• Posted 12/19/2024.
    =====================

    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

Venomoid in/near Indiana?

Hello all...I've been quiet here for some time, but I'd like to add my 2 cents on this, since in years past I've kept 7 venomoid rattlesnakes (plus a few other kinds) & kept quite a few hot rattlesnakes as well*- for a total of 20 safe years. *I did rescues/re-locations & accepted those unwanted that were in captivity too long to be released...at no time did I ever deliberately capture wild snakes, hot or otherwise, unless injured or about to be. I also did many educational programs with both native & non-native snakes.

Anyway, the venomoids I had were all given to me, NOT fixed for me and were then unwanted by their previous owners. (think about that, ok?) While I really enjoyed having some venomoids, I would never deliberately have that done.

You are under the impression that venom is not essential to their digestion, but that is not always true...it starts the digestive process. One of a pair of eastern diamondbacks had very poor digestion: his body was triangular (cross-section) and in spite of a good appetite, it was obvious by his foul smelling & greasy stools that he was unable to digest properly. I first tried adding digestive enzymes to his food, with little effect. Finally I decided to just use a "venom donor" to bite his prey for him...that worked pretty well & he slowly gained some weight, but he was never as healthy as he should have been, nor were his stools entirely normal.

As for your original question, I can't help you there...those who fixed the snakes I had aren't around any more. There was a vet in Phoenix AZ that used to do them years ago, but he didn't like to, so he charged a lot, I heard. I do hope you'll reconsider.
 
Arctophile117 said:
The only thing I've reconsidered is continuing any interaction with this site.
Click to expand...

Arctophile117 said:
On this note, I distinctly remember that as I was making my account on this forum, a moderator was running a survey, asking members' general views of this site. He blatantly stated his concern that perhaps the older and longer-time members are running off new members due to an "old club" mentality. I am beginning to see why he was concerned.
Click to expand...

You've received varied responses here and some have had good info, others valid opinion. Why not pick out what is helpful to you and be grateful for those that took their time to respond, even if you do not agree?
 
I was the first to respond and I am a new member (less than a year). I have had no issues with this site. It sounds like you have a personal problem.
 
Arctophile117 said:
I'm getting roadblocks by good ol' boys who percieve someone as being recklessly naive of the lethality of such a beautiful creature, and of the respect due it for exactly that reason (it being a living, breathing thing goes without saying).
Click to expand...

Backreading now and I'm just endlessly amused by this. It sounds like you are aware of the lethality, but I'm not sure having its teeth removed just so you can keep it as a pet is showing it any respect at all. On the contrary, altering an animal's natural state for your own desires is one of the most selfish things you can do.

And I'm not sure what your definition of a good ol' boy is in this hobby, but I'll have had my first snake for a year in February, so I doubt I'm it. I just have some common sense and actual love and respect for these animals as living beings instead of toys or trinkets that can be modified for my own purposes.
 
One more thing: Are you aware that with the procedure you talked about, the glands could still grow back and then you would unwittingly have a perfectly venomous snake on your hands?
 
BlueCrowned said:
On the contrary, altering an animal's natural state for your own desires is one of the most selfish things you can do.
Click to expand...
That there is a bit of a slippery slope, I think the PETA folk would say that these critters are wild, and keeping them as pets is selfish (I don't agree). I myself would not keep either venomoids or venomous, but that's a subject for a different thread I think.

In any case even though venomoids are a bit of a hot topic, if we all respect one another and this wonderful site we have, a discussion might be interesting. Feelings run strong and I'm not sure minds will be changed, but putting info out there can be useful. Info about gland regrowth for instance is enormously useful, as someone who has not yet heard of the possibility may have their very lives saved by reading this thread.
 
BlueCrowned said:
...but I'm not sure having its teeth removed just so you can keep it as a pet is showing it any respect at all. On the contrary, altering an animal's natural state for your own desires is one of the most selfish things you can do.

....I just have some common sense and actual love and respect for these animals as living beings instead of toys or trinkets that can be modified for my own purposes.
Click to expand...

Just for clarity, removing fangs does nothing to render a venomous snake "safe" as their fangs are routinely replaced anyway. The surgeries in question either disconnect the venom ducts on both sides, or completely remove the venom glands. And mistakes do happen...the accessory glands are quite tiny. Most of these surgeries are NOT done by veterinarians, who have invested in their education & value their careers doing saner things.
But you're correct, it's disrespectful of nature, just like de-clawing cats or dyeing your dog purple to match your outfit.

When I got into keeping venomous snakes many years ago, it was totally by accident. A lifelong animal-lover, I had a few harmless colubrids first before I was offered a "fixed" (safe) rattlesnake that the owners no longer wanted.
At first, neither did I...but the "rescuer" in me finally said yes, & while I tested repeatedly to make sure he was incapable of injecting venom, in time the fact that he was safe (or "safer") to work with allowed me to better understand all the wild ones that turned up in my neighbor's yards...snakes that were usually killed as a risk for humans & their pets too. It became my mission to help both sides, by re-locating those rattlesnakes, & in so doing, to educate the local public to better respect and tolerate them. That's just not the same thing as taking one from nature just because you can, & modifying it into your pet, which by the way, doesn't usually work out: the guys who caught & had "fixed" that rattlesnake lost interest because they were essentially show-offs & lacked empathy...eventually the fang bites got old, even without venom. Go figure...

Now think about the snake for a moment: born free but suddenly thrust into a life of terror in a prison cell with "predators" always lurking about they can never fully hide from. That's how they see us, as big ugly predators. Forcing wildlife to live in fear in your phony world does not suggest to me that you love them. If you did, you'd only love to see them in the wild.

One more thing you should know: some time later I learned more about the man (now deceased) who had fixed that rattlesnake for those guys. He was a wildlife poacher of the highest magnitude, and those who captured snakes for him were not the least bit respectful of the snakes they caught...they did it to make money illegally (those rattlesnakes were "protected" by law). One of those turned out to be my nephew, who on at least one occasion, allowed a whole trunk full of captured snakes to die in a hot barn without food or water because he was just a totally irresponsible jerk. Is that the kind of people you really want to support? I don't.
 
Lucille-- You have a point. I'm not against spaying or neutering animals, for instance. But that has benefits for the animal as well and is not just for human benefit.

Just for the record, and I realize this is not the issue at hand, but dyeing a dog with natural, harmless dyes that wear out in a couple months is not remotely comparable to permanently disfiguring an animal and causing unnecessary pain in the process. The dye does not affect the dog in any way and I have no issue with something like that. I had my dog's tail colored pink once... It was cute and he didn't really care that he was a bit more colorful for a while.
 
For the record, I sometimes applaud the attention that PETA brings to abuse, but they are too extreme for me to support as well.

And yes, harmless coloring of an already-domestic pet isn't the same thing as taking a wild animal, rendering it unable to survive in the wild, and keeping it as a pet. The problem is that most people are incapable of making a lifelong commitment to that animal, and what happens when they lose interest for whatever reason. People abandon domestic animals all the time "because they're moving" or their "son got bored"...with a wild animal you've modified, it can never have it's life back, it's just too late once you realize it was a bad idea after all.
 
hotlips said:
For the record, I sometimes applaud the attention that PETA brings to abuse, but they are too extreme for me to support as well.

And yes, harmless coloring of an already-domestic pet isn't the same thing as taking a wild animal, rendering it unable to survive in the wild, and keeping it as a pet. The problem is that most people are incapable of making a lifelong commitment to that animal, and what happens when they lose interest for whatever reason. People abandon domestic animals all the time "because they're moving" or their "son got bored"...with a wild animal you've modified, it can never have it's life back, it's just too late once you realize it was a bad idea after all.
Click to expand...

Also not the issue at hand, but I see snakes on Craigslist all the time for reasons like "I don't give it enough attention" or "I don't have time for it"... I have 4 snakes and it takes me all of 30 minutes once a week to feed them and clean their cages. That's all the attention they need! They don't care if you hold them and would probably rather you didn't.
 
BlueCrowned said:
Also not the issue at hand, but I see snakes on Craigslist all the time for reasons like "I don't give it enough attention" or "I don't have time for it"... I have 4 snakes and it takes me all of 30 minutes once a week to feed them and clean their cages. That's all the attention they need! They don't care if you hold them and would probably rather you didn't.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean...it's almost funny...but there ARE people who really DON'T clean their snake's cages and let their snakes go hungry and without heat to digest...sadly, I've seen too many of them and taken in their animals. Maybe it's "because they didn't have time" and if that's the case, I'd much rather they find them new homes. Even if that's just an excuse & not the truth, a person with a pet they don't want is not going to take good care of it.
 
This is turning into a nice little conversation here, respectful and informative, I appreciate that.
 
BlueCrowned said:
....
And I'm not sure what your definition of a good ol' boy is in this hobby, but I'll have had my first snake for a year in February, so I doubt I'm it....
Click to expand...

I've kept lots of snakes for decades now, but I just can't be a "good ol' boy" either, sorry....;)
 
hotlips said:
I know what you mean...it's almost funny...but there ARE people who really DON'T clean their snake's cages and let their snakes go hungry and without heat to digest...sadly, I've seen too many of them and taken in their animals. Maybe it's "because they didn't have time" and if that's the case, I'd much rather they find them new homes. Even if that's just an excuse & not the truth, a person with a pet they don't want is not going to take good care of it.
Click to expand...

If you don't have time for a snake you don't have any time for any pet at all...
 
Lucille said:
This is turning into a nice little conversation here, respectful and informative, I appreciate that.
Click to expand...

I can admittedly get pretty heated when animal welfare is on the line, sorry about that. I feel like not enough people consider the animal as a living creature who can feel pain and fear, especially in this hobby... Reptiles are not as emotional as dogs or cats but it's clear they still have their own level of sentience even if we don't understand it from a mammalian perspective :)
 
BlueCrowned said:
I can admittedly get pretty heated when animal welfare is on the line, sorry about that. I feel like not enough people consider the animal as a living creature who can feel pain and fear, especially in this hobby... Reptiles are not as emotional as dogs or cats but it's clear they still have their own level of sentience even if we don't understand it from a mammalian perspective :)
Click to expand...

:iagree: The contact cards I used to hand out seriously said "Rattlesnake spoken here". With patient observation, & even with limited interaction, it's obvious that these are not inherently malevolent creatures, that they fear the unknown and are basically shy, just trying to survive. Much like us, what they most want from life is to feel safe.

They are also nowhere near as "dumb" as most people believe, and they absolutely do learn and retain what they know. While most snakes are not very visual (meaning they don't recognize things on vision alone, but are visually attracted to motion, which may or may not be prey), it's even possible to influence a rattlesnakes mood (to either a hostile or a curious attitude) using visual cues.

While some rattlesnakes can seem quite hostile, remember that you probably aren't the first human they've met. Give them a little credit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top