hobby or passion, note: (i'm not even a novice)

[JimM]

What exactly are these critters then? I'm curious to hear your description of their place in our lives.

I think my reflection of what they are is a healthy reflection considering the strength of the venom that some of these T's pack.

One of the first things you'll learn when you learn about keeping hot snakes or any dangerous animal is that they are NOT pets and NEVER to consider them pets. We feed them. We house them. We take care of them. But they are still not pets like your average house animal. To me, keeping my tarantulas are no different than keeping a hot snake: they are all meant as display animals, with contact only when necessary.

Pretty off topic but why would you use a hamster as lizard food when you can easily get a much larger rat that was bred to be a feeder? I've never in my life seen 'feeder hamsters.'

I have plenty of experience with animals that can hurt you...badly. This includes various snakes, crocodile monitors, black throat monitors, nile montors, Blue Ring octopus, Stone fish, etc, etc. All obtained in the "pet" trade.

Calling them "pets" or not, well it's just a word and it means something different to some folks. I can keep a Gaboon Viper, respect the hell out of it, and call it a pet if it strikes my fancy. "Pet' does not have to equal a fuzzy, cuddly Yorkie. It's just a word.

I was half joking about the hamster, but to me is just a rodent, and would never be a pet.
I've kept "pet" fish for decades.

 

[maitre]

I would loooooooooove a gaboon lol my favorite snake with the most elaborate and beautiful markings

Yeah, I guess it's how ppl interpret the word. In my experience, it's easier for the public to accept my T's if I describe them NOT as pets. Usually if I tell them they're display animals like keeping fish, they make the connection and they understand more easily. It's a quick and easy way to get past the "EWW" part of the conversation and into the meat of it when you can really tell them what T's are like. They seem more interested too once they get past the ew phase

 

[JimM]

I would loooooooooove a gaboon lol my favorite snake with the most elaborate and beautiful markings

Yeah, I guess it's how ppl interpret the word. In my experience, it's easier for the public to accept my T's if I describe them NOT as pets. Usually if I tell them they're display animals like keeping fish, they make the connection and they understand more easily. It's a quick and easy way to get past the "EWW" part of the conversation and into the meat of it when you can really tell them what T's are like. They seem more interested too once they get past the ew phase

It's better when trying to educate the masses about exotics I guess, to drive home a "this is not a pet" idea. That way they don't get a false idea of what the animal is about, and how to properly care for it from day to day. Most of these things are best left alone as you well know, either for stress reasons on the part of the animal, or human safety.

So your point is not lost.
Yeah Gaboons are drop dead gorgeous, but from what I understand they more or less just sit there. 2" fangs.