I never said imminant danger.I said that any stunt with venomous animals is another nail in the coffin and more fuel for the antis.And no matter how we dress this guy's actions up.They may be charitable,gutsy but above all they are stupid.Harry.

Tom, remember all the scandal about Steve Irwin holding his babe near a croc? Look how much it all got blown out of proportion and sensationalised. Its my belief that actions such as this sit in may also be sensationalised, and that the general public often do not recall where something occurs as opposed to the reported "facts" in newspapers. I used to work in a large organisation where a high percentage of my colleagues thought I must be extremely strange as I kept reptiles - it was all sensationalised and got quite silly at times - all I kept at the time was cornsnakes.
I also recall going out for a night out and hearing that my partner was the subject of discusion on the nearby table which was hilarious as they did not know him, the things they were saying were way out, but then people talk - its human nature, they did not know the facts and had only heard some sensationalised pieces of info and assumed the rest as people do.
But we are all entitled to our opinions, however we come to those conclusions.

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My CrittersBoiga blandingiBoiga nigricepsBoiga cyaneaCrested GeckosUroplatus fimbriatusReed frogSnow spotted Bengal catSugar gliders

sorry tom i am with you, what a hoohar over nothing, people in different countries are not subject to how we think of them whether it be good or bad, we need to reel our necks in and let them do what they do, same as they do to us. last time i looked we dont have an empire, and therefore it will make little difference to them what we think of what they do. Also i dont know why we have cvs all over the place when i havent seen any job vacancies in this section.

First off, without wanting to be too pedantic, you said:

"At this very moment" implying we are in imminent danger of the reptile hobby being banned, which it isnt.

And Angi, with regards to the Steve Irwin incident, yes it was sensationalised, spread all over the media and he was slated, but i didnt see any UK politicians rushing to bring new laws in to stop people from keeping reptiles as pets over here because of it. I guess its a fair comment to say it wasnt exactly 'great press' for reptiles, but certainly would have had very little impact on the reptile pet trade.
'Snake shows' are going on every day over in S.E Asia, where they are kissing King cobras on the head and handling monocled cobras like they are corn snakes, so do people on here think that our hobby is under threat because of these actions aswell?! Surely not

You only have to look at the people in power now.I believe Hilary Benn is a member of animal aid. I did not mean they would try for an outright ban straight away but as these groups are against all companion animals I would not trust this goverment as far as I could throw them.(lifelong labour supporter too). If they can start weighing wheelie bins they are capable of anything.Harry

This discussion can keep going back and forth, and knowone is going to end up right or wrong. If, sometime in the future, the reptile hobby is banned, and in the government report they have used 'mad martins 110day sit-in in South-Africa' as a reason as to why they have stopped Joe Blogs keeping their cornsnake here in the UK, i will happily come on here and hold my hands up and say 'Harry, you were right!', but until then, i shall have my opinion and am happy for everyone else to have theres.

And Peter, your only agreeing with me because you dont want to take another 'verbal beating' like you had with our discussion we had the other day

you are my mentor in so many ways,

LMAO @ Tom and Pete.

Hey Tom I do not think it will have a direct effect on the trade or hobby as such, but more along the lines that it helps in creating a negative perception which I do think we could do without. But thats life I suppose and none of us are perfect. I'm still not impressed with stunts like these as I just dont see a need for them, unless it involved educating people as well. Maybe it could be useful as research if there were people studying the various snakes behaviour and reactions to this guy being in close contact with them - I don't know, just another way to look at it and I am always open to looking at things from different perspectives.

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My CrittersBoiga blandingiBoiga nigricepsBoiga cyaneaCrested GeckosUroplatus fimbriatusReed frogSnow spotted Bengal catSugar gliders

For gods sakes people grow up. People make rash and idiotic decisions that put their life at risk constantly. Smoking, Unprotected sex, Drinking, not getting that tiny mole that "cant possibly" be cancerous checked out, bad diet and crossing the road without looking. All of them are deadly decisions that can be changed but people do it. The only difference is the danger is more apparent when living in a room with hots.

And for gods sakes, reptile keeping is firmly established now within Britain, too much to actually ban keeping them.

I also find it silly that people are saying it will hurt the hobby. The fact hes gone 90 days in a house pretty much INFESTED by snakes that could kill him in a single strike and only getting bitten via a routeen milking incident would actually prove GOOD for the hobby. Instead of being seen as unpredictable and highly dangerous animals that cant be lived with its been shown that with enough respect you can live within close proximity to them. Dont forget people live in places where venomous snakes could be around the house and they dont know about them.

Lastly when did we all have to pander to the idea that everything we do with our animals must reflect to some perfect political agenda thats been pushed by the minority of keepers?

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lucifus@hotmail.com - feel free to add.

Dude!

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