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RE: Caught half steppin.
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by MoccasinMan on September 27, 2007
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That is a wonderful story... alcohal clouding judgement even before being consumed. Clouded judgement (however one reaches that state) does not mix with handling of venomous reptiles. You may need to rethink whether you have the commitmant and common sense nessesary to work with hot snakes. Maybe next time you are not so lucky!
Andrew
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RE: Caught half steppin.
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by squigy on September 27, 2007
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Im with Rob on this one. Where was the mentor? And as far as having close calls like that and thinking on getting a hot snake at san antonio in a month I believe I would pass. Anyways don't tell any of the vendors that story or you'll probably come away empty handed. We've all had close calls because of ignorance or accident, usually ignorance. But I don't believe in posting my mistakes I choose to learn from them in silence.
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RE: Caught half steppin.
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by Kingetula on September 28, 2007
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"But I don't believe in posting my mistakes I choose to learn from them in silence"
I was wondering about that. It seems some people like to show of their bites like a war scar well others keep quiet about being bit.
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RE: Caught half steppin.
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by Rob_Carmichael on September 28, 2007
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This situation is very sketchy at best...definitely not the way the responsible venomous community wants to be looked at and this is NOT how things are normally done with a qualified mentor....I'd be curious to know about this "mentor's" credentials (they are in quotes because I wouldn't consider him a mentor). The sad thing is that even if he tells this story at San Antonio, there will be PLENTY of vendors who will not blink an eye to sell him something - he could go home with a Dendroaspis and they wouldn't lose any sleep. That's where we are at....$$$
Rob Carmichael
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RE: Caught half steppin.
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by Stinkfoot74 on September 28, 2007
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My mentor turned his head for a second. The mistake was mine 100% I had been working and I took it apon my self to compleat a task I thought needed to be done. I am only allowed to help with large constrictors and the copper heads he keeps. When he is doing Cobra's I am only allowed to observe. I put it down to being to confident . No drinking was done before we started working. It was also explained that if I had been bitten in the torso i would have been in deep trouble, even if it was a snake with mild venom I would have been in deep trouble. I still plan on keeping hots, I am just going to back off for a bit and watch more.
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RE: Caught half steppin.
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by Stinkfoot74 on September 28, 2007
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I would also like to point out that my mentor is verry good at what he does And I would not do it with anyone else. Sure I will not be buying my hot in a month, and I am glad this happend as it is an eye opener. Now I can go to plenty of photo's here ware maney member's are free handling there snakes . Should they own hots or is it OK because they have not been bitten yet? The mistake was mine and I learned from it. I will say it again I messed up, I will own hots, Not next month maybe not next year but I will. For now I go back to watching. I will also honest about my mistakes. I will not get on a high horse and say what should be done and should not be done. My mentor is not to blame I am. I am an adult and I accept the result of my actions. Had I been hit in my torso I would have accepted the fact . I would still say it was my fault as it was. The snake was there, But I was not. I should have been bitten I was not. Lesson learned.
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RE: Caught half steppin.
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by Rob_Carmichael on September 29, 2007
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I personally haven't seen any of the well respected members free handling venomous herps on this site. I think you are mistaking "free handling" with using other techniques (ie. "hook and tail") to guide/move a venomous snake from a cage (that doesn't have a shift box) to a secure container so the cage can be serviced...there's a huge difference - ones for show and the other one isn't. those techniques should only be used by very experience people. You may be alluding to mine but that is NOT free handling; not even close as it's something I do as part of my job and the public is not allowed to watch during maintenance time. Your comments still leave my head shaking a bit but I'll just shut my mouth on this one.
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RE: Caught half steppin.
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by Cro on September 29, 2007
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"Now I can go to plenty of photo's here ware maney member's are free handling there snakes"
I will agree with Rob on this one. You might see photos of folks tailing snakes on this site, but "free handling of venomous snakes" is somthing we discourage, and is very difficult to find photos of here.
Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: Caught half steppin.
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by Buzztail1 on September 29, 2007
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Eugene,
It is not impossible to find quite a few people who "free handle" snakes. It is even possible to find pictures on this website of people free handling. As Rob and John both have pointed out, that is a practice that we discourage as we do not consider it responsible.
It is okay that you made a mistake. Everybody makes mistakes. It is a good thing that you did not suffer a bite from your mistake. However, the whole point of mentoring is that your mentor should be focused on you to point out mistakes like that before the snake actually gets to strike at you. I believe that is the point of the criticism aimed at your mentor.
I am glad that your making a mistake did not lessen your passion for keeping. As long as you learn from your mistake - it was not in vain. You clearly understimated the snake - that mistake was yours. You were within striking distance of a captive venomous snake - that mistake was your mentor's. It is not about being adult or taking responsibility. Good mentors will tell you that trainees don't make mistakes, supervisors (mentors) do.
You took the oportunity to post your mistake here. Take in what everyone is telling you but don't take it too personally. Do you personally know anyone here? Think about what is said. It is not meant to hurt you. If you think that the most respected people here have not made mistakes, then you have not been reading the site very well.
Try this article:
http://www.venomousreptiles.org/articles/13
You are ahead of the majority just by actually having a mentor. Take your time and learn all you can. Good luck.
Karl
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RE: Caught half steppin.
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by Rob_Carmichael on September 29, 2007
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Well said Karl,
You hit it on the head. A mentor should not be doing other chores while training someone and not keeping a direct eye on them. It's a time consuming job but to be an effective mentor, you need to be with those you are training the entire time. I'll admit, it can be a pain mentoring someone but it's also one of the most rewarding parts of my job. Nothing said should be taken too personal here; we are just sharing opinions and as Karl said, if you learned from it (as well as your mentor) then something positive came from it.
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