Snake abuse on televison!

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**master of ordinance**

Captain Fantastic wrote:
I don't think Pythons and Boas are a threat to humans because of their poison, so much as the way they constrict their prey... They're definitely poisonous though. Otherwise they would never get around their prey in the first place!

No they are not-they ambush there prey, by dropping on it, springing out, etc, and grab it before it can run. They are so strong that this is an incredibly viable tactic.

**DPBellathrom**

wow....just wow. if this is what we have for entertainment then I pitty the human race even more than normal -.-'

while it wouldn't have been too bad if there had only been a few snakes (one or two) in warm water and without the singer wearing heels then I wouldn't have been too offended but to have that many snakes and gaters in there...well... that reaches levels of stupidity that I thought I would never have to see. and to have that idiot chimp Steve-O dancing round just adds insult to injury, I mean I like jackass but he always just takes it too far -.-'

**Ouze**

nomsheep wrote:Out of curiosity, are these poisonous snakes?

Captain Fantastic wrote:I don't think Pythons and Boas are a threat to humans because of their poison, so much as the way they constrict their prey... They're definitely poisonous though. Otherwise they would never get around their prey in the first place!

First, I concur with the other guy that they are largely ball pythons and young boa constrictors, maybe a few baby reticulated and burmese. These are common in the pet trade (I worked in a pretty high end fish & reptile shop for about 10 years).

I don't believe that any species of boa constrictors or pythons are venomous. Even so, generally speaking you cannot get venomous snakes in the retail pet trade. They are difficult to care for and not lawful in most jurisdictions; the ones in which they are lawful usually have an onerous permit process designed to put off casual herpetologists. I also could not imagine any sort of insurance rider on a show like this covering death or serious injury from a venomous snakebite. The negligence shown were that the case would be so willful it seems impossible.

Additionally, the reason they are called "ball pythons" is because their defense mechanism is to simply roll up in a ball and hope whatever is bothering them goes away. They are docile in the extreme; which is why they are so popular as pets. They also aren't too expensive.

So far as Captain's comment, these don't need venom because they are essentially ambushers. They find a good hiding spot, and then snap into action. The bite itself generally doesn't kill, it's the constricting loops they throw around their prey that asphyxiates them (also, a lot of they type of animals they prey on such as rabbits will literally drop dead as soon as they are struck from stress). You can see a video of a strike here showing how fast they are on the strike; the whole attack only takes about .75 of a second.

In an unrelated digression, here is a picture of my favorite snake you can get in the pet trade, a Green Tree Python:

**master of ordinance**

Ouze wrote:
nomsheep wrote:Out of curiosity, are these poisonous snakes?

Captain Fantastic wrote:I don't think Pythons and Boas are a threat to humans because of their poison, so much as the way they constrict their prey... They're definitely poisonous though. Otherwise they would never get around their prey in the first place!

First, I concur with the other guy that they are largely ball pythons and young boa constrictors, maybe a few baby reticulated and burmese. These are common in the pet trade (I worked in a pretty high end fish & reptile shop for about 10 years).

I don't believe that any species of boa constrictors or pythons are venomous. Even so, generally speaking you cannot get venomous snakes in the retail pet trade. They are difficult to care for and not lawful in most jurisdictions; the ones in which they are lawful usually have an onerous permit process designed to put off casual herpetologists. I also could not imagine any sort of insurance rider on a show like this covering death or serious injury from a venomous snakebite. The negligence shown were that the case would be so willful it seems impossible.

Additionally, the reason they are called "ball pythons" is because their defense mechanism is to simply roll up in a ball and hope whatever is bothering them goes away. They are docile in the extreme; which is why they are so popular as pets. They also aren't too expensive.

So far as Captain's comment, these don't need venom because they are essentially ambushers. They find a good hiding spot, and then snap into action. The bite itself generally doesn't kill, it's the constricting loops they throw around their prey that asphyxiates them (also, a lot of they type of animals they prey on such as rabbits will literally drop dead as soon as they are struck from stress). You can see a video of a strike here showing how fast they are on the strike; the whole attack only takes about .75 of a second.

In an unrelated digression, here is a picture of my favorite snake you can get in the pet trade, a Green Tree Python:

As i said about 3 posts up no pythons or boas are venomous-the clues in the constrictor

**rodgers37**

That is a lovely looking snake Ouze, I want one now

**Huffy**

Signed!

**master of ordinance**

Ive just added the link to my facebook.

**Gitkikka**

I would sign the petition, but it's nobody's business what my address is. That said, this is a truly vile show.

**fire4effekt**

Not signing anything. How do you know those snakes didn't have it coming? Perhaps theyre evil snakes that kill babies and hate black people?

Also it's terribly easy to fake chunks of ice.

**DeathReaper**

It is not any worse than what they do to cows before they slaughter them for their meat.

**nomsheep**

DeathReaper wrote:
It is not any worse than what they do to cows before they slaughter them for their meat.

We don't need to eat these snakes, nor do we broadcast the cows on live tv.

**DeathReaper**

Snake meat is quite good actually.

**Ma55ter_fett**

DeathReaper wrote:
It is not any worse than what they do to cows before they slaughter them for their meat.

We force cows to listen to karaoke?

Those sick motha'fethers.

**DeathReaper**

Not just Karaoke, terribly bad Karaoke.

**nomsheep**

DeathReaper wrote:
Snake meat is quite good actually.

I've been told it tastes like chicken.

**Piston Honda**

As much as I hate snakes, I have to say that is fahked up.

Even on the rare occasion when I find baby snakes in my basement I throw them in a bucket and let them out in the woods to keep down the ever growing rat population in the area.

there seems to be a plague of them this year from the mild winter last year.

**DeathReaper**

nomsheep wrote:
DeathReaper wrote:
Snake meat is quite good actually.

I've been told it tastes like chicken.

The snake I had did not taste like chicken.

I do not think anyone, unless their taste buds had been burned off because they were a fire eater, would say snake tastes like chicken unless the Snake was spiced exactly the same as the chicken and they tried them both one after another.

**Testify**

I'm actually pretty pro-animal rights, being a vegetarian and general sop when it comes to animals.

But every single snake on earth can die a painful death for all I care. Horrible animals.

**Cheesecat**

I'll sign the petition when I have more time University has been keeping me busy.

**Piston Honda**

Testify wrote:
I'm actually pretty pro-animal rights, being a vegetarian and general sop when it comes to animals.

But every single snake on earth can die a painful death for all I care. Horrible animals.

but they do serve a purpose in nature.

without them we would be infested with rodents and insects.

**Cheesecat**

Piston Honda wrote:
Testify wrote:
I'm actually pretty pro-animal rights, being a vegetarian and general sop when it comes to animals.

But every single snake on earth can die a painful death for all I care. Horrible animals.

but they do serve a purpose in nature.

without them we would be infested with rodents and insects.

Yeah, you would think a vegetarian would be more concerned about the environment, that being said there's still plenty of other insect and rodent eating animals.

**Testify**

Piston Honda wrote:
Testify wrote:
I'm actually pretty pro-animal rights, being a vegetarian and general sop when it comes to animals.

But every single snake on earth can die a painful death for all I care. Horrible animals.

but they do serve a purpose in nature.

without them we would be infested with rodents and insects.

That's what cats are for. And we could always use more cats.

Plus I doubt snakes keep the rat population of england down too much...though I'm open to suggestion otherwise.

Cheesecat wrote:
Yeah, you would think a vegetarian would be more concerned about the environment.

Why? I don't give a gak about the environment. I'm not your typical hippie

**Ma55ter_fett**

Cheesecat wrote:
Piston Honda wrote:
Testify wrote:
I'm actually pretty pro-animal rights, being a vegetarian and general sop when it comes to animals.

But every single snake on earth can die a painful death for all I care. Horrible animals.

but they do serve a purpose in nature.

without them we would be infested with rodents and insects.

Yeah, you would think a vegetarian would be more concerned about the environment, that being said there's still plenty of other insect and rodent eating animals.

Why would you think that about vegetarians?

Name some other animals that eat as many rodents as snakes while being as ubiquitous as snakes

**Cheesecat**

Ma55ter_fett wrote:
Cheesecat wrote:
Piston Honda wrote:
Testify wrote:
I'm actually pretty pro-animal rights, being a vegetarian and general sop when it comes to animals.

But every single snake on earth can die a painful death for all I care. Horrible animals.

but they do serve a purpose in nature.

without them we would be infested with rodents and insects.

Yeah, you would think a vegetarian would be more concerned about the environment, that being said there's still plenty of other insect and rodent eating animals.

Why would you think that about vegetarians?

Name some other animals that eat as many rodents as snakes while being as ubiquitous as snakes

Cats? Birds of prey? etc? I don't know how populous they are though.

**Ma55ter_fett**

Cheesecat wrote:
Ma55ter_fett wrote:
Cheesecat wrote:
Piston Honda wrote:
Testify wrote:
I'm actually pretty pro-animal rights, being a vegetarian and general sop when it comes to animals.

But every single snake on earth can die a painful death for all I care. Horrible animals.

but they do serve a purpose in nature.

without them we would be infested with rodents and insects.

Yeah, you would think a vegetarian would be more concerned about the environment, that being said there's still plenty of other insect and rodent eating animals.

Why would you think that about vegetarians?

Name some other animals that eat as many rodents as snakes while being as ubiquitous as snakes

Cats? Birds of prey? etc? I don't know how populous they are though.

I'm sure the common domesticated house cat would do just fine if you air dropped it into the rainforests of Brazil, same with all those endangered birds of prey we have knocking about everywhere.

My point is that if you were to get rid of all snakes there are not enough other preditors that could step in to fill the gap.

**Testify**

Then other preditors would rise up. Order is inevitable.

**Ma55ter_fett**

Testify wrote:
Then other preditors would rise up. Order is inevitable.

No not really, here’s an example of what happens when you don't have enough predators to control pests.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbits_in_Australia

And this is in Australia mind you, the land of a thousand crawling poisonous things. They've resorted to freaking virus bombs (and a huge fence) to keep the populations somewhat under control.

**Cheesecat**

Well, the reason I thought vegetarians would be more concerned about the environment then most other people, is because a lot them talk to me about how cruel it is to be eating meat or whatever so if they care so much about animals then they surely they would be worried about the ones

running about in nature otherwise you look hypocritical.

**KalashnikovMarine**

Wow that's completely messed up and I can't believe it's not criminal animal abuse as well as being in incredibly poor taste. Signed and signal boosted.

On I side note Ouze I always wanted a green tree python!

Gorgeous juvenile forms (the red in particular) and of course the adults have that lush and lovely green. Rather intelligent too, at least the individual snake I got to interact with.

**MeanGreenStompa**

I'd like to just update this with a reply I received on complaining to the American Humane Association. It appears these 'reality' shows can somehow evade standard procedure on having a humane association representative give consent to the show.

Dear ******,

Thank you for reaching out to us with your concerns. We have received quite a number of emails and calls regarding this show. Reality programs such as this are not required by contractual obligation to have American Humane on their sets during production and Killer Karaoke has declined to have our certified safety reps on set to ensure the welfare and humane treatment of any animals used. The verbiage they have placed on the end of their show does not come from American Humane and they have altered the wording enough so that they are not in violation of trademark. That said, without having our presence to guarantee the well-being of their animals, those words are simply words without the backing of our professional ability to ensure compliance with American Humane's stringent Guidelines For The Safe Use Of Animals In Filmed Media,

We have reached out to the producers to alert them of our concern and the concern of the public and they have not returned our calls and inquiries. We will continue to contact them until we are able to discuss the situation regarding humane treatment of any animals they decide to include in their production. We also are reaching out to their television distributor and others concerned with the broadcast of this program. Should you want to add your personal voice to ours we suggest you contact TruTV in New York at 212 973 2800 and speak with the publicist for the show. Thank you again for getting in touch with us and know that we are actively engaged in putting an end to this disregard of animal welfare.

Sincerely,
*******

******* - Communications
American Humane Association's Film & TV Unit
11530 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, CA 91604
Phone ********* email ************
American Humane AssociationTM
The nation's voice for the protection of children & animalsTM
www.americanhumane.org

I find it deeply concerning that they can just do away with inspection and regulation and will be pursuing this further.