To anyone that doesn't keep snakes, snakes are evil, the majority of them are poisonous, or else they will leap to your neck and strangle you. The majority of our population doesn't understand that they are pretty harmless, and fun to keep. Like I said before, with a snake that big, there should have been two people, accidents do happen.
Yes, accidents do happen. And people do get careless. I watched a show about retics and anacondas attacking people to eat them...they can try, but our shoulders get in the way. Of course, they kill you first...so what difference does that make. These attacks are rare...like shark attacks...we are in so much more danger on the highway. Keeping or working with large snakes (or any animal for that matter) has it's risks. :roll:
man that sad. i have been trying to get a boa myself and my only problem is my dad. my dad told me about that the other morning i thought he was bs. because i asked friend off mines who worked with snakes and he said he never heard about that. but that it really sad and probaly hurt the reptile world
That snake wasn't a boa, it was a reticulated python. Boas are pretty calm, howeve when fully grown, and while handling you should always make sure there is another person present just in case you get into any trouble.
I think that even if there are two people there is still that risk of you dieing. Yes, you can still die with more than one person present. It's happened multiple times. It's just bad luck really. Better to have more than one person there but...most people that own large reptiles are guilty of handling their snake without multiple persons there. I garantee if any of you owned a large snake you would handle him/her on your own at least one time while you had him. It only takes one time to die.
Let's remedy that to, Have more than one level headed, reptile savvy person present then. Most of the cases where people had more than one person present and still died were probably because the other person/people panicked and sat there trying to pull at the snake's coils to loosen them or some such silly crap. Or did nothing and just sat there freaking out or on the phone with 911, not realizing their friend would be dead by the time the police or paramedics got there.
spix14 wrote: So, for the additional person present, in rescue mode, what is the quickest, most effective way to get a large snake to release it's prey? Cutting it's head off? Any way to save the person AND the snake?
I have heard dunking them into cold water (though I don't know how that is practical if a 15 foot snake has you) pouring rubbing alcohol onto their nose/mouth, and grabbing the tail behind the vent and bending sharply upwards. Other than that I would imagine that if you had a couple of people there and they grabbed the snake by the tail and used muscle power to unwind it from you, they could probably get you free. This would require enough people present relative to the size of the snake to be able to overpower it though. Snakes are basically one giant muscle and are a heck of a lot stronger than most people realize. Last ditch effort would have to be killing or injuring the snake enough to make it let go.
Hmm. I don't think you can truly understand unless you were in a certain situation. Also like I've said before. I don't know one keeper of large reptiles (besides zoos) that have at least one person around 100% of the time when they're handling their snake(s).
Understand what? The stress of the situation? That's great, doesn't change the fact that not doing so is putting yourself at risk. Also doesn't change the fact that having more than one person around ups your chances of survival.
What is so hard about not putting a snake around your neck? Why do people continue to practice this? You cant tell me that snake crawled up the mans body to wrap itself around his neck, he had to have put it there to hold it...Just try putting something smaller like a ball python around your neck and see how tight it can wrap..It really doesnt take but a minute to panic and get dizzy and disoriented when anything puts pressure on your Coratid arteries..If it got there by accident then Im sorry but I just highly doubt it..And chances are that poor snake didnt tighten around his neck to kill him, but just cause it was up high and didnt want to fall..It should become regular practice on these reptile boards to teach people not to get into the habit of posing with thier pet snakes wrapped around or draped around the neck area..Around the upper arms, under the armpit is the best place Ive found to carry mine, always directing her head away from my neck area....This kind of thing is soooo bad for our hobby....
I think for anyone who owns a boa at least over 6 feet should always be prepared with: vinegar, another person nearby to assist if need be, and sadly...a knife. And anyone who owns a big constrictor should know what to do if it begins to constrict. Always remove from the tail. Kozma is almost 5 foot and not even my 6' 220 lb brother can uncoil him from his head or center of his body. On another site that is teeming with Burm owners, they said pushing the end of the tail up and breaking it is also another strategy. The knife and tail breaking seems rough, but if that guy would have been more responsible and took these precautions he might still be alive.
HadesBP18, re: ..."tail breaking seems rough"... Tails heal; death by suffocation does not. It's a good tip for people who own or handle large snakes. Thanks.
The really sad thing is they will probably kill the snake (just like they enjoy killing dogs that have attacked humans) The snake doesn't know any better! It wasn't trained to be an attack snake, it doesn't have some kooky human blood-lust, as other have said its not evil! It was just being a snake. It got scared or shocked or upset and decided to do something about it. Its not going to go out and kill the next person it finds, its just going to go on being a snake! Its sad and unfortunate that the man died but HE made a mistake, and now it will likely cost the snake its life also....
Ok, so I know this is like a month and a half later, but here's the story and how I know it. My parents live in Cinci, Ohio and my dad works at the University hospital and today my dad was being interviewed for something with his job and he got to talking to the camera man. Well the guy was saying that he was off to the OR later to talk to the surgens and apparently there's a dr. that's an expert on snake bites there that they are doing a story on. Well my dad told him about my boa and then they started talking about the man that was strangled, well apparently this was the same camera man who shot the story about it and was there on the scene. So this is the TRUE story...in case ya'll were wondering The man that owned the snake has kept several large reptiles in his day, and knew quite a bit about them, so he wasn't a newbie that just wanted a big snake to play with. He kept the snake (reticulated python) in a glass room in his garage like how they are displayed in zoo's. Well apparently he DID have someone with him but she was just outside the glass room. He stepped into the room and tripped, startling the snake and it bit him on the inside of the arm and then threw its coils around him. The woman that was with him pounded on the glass but was scared to go in herself. The first officer on the scene had his gun out, but couldn't see the mans head and didn't want to shoot the guy in the head. Then he considered tasering it, but didn't want to shock the guy in the process. So he decided he would have to wait for more officers to arrive. When 2 more did, the first one literally had to stand on the snakes head while the other 2 unwrapped it. It was ridiculuously(sp) strong. Now I am not justifying this mans decision to hold the snake by himself or any of his actions, but I wanted to set the story straight. I feel like the man just had a very unlucky day.
it sucks that people were there and couldnt do anything. i guess its not always enough just to have another person with you. especially when theyre afraid to get near the snake even if youre being killed. its also worth noting that a big snake doesnt have to attack someone to kill them. my boa isnt much more than 4 feet and can still apply a very uncomfortable amount of pressure to my neck if i let him. not because hes trying to kill me but so he can feel secure by gripping tightly. if a bigger snake did it, you could easily pass out from your arteries being blocked and if the snake didnt loosen its grip you wouldnt be able to do anyhing because youd be passed out.
omg at first I thought the man strangled te snake till I red. You should never every handle a snake over 4meters without another person WITH EXPERIENCE....I wouldnt want my herptard of a freind trying to save me from a snake.
It does you no good to have a second person with you if that person is afraid to go into the enclouser to help you. So regardless of the fact that there was a second person in the room, the man effectivly was still handling the snake by himself. You know, I want to feel bad for him, I really do. But...I'm having a hard time. If he's had large snakes before he knew better than to go mess with that snake by himself. Moreover, he didn't have anything to save himself with him. It was plain studidity. Hell, I have a very, very sweet RTB, and he's just pushing 7feet now. Regardless of his temperment, I never let my guard down around him, and always carry a small bottle of hard alcohol with me. Just in case. No, I don't think he'll ever hurt me or anyone else. Do I want to chance it? No. A little paranoia/prevention is better than a funeral. Just my 2 cents.
