Long REPLY on a not so easy topic to address...

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Posted by Rob Carmichael on April 21, 2003 at 06:40:36:

In Reply to: A ? about breeding burms and why everyone is so >>>>more posted by highlander1 on April 20, 2003 at 15:45:20:

I can ONLY speak from personal and professional experience I have in directing a very successful wildlife center (that features many GIANT herps). When, year after year, you continue to receive phone calls from private individuals, animal control, dnr, conservation police officers, herp societies, etc. to take in unwanted burms (and other large constrictors/herps) I have come to realize that it doesn't matter whether it is a run of the mill albino, labyrinth, green albino, or any of the hot new morphs; at some point, most burms will become abandoned. We alone take in between 20-50 burms each year...a very sad statistic indeed. Why? Because they just simply don't make good pets for the 99% of people who would like to keep one. This isn't meant to bash anyone on this forum. I'd like to see how many of the people who currently keep burms will still have those burms 20 years from now. Regulations, I believe, will be VERY important to allow the responsible people to keep their animals legally....but, most agencies don't want the burden to oversee this process due to costs (even with a permit fee in place). So where do you start? I personally no longer breed burmese pythons (of any type) because I truly feel that this just compounds the problem. When a large female pumps out 40-60 eggs you have a lot of future abandoned burms in my opinion who will receive substandard care. Pessimistic viewpoint? Perhaps, but this is just the reality of having been in the business for many years and seing so many beautiful burms get dumped just because the keeper no longer can handle this responsibility. With so many beautiful smaller species of pythons, that is where our focus should be. There are some on this forum who I highly respect AND breed burms AND who will disagree with me...are they wrong for breeding? Of course not, this is just my personal opinion.

:Against the idea of it?Is it just the "normal" and 'Albino" burms that people dont want to get bred?I know there seems to be alot of them showing up in rescues and everything but telling people to stop breeding them isnt going to help.If thats the case you might as well tell all these major breeders that breed the morphs of burms to quit breeding them altogether.They would laugh at you in a heartbeat.Its their livelihood to breed these snakes just like its everybody elses to breed boas,anacondas,retics (here lately alot of retics),carpets,bloods,etc.You wouldnt tell them to quit breeding them beautiful animals so why stop breeding burms?

: The only way concievable to fix the problem isnt to stop breeding but to do some kind of system to regulate who gets them.Not everyone deserves a burm and not everyone deserves animals period but they get them and will keep getting them until we as herpers figure out some way of making it nearly impossible for every tom,dick,or harry to get one.I have 4 burms and 2 retics and wouldnt trade them or give them up for the world.On the downside most people dont think like me and its sad to see all these majestic animals getting the shaft. Regards Bill McLeod

Follow Ups:

But this is not due to overpopulation, don't you see? BrianSmith 04/21/03 (3)
- Here's my take on this (and your point is well taken)... Rob Carmichael 04/22/03 (0)
- Yes it is - LONG VAReptileRescue 04/21/03 (1)
  - Very valid points >>>more highlander1 04/21/03 (0)
Not pessimistic, realistic.. (more) CCD 04/21/03 (1)
- Re: Not pessimistic, realistic.. (more) Rob Carmichael 04/21/03 (0)