Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueCrowned
...but I'm not sure having its teeth removed just so you can keep it as a pet is showing it any respect at all. On the contrary, altering an animal's natural state for your own desires is one of the most selfish things you can do.
....I just have some common sense and actual love and respect for these animals as living beings instead of toys or trinkets that can be modified for my own purposes.
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Just for clarity, removing fangs does nothing to render a venomous snake "safe" as their fangs are routinely replaced anyway. The surgeries in question either disconnect the venom ducts on both sides, or completely remove the venom glands. And mistakes do happen...the accessory glands are quite tiny. Most of these surgeries are NOT done by veterinarians, who have invested in their education & value their careers doing saner things.
But you're correct, it's disrespectful of nature, just like de-clawing cats or dyeing your dog purple to match your outfit.
When I got into keeping venomous snakes many years ago, it was totally by accident. A lifelong animal-lover, I had a few harmless colubrids first before I was offered a "fixed" (safe) rattlesnake that the owners no longer wanted.
At first, neither did I...but the "rescuer" in me finally said yes, & while I tested repeatedly to make sure he was incapable of injecting venom, in time the fact that he was safe (or "safer") to work with allowed me to better understand all the wild ones that turned up in my neighbor's yards...snakes that were usually killed as a risk for humans & their pets too. It became my mission to help both sides, by re-locating those rattlesnakes, & in so doing, to educate the local public to better respect and tolerate them. That's just not the same thing as taking one from nature just because you can, & modifying it into your pet, which by the way, doesn't usually work out: the guys who caught & had "fixed" that rattlesnake lost interest because they were essentially show-offs & lacked empathy...eventually the fang bites got old, even without venom. Go figure...
Now think about the snake for a moment: born free but suddenly thrust into a life of terror in a prison cell with "predators" always lurking about they can never fully hide from. That's how they see us, as big ugly predators. Forcing wildlife to live in fear in your phony world does not suggest to me that you love them. If you did, you'd only love to see them in the wild.
One more thing you should know: some time later I learned more about the man (now deceased) who had fixed that rattlesnake for those guys. He was a wildlife poacher of the highest magnitude, and those who captured snakes for him were not the least bit respectful of the snakes they caught...they did it to make money illegally (those rattlesnakes were "protected" by law). One of those turned out to be my nephew, who on at least one occasion, allowed a whole trunk full of captured snakes to die in a hot barn without food or water because he was just a totally irresponsible jerk. Is that the kind of people you really want to support? I don't.