How annoying!!

Joanna · #1 (**permalink**) 07-23-2005, 09:15 PM

Just clicked on the reptile ark website, which is a brilliant website. you put any animal that you want to get rid of and people can rescue them from you. I just had a look at what was there. Someone had a 14ft burmese and there were about 6 iguanas. do these people not understand what they are buying?? I know this is said almost daily on this site, but some of these people must be stupid. I'm sure some have good, valid reasons for needing to get rid of these pets, but a couple just said that the pet was too big for the viv and needed rehousing!! Someone else wanted to get rid of a kingsnake with an abscess. Take the poor thing to the vet to get it sorted for crying out loud!! This isn't the sixties, vets do treat reptiles nowadays! The general public really get on my nerves with their stupidity sometimes! Just had to rant, sorry!!

wreckwriter · #2 (**permalink**) 07-23-2005, 09:43 PM

That's why its so important that when kids or inexperienced people come on these forums and start asking questions about herps which are not "beginner level" herps, that we speak out and tell them that big herps are not usually good choices for beginners.

xxxjustinxxx · #3 (**permalink**) 07-23-2005, 11:18 PM

could nt say it better myself wreckwriter, ive got burms as big as 17 feet people came in and droppped off for adoptions ? i gets VERY ANNOYING!!

louise · #4 (**permalink**) 07-23-2005, 11:59 PM

it is a shame that stuff happens all the time. but do you know what is just as bad? the people who get the rescues because they are free. they never take them to the vet. they just take them because they see the word free

they figure if they die they can just get another free rescue. i wish that anyone who got a rescue had to sign a paper saying they will get them to the vet within the first 2 weeks and if not the animal is taken away. i have a rescue that was a rescue! the guy never got it help. he kept it for 5 months in a deli bowl. it is a yr. old boa and she is the size of my 4 month old BCI. those are the people i would like to stomp on. rescue means you are saving the critter and you will do whatever it takes to do that.

brownsfan222 · #5 (**permalink**) 07-26-2005, 02:30 AM

i dont like it either, i am 14 and i wont buy a pet i wont be able to handle as it gets bigger, i would like to get a burm but im too young now and wouldnt be able to handle an adult.

lisagordier · #6 (**permalink**) 07-26-2005, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brownsfan222

i dont like it either, i am 14 and i wont buy a pet i wont be able to handle as it gets bigger, i would like to get a burm but im too young now and wouldnt be able to handle an adult.

(giggle) I'm an adult and I wouldn't be able to handle an adult burm!

Even with my hubby helping!

Milky2005 · #7 (**permalink**) 07-26-2005, 01:33 PM

why cant people just realise that a Burm is not an ideal snake for a begginner

wreckwriter · #8 (**permalink**) 07-26-2005, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Milky2005

why cant people just realise that a Burm is not an ideal snake for a begginner

maybe at least partially because too many people worry more about being nice than about being honest when newbies ask questions....

chrispaine · #9 (**permalink**) 07-26-2005, 02:55 PM

i dont know someone should make a website devoted to Burm's saying how many end up rescues and how big and sometimes mean they get.... then when the 'stupid' people that just want one for the heck of it, seach google or yahoo they will see that site, and maybe turn them away.

blkcrochunter · #10 (**permalink**) 07-26-2005, 03:09 PM

Here is a link to something I was reading about burms.
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...S=0&C=0&A=1254

Crotalus Ruber Keith · #11 (**permalink**) 07-26-2005, 03:36 PM

Free Burms???!!!!??? Really?!? Where can I get one just for the heck of it?

(Just kidding.)

wreckwriter · #12 (**permalink**) 07-26-2005, 03:38 PM

My opinion is that people should start with medium sized colubrids, corns or kings, in pretty much all cases. I think RTBs are also unsuitable as first snakes. I get a lot of opposition to this viewpoint.

blkcrochunter · #13 (**permalink**) 07-26-2005, 03:51 PM

I agree with you wreckwriter.

1redtail · #14 (**permalink**) 07-26-2005, 04:25 PM

That’s pretty sad. I have found through all of my readings on green iguanas that no matter how much you handle them and do all the proper up keep they still can be pretty aggressive. I have owned a couple of them growing up and what does the pet store always tell me that it is the greatest pet for a beginner. And I have to laugh at them knowing full well that they are full of it.

wreckwriter · #15 (**permalink**) 07-26-2005, 04:37 PM

I never said one can't start with a boa, I certainly know folks who have and have become responsible and expert herpers (one more now

). Unfortunately I also know people who have tried and not done so well. I figure we have to always advise based on the lower side of the average.

I see burms as a more extreme example of what can happen but I feel that the same thing can just as easily happen with a snake that gets 8-10'. I think most inexperienced people have very little concept of what handling an 8' snake as big around as most peoples' arm involves, particularly if that snake decides to have a bad day and do some tasting. Doesn't mean it going to happen every time, just that I feel its fairly likely.

On the subject of iggies, we have a park here, Greynolds Park, where there are hundreds of them, a fully thriving opoulation. You can drive through the park on a sunny day and see multiple large adults sunning themselves by the side of the road.

wreckwriter · #16 (**permalink**) 07-26-2005, 05:04 PM

Found this in the Keys paper just now:

County: Neutering a no-go

By Alyson Matley amatley@keynoter.com
Iguanas appear to have locals on the run

The Monroe County Commission determined Wednesday that it would be far too costly to taxpayers to undertake a neutering program for Keys iguanas and that freezing them is an unacceptable way to control the expanding population.

What began as a somewhat lighthearted look at the lizard boom turned serious when animal rescue officials took exception to a second-hand suggestion to the commission that freezing iguanas is a humane way to euthanize them and thus reduce their numbers.

Mayor Dixie Spehar introduced the discussion at the monthly County Commission meeting after receiving a letter from a constituent complaining about the green iguanas proliferating throughout the Keys.

The non-indigenous creatures are wreaking havoc with people's gardens, according to Key Haven resident Harlan Franklin. Then he quoted a Palm Beach County iguana-catcher as recommending freezing as a humane way to kill them.

"If an animal is going to be euthanized, the homeowner cannot do that in the freezer - bring it to the animal shelter," said Gwen Hawtoff, president of the Florida Keys Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "They are equipped and legally authorized to do that."

Hawtoff told the commission that the iguana population is indeed skyrocketing, and said people need to do their part by helping trap them, as they do with feral cats.

"What's worrisome about the numbers," Hawtoff told the Keynoter, "is that however many you see, you know there's a whole lot more that you don't."

"We need to be proactive about this," Spehar said when she introduced the 26-minute discussion. "They are multiplying and at a very fast rate."

Ritchie Moretti, director of the Turtle Hospital in Marathon, was livid that anyone would discuss freezing iguanas.

"Iguanas are a cold-blooded animal and freezing is a cruel death," he said. "It is also a felony."

In Florida, cruelty to animals that result in their death is a felony. In fact, on Little Torch, a man served time a few years back for shooting an iguana.

Moretti suggested neutering the feral reptiles as a means to control their proliferation, but said it would cost anywhere from $350 to $500 per animal.

"Ferrets are not sold unfixed," said Hawtoff, who blames the pet stores for the problem. "That's the law, so if they did it with iguanas, it might help. I wish we could move toward a pet store being just a pet supply store."

Though some are euthanized when they come to the shelters, Hawtoff says they try to adopt out the critters that are amenable to humans and would make good pets.

"We have trouble getting ferrets, rabbits, and other more exotic animals adopted," she said. "We can't get them to do it for cats and dogs."

The County Commission did not come to any conclusions, but said it would look into providing more iguana traps.

hisba · #17 (**permalink**) 07-26-2005, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lethargiic

actually i havent even heard of a cb iggy to be honest..lol

I have, some people push for them to try to stop the WC but I think the majority realize they just are not good pets for the average and esp newbie keeper so they shouldn't be CB (and shouldn't be wild collected). I remember one lady who would cook the eggs from her iggy! (not fertile of course)

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