Ron's Ball Python Blog

Have you ever heard the famous Disney children’s song, “It’s a small world after all”? That song brings a smile to my face because I can recall first hearing it when I was a young child visiting Disney Land. Unfortunately though, “It’s a small world after all” makes me realize just how small this world really is with respect to ball pythons and other exotic pets and how the government is again on the offensive.

I’m sure everyone has heard about the recent fatal attack by a chimpanzee. That was a very sad incident and our hearts go out to the injured parties. The US government felt bad too and their way to thwart future incidents was to pass H.R. 80: Captive Primate Safety Act, which reads, “To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to treat nonhuman primates as prohibited wildlife species under that Act, to make corrections in the provisions relating to captive wildlife offenses under that Act, and for other purposes.” Was this house resolution extreme? That is a question that I cannot answer because I haven’t done enough research to make a conclusion. Why and how does this tie into ball pythons?

The US government is on the offensive once again in an effort to stop the transportation and importation of pythons and alligators (including crocodilian species). They’ve foolishly lumped these reptiles together and are on a mission to try and stop people from keeping and owning these animals. Since they are not what “mainstream” considers to be cute cuddly pets (i.e. cats, dogs, bunny rabbits, etc) and since some of these reptiles can in fact harm or possibly cause death to humans, they feel that every python and alligator (still including crocodilians) is a threat. As we all know, this is not the truth.

Since I deal exclusively with ball python snakes, I can only speak on their behalf because this is the only snake species that I have a first hand knowledge of and day-to-day experience with. They pose no “life or death” threat to humans, dogs, cats, etc., only rodents, simply because they are a natural food source for ball pythons. Although I do not own or have first hand experience working with other reptiles that are in the crosshairs - Anacondas, Burmese Pythons, Reticulated Pythons, Alligators, Crocodiles, etc – I can say that there are many responsible keepers that own these animals as pets and do so with the utmost care, responsibility, security and respect for the dangers that some of these animals can impose on humans and wildlife in general. This brings me to why I chose to title this blog entry as, “It’s a small world after all.” Believe it or not, it’s a very small world after all because tragic events such as the recent chimpanzee attack places not only these animals under the microscope but other animals as well, including innocent victims like the beloved Ball Python.

Since it’s such a “small world after all”, we need to be diligent and responsible as owners of exotic pets to keep safety in mind first and foremost. Not only the safety of ourselves but the safety of our families and neighbors. Keepers of potentially deadly exotic pets need to respect the potential of these pets in their care and constantly remind friends that keep similar pets as well. Exotic pet breeders that sell these animals to the public must be responsible and make certain that their customers understand the potential of what these animals can do. This not only goes for reptiles, it goes for other exotic pets as well including but not limited to exotic pets such as Lions, Bears, Tigers, and etc. that people keep as exotic pets. I subscribe to an exotic pets magazine that has pages upon pages of private for-sale and/or trade advertisements for Lions, Bears, Tigers and more so I know for certain that there are many people that keep potentially deadly non-reptile animals as pets too.

Do you like ball pythons? Do you think ball pythons are safe snakes to keep as pets? Do you feel that banning interstate transport of ball pythons is wrong? If you answered “yes” to these questions then you need to make your voice heard and help stop the passing of H.R. 669, which is “To prevent the introduction and establishment of nonnative wildlife species that negatively impact the economy, environment, or other animal species' or human health, and for other purposes.” Ball pythons do no such thing and should no be demonized and included in this house resolution. We can stop the US government from passing this house resolution but in order to do this, we have to speak together collectively as one unified voice with a resounding vote of “NO!” NO, we will not allow you, the US government, whom are servants of the people, to include ball pythons in this house resolution. NO, we will not passively sit by and allow you to include other non-life threatening species in this resolution.

YES, we will make our voices heard today and electronically sign the petition to stop this action. YES, we will make our voices heard and tell our friends about this and have our friends tell their friends and so on. YES, we will put a stop to this by signing the petition today!

If you love ball pythons then make your voice heard by electronically signing the petition at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/usarkHR6311/index.html and help spread the word!