“Oh! I understand you very well,” said the little prince. “But why do you always speak in riddles?”
“I solve them all,” said the snake.
And they were both silent.
~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Le Petit Prince
Snakes have value. Whether you fear them, love them or simply respect them, they never fail to inspire, or awe. Snakes are animals of medical significance to human beings and their physiology holds many important clues to the world of medicine. They are an integral part of multiple ecosystems and they have held enormous roles in culture and religion throughout human history. Snakes are significant in literature. Arguably the most important animal in The Bible, snakes have figured prominently in children’s classics such as The Little Prince to best-sellers and blockbuster movies such as Harry Potter.
In fact, the serpent is one of the oldest and most widespread mythological symbols. Snakes have appeared in art at…
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Exposing the Big Game 
Snakes suffer from the same kind of myth and folklore burden as wolves.
This piece seems to have the standard “I love animals and hate HSUS for no good reason.” I looked at some of the articles on the HSUS site, and it seemed to me that HSUS was against large snakes as pets for the same reasons that many reasonable people are against large carnivores as pets: the animal is typically not well-cared for, is often abused and/or abandoned, or lives a life of misery in deplorable conditions. To me, the blogger’s complaint carried the same pathos as the people who claim HSUS put their neighbor out of business by bringing animal control authorities to confiscate the neighbor’s 143 breeding dogs living in stacked cages in a one-car garage where they were lovingly cared for; or the rancher that cries each time one of his public-grazing steep-terrain unnamed-cows disappear into the maw of a hungry wolf-pack. She had a good blog going, until she decided to bring out her myths.
I have no ties to HSUS, other than HSUS helps me on carnivore issues when I ask for help, as do several other large conservation organizations.
Click to access captive-constrictor-snake-welfare.pdf
Thanks, I’ll add this to the many other posts here from HSUS. I worked with them to ban trapping, and bear baiting in WA, etc..
One of the best advocacy groups working for snake welfare- http://snakes.ngo
Thanks for the link!
Yes – snakes are important. But large ones like Boas do not belong in someone’s apartment or a cage somewhere. It’s not good for the animal. A little garter snake was sunning herself on my stepping stone last February 25 – a day when a few butterflies and my resident bat came out. The snake had a lump in her stomach, and the fur of a little rodent was lying next to her. Guess she didn’t want any fur in her stomach that day.
That’s so sad!! I agree with you and would support a ban on exotic pets. Many people can’t adequately care for these types of animals who need special handling, diets and environments — when it gets to a breaking point or an unknown escape, that’s when things happen and get out of control. Then you also have people who abandon their pets to wreak havoc on others or who seem to think they’ll be okay..better not to have them in the first place, which means capturing and transport from their wild and natural homes..completely wrong.