Reptiles shown as beasts on cnn

[cornking4]

I just saw a special on CNN about exotic pets that really made me angry. Some guy filling in for Larry King showed the dangers of keeping chimps and large cats, which I totally agree with, but he also called reptiles "brutal beasts" easily capable of killing a man. He showed a story of a man supposedly killed and eaten by his lizard (venomous, based on the account, which in my mind could only mean bengal monitor or komodo dragon?????) :bs . Then they had a herpetologist on with a burmese python, whom the interviewer declared "deadly and dangerous" (.3 US deaths annually from nonvenomous snakes, you ignorant DUMBA$$!!!). They even had a psychiatrist on there that claimed that it's a mental disorder to own anything but a dog or cat, and that having more than one animal, properly cared for or not, is considered obsessive compulsive and should be treated by a doctor. WHY ARE HARMLESS EXOTIC PET OWNERS SO MISREPRESENTED???? Not one mention of an innocent gecko, corn snake, TEGU, or beardie? :rant

 

[Marlene]

That's a lot like this one article that I read that said all (or the majority) of the pythons/monitors in Florida were released by owners who couldn't take care of them or didn't have the proper enclosure. Another article on the same topic said that the majority of these escaped reptiles were from when hurricanes destroy their housing, so they are then able to escape if they survived. It's very upsetting when people don't do any research before saying something, or when they just go off of what they think, that's what gives us reptile folk a bad name.

 

[Marlene]

Oh, if you happen to find that special on youtube, or something, could you put a link up?

 

[cornking4]

I looked for it on the CNN website but I couldn't find anything. I was halfway between laughing and being angry when I saw it, just the idea that a python and a tiger are equally dangerous is absurd

 

[tupinambisfamiliaris]

Yeah i saw it. What a bunch of tools. Probst, the interviewer was constantly asking "what's wrong with these people?". The more the media says things like this, the more the general public will percieve it to be the case. What a joke. With most reptiles, you're talking about animals that have been available in neighborhood pet stores for decades. It's not about going to an animal dealer and making some underground transaction. Essentially, we have reptile keepers, a group of people doing something perfectly legal with the exception of venomous species, being portrayed as nutjobs and dangers to themselves and others. I don't even show people the three lizards that I keep. Most of us don't parade them around. We are not a danger to anyone. We are just a bit of a marginal group. We are small enough in numbers and odd enough to the general public to be made into goats and patsies. We are low-hanging fruit when the media or animal rights lobby want to manufacture a villain. We need to get nasty and active like the firearms lobby. If we keep putting up with this stuff, it's going to snowball. Next thing you know, they'll be making the little kid next door with a pet leopard gecko look like Charlie Manson. Screw these people.

 

[reptastic]

wow this is absolutly the most absurb thing i have ever heard!!!! it makes me very angry when people make assumtions based on lies and word of mouth with out having any facts. as a fellow reptile keeper i am perfectly sane and i do not believe that for a minute anything is wrong with a person mentally he he or she choose to own a reptile as a pet. its bad enough that when people find out that i own reptiles im called crazy because people believe crap like this. i hear stories like this all the time. like for instance a man owned a large boa(supposibly) and when the snake stopped eating for a few weeks the mans vet told him to get rid of the snake immediatly because the snake was sizing him up for a meal. i mean really, can you seriously believe a snake would stalk his prey for weeks? i have also heard that psyhcologist believe that people who own cold blooded reptiles are cold blooded people( figurativly not literally) i mean when you come to a site like this and see everyone getting along so well disussing the hobby how can you belive something like that?

 

[Jefroka]

These are just misinformed folks that have nothing better to do than rustle feathers. I run across it all the time.

The best way to approach this IMO is to bite your tongue, be nice, but educate. Always set the record straight when you have the opportunity.

Make converts not enemies. If we have our facts straight and are kind and knowledgeable in our approach, we can make a difference and change people's perceptions.

Who better to be in a position to do this than us?


...Jefroka

 

[White_Lotus]

i find it hilarious i don't even get angry anymore. if you put a person in a room with a cbb burm, retic, african rock they won't do anything but smell ya a few times then lay there or look for somewhere warm. if you look on youtube Steve Erwin laid down with komodo dragons thus proving they are NOT viscious man eaters either, just really really really big hungry lizards. These things make me laugh maybe it's because i'm "enlightened" lol or its because my family says all the same things about my ball pythons lmfao...Idk if you guys know this but they tried to pass a ban on shipping tarantulas because they tried to deem them "Deadly and Hazardous" animals...they account for 0% of deaths in the US but because people are terrified of them they can get support. Its all about fear

 

[Bentley83]

I think alot of these people are uneducated on this topic. The whole mental issue is BS, that lady had more botox that it must have seeped into her head or something. I guesss i have 3 tegus i must make an appointment with my shrink.

Chris

 

[Toby_H]

lol... I would have to agree... I think pumping butt fat into your face suggests a mental disorder far more than keeping an unusual pet...

It's a shame when people condem others for thinking differently.

 

[txrepgirl]

Chris and Toby_H. You two crack me up ( even if it's a sad topic ).

Chris. This makes two of us. We have six Tegus, one Frilled Dragon, one Bearded Dragon and a Leopard Gecko. I deffently have to see a shrink lol.

Most people that come to our door love our Tegus. Espesially our big Leonidas. Some of them even want to hold him and have a picture taken with him. Those are people we don't even know ( like the AC repare man, the cable guy, a sales person from Sears for remodeling the kitchen ..... ) . But my neighbor's girlfriend still thinks our Tegus would eat her small dogs lol. I think it's all up to the owner ( most off the time ) on how a animal turns out.

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[sclevenger08]

Man, I would definitly have to see a shrink, at one time we had like 9 reptiles, 2 of which were a Nile and Sav monitor. We must be crazy, haha.

In truth though, I think all of them have kept me from going insane at times.

Stuff like this makes me so angry.

 

[Adam87]

i think what the media should really do is take a look more people are attacked by dogs then repties i mean not to slam on dogs but come on really we are the most dangerous not the animals

 

[sclevenger08]

Adam87-I was just saying that to my mother today. That more people are harmed and even killed more by dogs every year than reptiles.

 

[Toby_H]

More people are killed by people than by dogs... I think they should outlaw people...

 

[Marlene]

More people are killed by people than by dogs... I think they should outlaw people...

Yup, I agree. We should do the whole "Di-hydrogen monoxide" petition with "Homo Sapiens." A lot of people out there don't know what homo sapiens are, which is what I find truly sad...

I brought my snakes to a photo shoot for a band and most of them didn't know much about snakes, so my boyfriend and I got to teach them and everyone there just fell in love with our three boa and they all want one now! With the right attitude we can convert these people to, atleast, respect reptiles and their owners.

 

[nemo66]

i saw that special 2. lol it was quite funny on a similar note there is a new show starting on the 14th on animal planted called fatal attraction. its supposed to be about ppl who keep dangerous animals and get killed. on the preview the showed some snakes a water monitor and what looked to be a Savannah monitor. like wtf? can a sav monitor realy kill you??? lol

 

[cornking4]

There has never been a reported death caused by a nonvenomous lizard. There have been reported fatalities due to bengal monitors, komodos, and lace monitors, but now that they're known to be venomous, they no longer qualify to be listed as possessing greater strength than a human. Only retic pythons and burmese pythons are considered that, and they kill humans very rarely.

 

[Marlene]

Yeah, I stopped watching Animal Planet a while ago, they started to go down hill. I saw previews for Fatal Attraction and I then just turned off the T.V. The show just showed a guy with some Savannahs but he was actually mauled to death (from what the episode title says) by a Komodo Dragon.

 

[cornking4]

Here's some data I collected about deaths caused by nonvenomous reptiles. Feel free to post it anywhere else you'd like, it tends to incite quite the discussion with those who believe reptiles are dangerous monsters!