Quote:
Originally posted by Seamus Haley
Tanith... while I generally am directly opposed to warning labels that demand common sense (Do not use your hair dryer while sleeping), I think this thread shows fairly plainly that people have mistaken your suggestion for using similarly mannered nonvenomous species to learn restraint and handling techniques and taken it to mean "I owned a burm, so I'm ready for a copperhead." If all you *meant* to say was that using a hook on a rat snake will give someone a FEEL for how it's done and greater comfort when they approach a venomous animal, you might want to make that a bit clearer. If you truly think that someone playing around with a pair of tongs and a blood python is ready to own Bitis sp. well... That's a whole seperate discussion. [/b]
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What I actually said was that years of experience with a wide range of feisty, nasty nonvenomous snakes is excellent training for handling venomous snakes. If a handler is always totally comfortable, calm and unbitten while handling horrible tempered snakes of many different kinds, that's a very good starting point for handling hots.
But you have a good point, so I will consider slapping a standard "disclaimer for dummies" on the article stating that a few weeks of owning a burm does not mean you are qualified to keep cobras. Would you be interested in writing it?