[Dendroaspis]

I used to be a major breeder of venomous snakes, p/t venom extraction for Merck pharmaceutical, handler for films/tv, field studies, writer of articles on captive husbandry and behavior for herpetological journals and magazines like Reptiles. Got out of it a few years back, mostly due to ethical reasons.
Search in the Off Topic forum, I posted a link to my photobucket gallery somewhere there, a while ago.

[darren]

I would not condone the harm of a snake or other animal just for its skin/pelt. My point was just that airbrushed snakeskin just looks stupid to me. Either go for the real thing (in a responsible way... if that's even possible) or at least a real simulated skin, rather than painting a poorly simulated picture of it.

Spraying a bunch of earthtones through some plastic mesh really doesn't look like snakeskin to me.

* darren hides his leather shoes, belt and laptop bag from view

[Shawn]

Originally Posted by D-EJ915

BONER!!! (snakeskin V content)

Scroll down, it looks pretty hot, I usually don't like those finishes but it looks surprisingly good on this one.

I'd prefer a Soloist though. Still, that is hot.

[Dendroaspis]

Originally Posted by darren

I would not condone the harm of a snake or other animal just for its skin/pelt. My point was just that airbrushed snakeskin just looks stupid to me. Either go for the real thing (in a responsible way... if that's even possible) or at least a real simulated skin, rather than painting a poorly simulated picture of it.

Spraying a bunch of earthtones through some plastic mesh really doesn't look like snakeskin to me.

* darren hides his leather shoes, belt and laptop bag from view

Very good then. Now I understand where you're coming from. Now I'm not angry about it anymore, which is always unpleasant for everyone.
Don't get me wrong here (speaking about leather and such), I will wear leather, and i eat meat, so I'm not as miltant about it as say, the ever-illogical minds at PETA, but the difference is that cattle are bred and farmed for such purposes, and the entire is utilized - which is not the case with snakes. That, in itself, is what I object to. So you can put your leather shoes right beside my 3/4 leather jacket, no problem here.

Happy happy, joy joy.

[Pablo]

Personally, I see no major difference between a farm bred snake and a farm bred cow... Now, if we are talking about destroying volatile eco-ballances I'm obviously against it - however I see no greater harm in breeding snakes than breeding cattle, salmon or what have you.

So just to stir the pot a bit: I have eaten snake (tastes quite nice, actually)! Seing as my chinese host served it for me as a special treat, it would have been decidedly rude not to! I also have a real cobra skin hidden away somewhere that was given to me by an acquaintance in Thailand who handled snakes for venom extraction (the snake died in captivity BTW) - a decidedly important thing in that particular neck of the woods.

Cheers

Eske

P.s.: Isn't that Warren DeMartini's guitar?