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[sarecho7280]

storing a/v of sufficient quantity for an 8' eastern diamondback could mean storing $100,000 worth of a/v for ONE bite. a/v has a shelf life too, so if you are smart and avoid the business end, then you'll effectively waste $100,000.

and no one can really define "sufficient quantity" because no one can predict the envenomation details, reaction, etc.

when we're talking about thousands of wasted dollars, keeping your own a/v for all species is ridiculous and basically impossible for 99% of the keepers.

safety is totally relative and until everyone wears fire retardant suits and helmets just to drive their cars to the grocery store, then everyday life is FULL of inherent danger.

no venomous snake has ever escaped and bitten anyone but the owner, and even that's rare.

i'm all for regulation, but that requires competent wildlife officials, which probably is too much to ask.

most can't tell the difference in a neotropical rattler and an edb. if they can't properly ID animals, then they can't regulate caging methods properly. you have to be educated in the field and most simply are NOT.

nonvenomous snakes are confiscated and killed due to the official's lack of knowledge. they will take a kill first, ask questions later approach in the interest of "public safety".

people who are capable of keeping hots SHOULD be able to keep them. stupid mistakes should cost you those priveleges. endangering others should too. a simple permit system set up to ensure this would be great, but most are there to generate money, to complicate things as a deterrent, etc.

even florida's permit system is heavily flawed. why can they sell out of state to anyone over the net but can't sell to non-florida permitted buyers IN florida? why can people get bitten by their gaboon 3 times before action is taken. poor regulation or expensive regulation encourages people to go underground and that is where idiots take over and people die.

hots aren't nearly as bad, IN REALITY, as most of the animals people encounter daily, they're just different and in america, different is frowned upon behind closed doors.
i'm more leery around other humans than any other animals. man is the scariest beast.