So I come home last night...

[Marcial]

with plants... should look better after they get a chance to grow in.

[jocelyn]

Yeah habitats reall;y look much better with real plants. Any suggestions for desert species?

[Wolfman]

Since this seems to be the official .info reptile thread, I thought this would go well here:

MIAMI - The alligator has some foreign competition at the top of the Everglades food chain, and the results of the struggle are horror-movie messy.

A 13-foot Burmese python recently burst after it apparently tried to swallow a live, six-foot alligator whole, authorities said.

The incident has heightened biologists’ fears that the nonnative snakes could threaten a host of other animal species in the Everglades.

 It means nothing in the Everglades is safe from pythons, a top-down predator,” said Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife professor.

Over the years, many pythons have been abandoned in the Everglades by pet owners.

The gory evidence of the latest gator-python encounter — the fourth documented in the past three years — was discovered and photographed last week by a helicopter pilot and wildlife researcher.

The snake was found with the gator’s hindquarters protruding from its midsection. Mazzotti said the alligator may have clawed at the python’s stomach as the snake tried to digest it.

In previous incidents, the alligator won or the battle was an apparent draw.

“There had been some hope that alligators can control Burmese pythons,” Mazzotti said. “This indicates to me it’s going to be an even draw. Sometimes alligators are going to win and sometimes the python will win.”

It is unknown how many pythons are competing with the thousands of alligators in the Everglades, but at least 150 have been captured in the past two years, said Joe Wasilewski, a wildlife biologist and crocodile tracker.

Pythons could threaten many smaller species that conservationists are trying to protect, including other reptiles, otters, squirrels, woodstorks and sparrows, Mazzotti said.

Wasilewski said a 10- or 20-foot python also could pose a risk to an unwary human, especially a child. He added, however, “I don’t think this is an imminent threat. This is not a ‘Be afraid, be very afraid’ situation.”
 

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9600151/

I can\'t believe a snake tried to eat an alligator and exploded.  Damn non-native species.

[FreeSpirit]

rotfl talk about biting off more than u can chew! :lol:

[Todd]

:rimshot:

[jocelyn]

Yeah this is really bad for the reptile-loving community as a whole. Burms and also reticulated pythons can get huge. When they are little they seem cute and manageable, but when they get bigger people don\'t wat them anymore and they set them free. A snake like that can have a shitload of hatchlings, and they thrive in the Florida environment.

Also in the news a couple of days ago was a snake, I believe a burmese python, who ate a cat. The 66 year old lady who owned the cat is freaking out.

I am sure in Florida laws are now being discussed to regulate or ban big snakes like burms and retics. It\'s really too bad that some irresponsible people are giving a whole community a bad name. They are really beautiful animals and it would be a shame if responsible owners could not legally have them.

[Marcial]

I do not like cats, at all, but all of this bad press is no good for snake hobbyists!  

Personally, I\'m of the opinion that large snakes SHOULD be banned, or at least restricted, just like any other large predator (big cats, bears, etc).  There are just too many people who buy them on impulse (they are surprisingly cheap as babies) only to realize what they\'ve gotten themselves into after it\'s too late, and no one will take the animal off their hands... then shit like this happens.  You never hear bad press about small, non-venomous species... it\'s the big monsters that will eventually lead to the entire hobby being made illegal.  

Here\'s the article........


MIAMI (AFP) - A Burmese python with a suspicious bulge in its belly will be x-rayed to confirm if it swallowed a family\'s Siamese cat, local authorities in the US state of Florida said on Monday.
 
The python, three-a-half meters (12 feet) long, was found on Sunday with a large protusion in its digestive tract near the Rodriguez family\'s home outside of Miami.

Puzzled by the disappearance of its one-year old pet feline, Frances, the family feared the worst.

"I am sure there\'s a cat in there," Andres, one of the family\'s sons, told local media.

His mother, Elidia, was worried but wanted proof about the fate of Frances. "I still would like to know for sure that it\'s him in the snake\'s stomach," she said.

Captain Al Cruz, of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue antivenin unit, told AFP that the reptile would be taken to a state park, where it will be x-rayed to determine if the Siamese cat had met an unfortunate end.

Another python made headlines last week. That snake, which was four meters (12.5-foot) in length, burst after trying to ingest an alligator in the Everglades National Park.

The presence of the large snakes, which can reach seven meters (24 feet) in length, has alarmed biologists in the Everglades because they pose a threat to native alligators, which are the principal predators in the regional ecosystem.

Many Florida residents adopt pythons as pets but abandon them later when they grow too big. Seven or eight pythons are found annually in the county, Cruz said.

[Stephengencs]

I am pro snake hobbiest yet anti snake....

that is a crazy story, but it doesn\'t suprise me that there are idiots out there who smear the reputation of respectable snake entheusiasts....

[jocelyn]

I don\'t think they should be banned. MAYBE resticted, perhaps you should have a license or something. That would be tough to enforce though. They do get huge (I think some buyers have no idea how big, when they pick up a 21" baby burm...) and they can be dangerous. But so can pitbulls (and regular bulls for that matter!)

But yes, bad bad press for reptile lovers, and you do make a good point that no one is freaking out over, say, green tree pythons.

The place I go in nashua (RJs Exotics) sells an astounding number of baby burms and retics, as well as alligators, caymans (sp?) etc. I was suprised and a bit alarmed when the owner told me how many he sells. They had an anaconda for sale in there last time I was in which scared the bejesus out of me.