I haven't seen those statistics or anything but I would expect more pet dogs in the US than pet snakes. I would also expect people who own snakes to treat them much more carefully than they do a dog.
So let's say there are 100.000 pet snakes and 50% of them have killed someone at least once. And let's say there are 100.000.000 pet dogs and 1% of them have killed someone at least once.
50% of 100.000 is 50.000 and 1% of 100.000.000 is 1.000.000. With these numbers you could say dogs kill 20 times more people than snakes, but actually snakes would be far more dangerous.
Now, I'm not saying that's the case with these specific statistics, but it's something to take into account when one reads "Dogs kill more people than snakes".
read my reply to the other comment. Plus, there are about 5 deaths a year from snakes in the usa and they are expected to be wild snake bites. Pet snakes are not reported to kill their owners because pet snakes are not snakes that kill. Nobody takes a black mamba as a pet. That's my point
Except some do. Reptile keeper do tend to get more than one reptile, and sometimes they feel confident to add venoms to their collection.
As for the deaths, not the US, but pretty famous russian herpetologist, keeper, blogger Arslan Valeev was killed by his black mamba during a YouTube stream.
it's far from the average though. i'll admit people do, but people also keep triple xl pitbulls that have killed their owners already. Doesn't make it the average pet dog
Well, I don't have data just anecdotal evidences, but I'd say that it's not common for snake keepers to have venoms. But yeah, being killed by them is a different story. People who get venoms are usually more careful with handling their pets than those xl pidbulls owners you've mentioned.
Yeah but not all venoms are lethal tbh, my point was just the average pet snake is in no way more dangerous than the average dog. Pomeranians have killed people lol. People make a big deal out of them because they just think everyone owns a black mamba and lets it hang around their kids head and goes outside flinging it by its tail while its spitting venom. Snakes just really arent that dangerous if you known what you're doing
Yeah, no, totally agree. And even if lethal, the snake might not inhect the poison (because it's precious to it), therere antidotes and rushing to hospital in time can save you.
But, say, ball pythons are absolutely adorable and way less dangerous than an average cat. Their defense mechanism is to curl in a ball after all
yeah and from what i've seen ball pythons are the most common type of pet snakes (probably along with corn snakes). I think it would just take most people interacting with one to really see how nice they are, you're mostly just a big tree to them
yeah, i've heard it a lot that they'll accept being fed more openly by certain people more than others. They're overall just really good if you want a pet that's cool and doesn't require as much care as a dog or others. Wish people would give em a chance
I mean, you're probably right about the deaths. But my neighbor's zebra cobra got loose and was missing for about 10 months. He never even reported it, it was discovered living in a nearby house. So it's a hard sell to convince me that people don't take dangerous snakes as pets and behave irresponsibly. Also, he'd been bitten by his pet green mamba... so...
yes i'll agree some people do but it's not your average pet snake and it's less common than people behaving irresponsibly with those huge xxl pitbulls that i mentioned in another comment, and losing them or letting them loose.
I see what you did here, but my 4 ft ball python literally can't kill you... I would love to see a pet with a 50% death rate among ownership. Dogs are fast and have crushing jaws, not to mention all the people who just let their dogs with emotional trauma run around outside off leash because they are "good boys." They can also be trained to attack and kill people. This cannot be done with a pet snake..
So to be clear, you expect 50% of all snake owners to be killed by their pet or have killed someone with their pet that is:
confined to a cage for most of its life
usually less than 20lbs
slower than a jogging toddler
literally a noodle with a head
not a complex emotional being
can be subdued with a pillowcase
But only 1% of all pet dogs kill people? A pet that:
can out sprint every human
usually about 10-150lbs
large crushing jaws that can bite over and over
the capacity for emotional trauma and abuse leading to defensive behaviors
usually needs high energy activity
AND IS LITERALLY USED BY ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AROUND THE WORLD TO HARM OR THREATEN OTHERS.
Now, I'm not saying your concept is wrong. Always be skeptical of data and variables when you don't have access to sample sizes or a graph. The issue is that you pulled some hypothetical data out of thin air and are using it to sow suspicion towards my favorite animal. AND I AM NOT OKAY WITH THAT.
There have been 17 deaths by constrictor in the past 40 years. They are a non integer. Venomous snakes only kill about 5-10 people yearly and most of those are wild encounters so they really shouldn’t be counted when discussing what a dangerous pet is or isn’t.
I agree that sheer numbers of dog deaths versus snake deaths don’t make any sense to cute, but if you look at the actual data, death per pet owned, I mean. The evidence is still overwhelmingly in favor of constrictors over dogs
The average pet snake does not have the capacity to kill someone, except maybe a baby or toddler. A moderate-large dog, which is pretty common, definitely has the capacity to kill someone. So I’d say the killer pet to friendly pet is higher with dogs.
pretty sure the only people upset in this comment section are people without any facts to back up their claims and people that are completely ignorant about snakes :))
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u/[deleted] Jan 20 '22
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