Snakes on "Ripley's Believe it or Not!" tv show

[cassandra]

Dunno...hence why I thought it was curious...

[SnakeySnakeSnake]

sex sells?

[Ginevive]

Hm.. I can see where she's coming from; but I really don't get as, um, close to my snakes as she does, lol! I liked some of her points; but she did get a little bit dramatic about the whole live-feeding thing. Predator/prey interaction happens every day in the natural world; no reason to glamorize things by pretending it doesn't.

[cassandra]

I spent some time checking out her website. She's just doing her thing - magician, show-girl, uses reptiles in her shows. She obviously loves and cares for her animals properly and tries to help educate others...so like, go her!

[MischiefManaged]

Hey everyone,
I happen to know Maria and her husband on a personal level and would like to point out that her advice on snake husbandry is undoubtedly the soundest advice I have come across on the net. Her attitude towards feeding live prey should be taken into serious consideration and does not necessarily reflect a "holier than thou" attitude. Believe me, she genuinely cares for these animals and devotes a lot of her time and money to her rescue efforts. Aside from the humane aspect (and I understand that we all draw the line somewhere), feeding live prey is dangerous. I have seen so many snakes get injured and killed by live prey, it just doesn't seem worth the risk. Some people whack (stunning) the rodent against a hard surface before feeding it off . . . why not just defrost a pre-killed one? Even difficult feeders (like my boa) can learn to eat frozen/thawed. Some people may argue that it is natural for the snake to eat live food . . . well then why not expose them to other natural conditions such as cold temps and predators? As our pets, these animals are kept in a controlled environment and we should do everything we can to keep them safe and content. Check Maria's forum out . . . you can post comments and she is always around to answer questions. Here is the link:
http://www.snakebabe.com/cgibin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi
I am sure that once you get to know her, you will realize her genuine passion for these animals and really start to appreciate her activism!
~Mischief~

[ddbjdealer]

The live/pk/ft debate is really not needed in yet ANOTHER thread is it? Everyone is free to their own opinions... We've all heard what opinions are like.

[JLC]

Hi Mischief...and welcome to BP.net! That is pretty cool that you know Maria and her husband. They look like fascinating people. I just wanted to say that I don't think anyone here was being critical about her husbandry advice or feeding methods. Our tendency here is to simply not push one method over another because all the ways to feed (live, p/k, f/t, or stunned) have their positives and their negatives. And no single person's opinion is worth more than another's...be they celebrity, huge breeder, or an unknown pet owner.

[Danielle(THM)]

People just need to knock off that silly debate! I'm sick and tired of people telling me that live feeding is "cruel" or "inhumane", but they don't understand, BECAUSE THEY DON'T DO IT. If ball pythons were meant to eat dead mice, they would be carrion eaters in the wild. Just because some people don't feed live doesn't make them "bad", nor does feeding live mice to a snake make you "inhumane". People who always think their way is the only right way are the reason people like me go to jail for murder. Ok, now I feel much better.

[xdeus]

Maybe it's just me, but I always consider the source when deciding whether or not to get upset over a comment.

[Danielle(THM)]

Just ranting, didn't mean to offend, if that is what I did. You understand, long spring break, with crappy school and a crappy job to go back too.