Weekly poll #2

[Peter_Steele]

Alright guys here is this weeks questions. I thought of this idea a while back and think it would be something good for states to implement to solve about 9/10 of the problems we have with animal owners not knowing how to properly care for animals. I know it won;t solve everything but if an owner has animals and mistreats them that took the test they can be punished a little more because they can't claim ignorance. If you passed the test that at least shows that you know what needs to be done to give an animal its basic care needs therefor if you neglect the animal you can not say you didn't know. That is my idea on the topic and want to see what you guys think.

[Southern_Boa_Gurl]

I can't honestly answer this one because in all reality, there will never be that kind of test.  There are stupid people out there always and it's really the breeder's/store/etc fault for selling/giving the animal to someone who is not prepared to care for the animal throughout it's complete lifespan properly.

Now saying that, I do believe that every person that gives away or sells ANY animal should have done a little background on the buyer to see if the person is capable of caring properly for said animal.  But of course, not all of the breeder's/stores/etc have a care in world other than making a quick buck which is where it ultimately should be blamed on in the long run.

[smilts]

I have to say I cant really give a asnwer for this either.   Its easy to pass a test and still not give a crap about your pets.

[1softkiss]

I honestly feel this is the type of problem the Lacey Act is indirectly trying to resolve by owners having permits and or licenses to own large constrictors.

Reason being that this guarantees the owner responsible for that animal for the rest of it's life and has to be held accountable for any bad care or abuse or neglect and it should be punishable.

Don't get me wrong I don't feel we should have to have laws and regulations for owners to accept responsibility, but there are those that have a high interest one day and a year later the novelty wears off and they aren't responsible owners.

A test wouldn't guarantee a persons commitment to give the best quality care for that animal like having a permit would for it and being held accountable.

I do feel that pet stores should act more responsibly and at least interview a person that show an interest in purchasing a snake that will grow to an accountable size that it may not be welcomed in some people's homes because they don't want the responsibility once some snakes become adults.

[Southern_Boa_Gurl]

Very well put Carla and totally agree

[1softkiss]

Very well put Carla and totally agree

Thanks Tara from the heart trust me LOL

While on this subject I want to verse a complaint I have about some snake owners.
I've seen hundreds of videos on YouTube and I swear some people introduce a new snake to their collection in a video sometimes three times a month.

Later I find out they never keep but a chosen couple of snakes and the rest they consistently swap off or sell to get another new collection.

WTF? These are living creatures and shouldn't be collected and traded around like a model car collection.

I can understand the turn over for a breeder but for a hobbyist NO
If people don't plan to keep a snake and raise it why take it in just to swap it off a few months later?

This can't be good for the poor snake to go from owner to owner.

Sorry, I've been holding back venting about this issue for the longest time and now it's out and I doubt I will feel better because these idiots will continue to play musical snakes.

[Southern_Boa_Gurl]

Hell, I've seen that here a lot too and it disgusts me.  Someone gets an animal cause someone else is into them and then a little while after having said animal, they get bored or the next person in their life likes something else so they get rid of what they have and get another species.  Makes me sick!!

[wendiigo]

Just to play Devil's Advocate for a moment...

With regards to a competency test, it sounds great on paper and in theory.  The practice of it would be insane, as it would invariably cost money for the testing process - money that could be spent towards proper husbandry (caging, heating/humidity control, proper diet for the herp in question, etc.).  Also, where are the "correct" answers coming from?  What might be good care for one person in one part of the country may be different in another area with different climate and humidity.  Granted there are norms, but the key to good husbandry is how to obtain these optimal conditions, not just spouting off facts and figures.

The compromise there would be to require a permit akin to Florida's ROC system, but instead of just getting a permit with that $100 annual fee, you'd be certified/approved to keep the species in question. 


As far as musical snakes go, for some people this is the only way in which they can gain the experience to keep rarer and more expensive animals.  Denying a person the experience of keeping a more advanced species purely based on their (or their parent's) economic or social situation is potentially robbing the herpetological community of the next Bob Clark or Allen Repashy.  Plenty of old school herp enthusiasts "made their bones" (myself included) as kids catching & swapping turtles for frogs and salamanders for snakes.  In this respect, it's building a stronger, more educated, more experienced, and an even closer-knit community by giving more people the know-how to properly care for these creatures.  As for the trading of critters as one would trade baseball cards...well, don't parents of human children send their kids to camp or a relative's every once in while?  Is this a shock to the system of the child?  Hardly!  Animals adapt to their situation, or else they die, making room for a stronger species.  That's natural selection, which has been doing a bang-up job on this planet for the past 3,000,000,000 years.     

Just some food for thought. 

[1softkiss]

On swapping animals back and forth it is good for the experience to become familiar with other species. Breeders do it all the time bringing in new morphs, etc,

I'm referring to teens and younger people that send out four snakes a week, bring in six, then a couple weeks later ship those six out and bring in four more new ones.

How can anyone gain experience if they only spend a month with a snake? It's not possible experience is gained from constant care and observation.

Not to mention the more the collection is added to and taken away from it ups the risk of infections being passed around and exposing other people's healthy collections to a possible life of doom.

If someone wants to trade off for a sensible amount of time to work with the snake after it's been quarantined and then learn about the snake through care and handling that's fine. You can't learn anything about a species in a week or two or a month's time.

[Southern_Boa_Gurl]

There sure are a lot more voters than posts on this thread lol