to get a permit to run shows in this state (he got around this by using loopholes along the lines of technically being an assistant in someone else's show, etc). Giving every Joe Moron the go ahead to take their snake out publicly is going to result in bites to the public, and in the end it will mean tighter restrictions. If this was to happen, we'd be lucky if down the track the worst that happened was were were (once again!) banned from taking our snakes off our property and suffered with an even worse public image than we already have.
There is no reason good enough to warrant wandering around in public with your snake around your neck, anyone who does this and thinks it is not for the sake of their ego is kidding themselves. Contrary to what some people might want to believe, snakes don't like going out for big adventures - they aren't dogs. Yes, they often become alert, look around more, etc etc - similar to what often happens to a person when they are absolutely terrified. Snakes on 'big adventures' can also become 'unusually docile' - humans who are abducted often go into shock and behave in this way too, becoming extremely submissive to avoid being harmed be the person holding them captive. Snake behaviour is very easy to misread and it's interesting to see that the more experience people have with snakes the less they think of them as cutesy pets. If you want something to cuddle and socialise with, get a dog or a girlfriend. If you want to impress the public, learn to juggle something.
It is insane that in some cases people can freely take their reptiles to reptile meetings. Other than a pet shop or a vet's clinic, reptile meetings are the place most likely for diseases to spread.. If you have a snake with a problem, the last thing it needs is to be dragged along to a meeting and the last thing any other reptiles at the meeting need is to have exposure to a snake with a problem. In virtually all cases, taking reptiles to a meeting is done for the sake of ego and at the expense of the animal.
