Python swallows alligator and...

[Helevitia]

...then the Python's stomach bursts and both die

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051005/ap_on_fe_st/gator_python_4;_ylt=AowvzkInZ_obghQHr0Jq5exsaMYA;_ylu=X3oDMTA5bGVna3NhBHNlYwNzc3JlbA--

[Dr Mordrid]

Heard about this one on the radio today.

Freaky

Dr. Mordrid

[KvHagedorn]

I hate pythons. Reptiles in general are just not sane choices for pets, since they really don't have feelings as would a dog or cat, so love is lost on them, so some dangerous animal like a python is doubly not worth it. They should be banned as pets, as should any big agressive reptile. I would feel much safer with a large cat (who has been acclimated to humans) than a python, yet people get hysterical when even a serval cat is kept as a pet.

[Brian Ellis]

I hate pythons. Reptiles in general are just not sane choices for pets, since they really don't have feelings as would a dog or cat, so love is lost on them

How on earth do you know what goes on in a python's mind? Why should they have less emotional feelings than a mammal, even if they may display them differently? Can you please provide scientific evidence for such a sweeping statement?

[KvHagedorn]

Although it's nice to think that snakes have emotions (like joy, anger, and affection), scientific studies show that snakes just don't have the cerebral capacity for them. However, snakes do have "primitive" feelings like aggression, fear, and pleasure.

http://simonsnakesite.tripod.com/snakebasics.html

I don't have anything against snakes in their habitats, but as pets they leave lots to be desired.. pythons are just agressive bastards, too.. and when they get big they can be really dangerous. People who buy them are the same types that buy pit bulls.. they think that having a dangerous pet makes them tough. The worst thing about them is people actually buy live mice and feed them to their pythons.. traitors to their class.. the mice would make much better pets. It's like owning a great white shark and feeding it puppies.

[Brian Ellis]

Well, pythons are known to cuddle people. I've never owned a reptile buy I have handled pythons (some quite large). And its not true that they cannot be trained. At the Red Cross Snake Farm (serum facility) in Bangkok, obviously most of their inmates are venomous, but they have a couple of large reticulated pythons for visitors to handle. If put round the neck, like a scarf, one of them, at least, will put his tail between your legs. On men it will do so from what you Americans call the butt and move his tail across the sensitive parts of your anatomy. On a woman, it will do it from the front. :-D

I can understand why some keep suitable reptiles as pets. The senstaion of the muscular movement across your hand is almost sensual. They are clean and don't smell. Maintenance is minimal. However, I'd rule out cobras, rattlers and the like for household use.

And your link does cite some emotions.

[Dr Mordrid]

Cuddle?





Dr. Mordrid

[Brian Ellis]

Well, maybe a tight cuddle