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I did it again...
Eric, I've got no problems with you or your approach whatsoever.
In fact, I really wish more people of any age shared it. Your statements early in this thread were pretty clear... you were interested in venomous snakes and were curious as to how to get started. No problems there whatsoever. I've got a problem with Kevin's approach but I think I've pretty well expressed what I feel about that and why.
Tanith, I fully agree that years of dealing with agressive species is a good starting place and wouldn't begrudge an experienced herper the ability to buy a hot without being directly trained.
I think we can ALL agree that experience is qualitative, not quantitative. There are people who have worked with these animals a fairly short time who's competence far exceeds that of others who have been doing it longer. Has to do with the intelligence of the person doing the experiencing and the oppurtunities avaliable to them I suppose. It's difficult to compress the learning one might be capable of into a set time frame... there is no cutoff point. Someone is not "experienced" or "ready" at exactly five or ten or fifteen years of keeping reptiles... But the more time devoted... really truly devoted... to learning everything that's possible every day for a good period of time... Yes, then I can see someone not needing to be an "apprentice hot keeper" Still would never EVER hurt... and I stand firmly by my statement that the best first venomous snake is one belonging to someone else... but I'll concede that there are individuals who I would trust with venomous species with no hesitation, prior experience or not. Not many... but a few.
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