furthest thing form disgusting

[tesslyn]

So I took my ball python to the mall with me the other day to shop with my sister a little bit because she seems to love car rides. She literally tries to stick her whole head out the window when I'm driving. Anyways as I was walking through the mall all I could hear over was whispers about how gross and disgusting my baby girl was. All she was doing was sitting around my neck resting her head on my arm. It just really pissed me off that people talking that way about her when they hadn't even met her. She is the sweetest most handleable snake ever and is the furthest thing from disgusting. We even had a couple people run and scream, and one worker at a store kicked us out because the manager ran screaming. Now I know there are probably rules about pets that aren't enforced but it still just ticked me off. I have never had a snake before so I haven't experienced anything like this before. Have any of you experienced this before?

[Daybreaker]

No, because I don't take my snakes to public outings where I know there's going to be people who don't like them or fear them. Just not a good idea IMO and sounds too stressful on the snake.

How does a BP "like" car rides anyway...?

[AK907]

1.) The majority of people do not like snakes (I know, I know, it makes no sense to me either, but that is just how it is).
2.) I wouldn't recommend walking around in public with your snake. I know its a cool new pet and you wanna show it off, but this isn't a puppy. Not only do people fear them as has been mentioned, but your snake does not get any pleasure from it either. They are NOT social animals and bringing them out in public is very stressful for them.

From now on I highly recommend you keep your snake at home, in its cage. If you wanna show it off, have your buddies come over and show them in the privacy and security of your own home.

[tesslyn]

Well don't I feel stupid now.

[ballpythonluvr]

I would NEVER take my snakes out in public. It is very stressful to the animal and causes more then enough calamity for our hobby. People are people, and some just do not like snakes at all. We have to accept that whether we like it or not. Taking your snake to the mall was not a wise choice. I do not take my snakes outside let alone to a public place. To many peole where I live are afraid of snakes and I will not put my animals through the undue stress.

[cecilbturtle]

This is the type of thing that gives the rest of us a bad wrap. I get so irritated when I see people in public with their snakes.

First of all, and most importantly, this is terribly stressful for the snake.
Second, all you are going to do is get a lot of bad attention. Which to be perfectly honest, it seems that is exactly what you wanted.
Third, coming here for sympathy probably wasn't the best idea. Most of us understand how bad this is for the snake and for the reputation of us keepers.

Maybe you didn't know that this is stressful for the snake? I don't know. But now that you do I really hope you care about them enough to not do it again. Show your snakes off here. We all LOVE to see photos of snakes!

[Kaorte]

Well don't I feel stupid now.

Don't feel stupid! Sometimes I'd really like to take my snakes out in public, but I know it isn't really catering to my snakes needs as much as it is to my WANTS.

I instead settle for bringing mine outside on my porch for 10-15 minutes.

Also, I hate hearing the exact comments you complain of It makes me sad when people are so judgmental, so I just leave the snakes at home and avoid the conversation all together. If it ever comes up in conversation though, I am more than willing to talk to people about my snakes and help educate them. I have even turned a few fearful individuals into snake lovers!

[chet1028]

The part that caught my attention is that the snake is around your neck while you drive. That is really irresponsible and scary. 1. What if the snake moves suddenly and startles you, causing an accident? 2. The snake could easy slip off you shoulder and out the window. This would cause severe injury to the snake. This is not a good idea.

[tesslyn]

In reply to Kaorte's post: Thank you for not being so quick to be blatantly rude to me. I was not aware of the implications, and no I didn't do it for the negative attention. I am totally new to this so I was unaware.

[xFenrir]

It's best to just keep them at home. I LOVE to show off my snakes and will take every opportunity to take them out, but I only do that when people have said they'd like to see them. I remember there was a party at my house, and I had gone up to my room with a few people to show them my Ball Python, and a girl happened to walk by the door while I had her out. She was a good 5 feet away but she still screamed, and tried to run away. Her "friends" kept pushing her towards Loki and thought it was hilarious, and she actually began to cry. I felt so bad even though I tried to explain to her that she's harmless. And snakes get very, very upset when they can't use their only two options, "fight" or "flight", and can stress to the point where you'll have them become traumatized. This could cause a myriad of problems such as fasting or abnormal behavior.

I will talk forever about snakes (I used to be a server and one time this couple kept asking me questions so I ended up talking to them practically the whole time they were there, luckily it was a slow day and they were the only ones in my section) and I love to educate people, but I would leave the whole "meeting the snakes" to within your own home. That way, you don't induce mass panic. What we know to be "a harmless little Ball Python" is "a man-eating terror" to others.