• Posted 12/19/2024.
    =====================

    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

East African Gaboon Viper

54bogger said:
The point of this thread is just simply show my snakes to others just like on many other threads on here.
Click to expand...

There is a member here ,Yasin, he has a thread showing his venomous snakes, they are beautiful.
This thread is different, it does not simply show off your beautiful gabby, it shows off free handling, and some people have opinions on that subject. You seem as if you feel it is OK to post your opinion, but you do not want to hear others with differing opinions.
 
54bogger said:
Thanks, yes she is. She is not NEAR as evil as some people would have you to believe.
Click to expand...

I think the point people are trying to impress is that no, the snake itself is not evil, it's a WILD animal. It doesn't think like a human being. It doesn't recognize you as a friend. It doesn't feel love, kinship, affection, or have any interest in your welfare. It does not think about whether or not it WANTS to bite you or not. It will not feel regret if it bites you because it mistakes your hand for a rat and you die. It will not understand why you don't come around to feed it any longer nor what that awful smell of your decomposing body in your bedroom is.

Heck, I can't list the number of times I have had nonvenomous snakes that have never expressed any hint of wanting to bite before, just turn the head and latch onto my arm or a finger. I remember particularly a california king that without any warning suddenly lunged at my face. Luckily my reflexes were quicker than they are today or I could have gotten an eyeball snagged and punctured. Lord only knows how many times I've gotten bitten by corn snakes just from plain old feed response. It happens. They are wild animals. They are designed to evaluate everything as being possibly FOOD. In their world, there is no penalty for biting something that turns out to NOT be food. I can't think of any logical reason to assume that it can't happen with venomous snakes as well. Just with venomous snakes, you might not get a second chance to correct your handling practices.

Yes, everyone is welcome to pick their own lifestyle and their own poison, if they want to. I presume you do know that what you are doing is dangerous to you, do you not? I sure hope you do. But do you not also realize that IF you get bit, you will be a newsworthy item that can negatively affect not only your future legal ability to have those animals, but potentially snowball into affecting EVERYONE's privilege as well? THAT is what others are concerned about here. I'm sure no one here really wants to hear about you dying from a Gaboon bite. The main concern is that your actions COULD become the spark that sends bills to legislators to vote on, at all levels of government to outlaw what you are now doing for EVERYONE else.

Probably you are not concerned about that aspect of your actions. And I suppose that is your right to not care about what anyone else thinks. But you will be responsible for what happens afterwards if you do get bit. Heck, they may even name the law banning venomous snakes from private possession with your name. The "Barry Foster Venomous Snake Ban". You want to be famous in that fashion?

You claim that no one here knows you, but the reverse is also true, is it not? Do you know how your actions can affect them? Do you KNOW the people your actions may affect and how it could impact what they love to do? My impression is that your answer to that is "Hell NO! I don't give a damn about anyone else but me and what I want to do." That is it in a nutshell, isn't it?

BTW, do you live alone, or do you have other family members living there with you?

Personally, I really don't care what you do, as I have never, and will never, own nor handle venomous snakes. But even though I am retired from the reptile business, I still do care about what happens to it. How about you?
 
Last edited:
She loves this man and they have a relationship based on mutual respect. He knows her personality and how to approach her and handle her. She's learning how to be comfortable in his presence and this is an amazing bond. Following.
 
I once too believed snakes had no emotions... Then one day a boa constrictor (which I thought were the dumbest most primitive snakes) taught me different.
 
JohnPaul82 said:
She loves this man and they have a relationship based on mutual respect. He knows her personality and how to approach her and handle her. She's learning how to be comfortable in his presence and this is an amazing bond. Following.
Click to expand...

The post you replied to is an old post of his. Here is a newer one:

54bogger said:
This happened on june 28 of this year, I was in the hospital until july 27th. For just over 2 weeks I was in a coma and the doctors told my family they weren't sure if I'd live. In fact one doctor told my family that I was in the process of dying. My lungs filled with fluid and pneumonia set in,I contracted mersa, I was bleeding in my stomach, my blood coagulated and my kidneys shut down. After I came too the doctor told me quote "we didn't save your life,we did all that we could do,it was the Lord who saved you".
Life is to short and precious and the price is to high for me to continue on freehandling venomous snakes.
Click to expand...
 
Many people on this thread have speculated on the newsworthiness of a venomous bite, and the subsequent reaction from the public. In response, here is a link to a newspaper report of a venomous bite in my area:
http://www.startribune.com/snakes-slither-to-center-of-minneapolis-court-battle/386391081/
Please note the comments section for some idea as to how the general public feels about snake keeping- that it's not very complimentary should come as a surprise to no one here. Thinking that negative incidents such as this will not have a deleterious effect on our hobby is simply ignorant.
Of special interest are the victim's comments earlier in this thread.
For the record, a have no objection to qualified hobbyists keeping venomous. I just wish they'd be more careful, and not take needless chances.
 
Barry!!! Happy New Year!!! :)
 
Darwin award?

You win! That is the dumbest thing I have ever seen. Holding a venomous snake on your lap is crazy. I hope you get tagged in the nuts. Your are taking owning a venomous way too lightly. It is a serious responsibility and this is no way to show off. While it is true that you may survive a bite with the use of antivenin it is going to be expensive and painful and you might have long term affects from this event. You are a statistic waiting to happen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top