Nathan : I ’ ve never been a fan of the media and this whole ordeal made me think even less about them . They wouldn ’ t stop calling and harassing my dad while I was in a coma in hospital , and one reporter even called the hospital pretending to be my mum so they could get information . They took bits and pieces off my YouTube channel and made me look like an idiot who ’ d been bitten by venomous snakes heaps of times before . I mean , they played small segments with only part of what I said
‘ I ’ ve never been a fan of the media - one reporter even called the hospital pretending to be my mum so they could get information .’ every reptile Facebook group or forum . I honestly remember thinking ; poor fella , but he ’ ll be fine , the doctors will fix him up . It is true that with our healthcare system dying from snakebite isn ’ t overly likely , however I think a lot of people fail to realise the stress such an event has on friends and families of the person bitten . I think Nathan ’ s story is a great learning experience not just for himself , but for all people interested in ( or already ) keeping elapids . I intend to one-day work towards keeping dangerously-venomous elapids , but Nathan ’ s story has made me acutely aware of the need to take it slow and build my skill set . One moment of complacency when handling a dangerouslyvenomous snake can have an enormous impact on your life . that made me look stupid , with my Woma python biting me or my Olive Python in the pool . The funny part is how wrong some of the reporters were ; one website had a photo of me with an Olive Python saying I was freehandling the dangerous snake and another had a photo of a Coastal Taipan ( Oxyuranus scutellatus ) saying it was the Inland Taipan that bite me .
For those interested in keeping up with the happenings in Nathan ’ s collection , check out his YouTube channel , Aussie Pythons and Other Reptiles .
As for the impact for Queensland keepers , I ’ ve been told by friends that are in the know that it has got to the licensing team . I don ’ t know if that means things will be changed , but I don ’ t think other people should be affected by my mistake and complacency . As I said before , I don ’ t really know if tighter rules will fix anything either , I think it may just motivate more people to keep venomous snakes illegally .
Mitchell : I guess this is the most important question , where to from here ?
Nathan : I ’ m going to continue doing what I do from here really . I plan to get more elapids , pythons and lizards . I enjoy it , and I mean this was a lesson , but it isn ’ t going to set me back . I ’ ll take it a bit slower , but I ’ m not going to give up on what I ’ m passionate about .
After chatting to Nathan about the bite and what happened I really feel I got a great insight into how serious this whole situation was . I remember when the news first broke over the internet and it was being shared on
1 . & 2 . Nathan ’ s impressive herp room . He is particularly interested in naturalistic set-ups .
3 . ( slide show ). More of Nathan ’ s collection .
3 .