What got you started?

[montie420]

What was it that first made you interested in snakes or reptiles in general?

Mine was when i was 6 or 7 my grade 2 class went on a trip to the toronto zoo and there they had an albino burmese, they asked for a volunteer and to come up and hold the snake. I raised my hand very quickly and got picked and held the burmese (with the help of the person on staff of course). Ever since then i have been facinated with snakes, i have always bugged my mother about getting a snake and she always shut me down. but now that i am living on my own 12 or 13 years later it was one of my very first purchases. it was a long wait from that day at the zoo, but well worth it. i hope from here my love for and my collection of snakes will grow rapidly.

[First_time_herp]

Well I first got into reptiles in general from this little place called raven hill discovery center. They had many snakes and lizards, they take animal that people no longer can take care of or do not want. I always enjoyed holding the snakes and lizards. But I didn't start wanting one till I was about 11. And now I'm finally saving up to get my own.

[Smynx]

My youngest son wanted a snake for Christmas. We bought Suki - one of our BPs - after that I was hooked. Soon afterwards, Smulkin got Neph - our Afrock. He's been interested in reptiles his entire life and was surprised by my interest. Since then, we've expanded our collection - considerably!

[The_Godfather]

When my older sister brought a big female ball python home from college. I was like 5 years old, and the snake was 5'. That was so cool, it was huge compared to me. Then about a year later mymom decided to suprise me for my b-day by buying me a corn snake. Originally I was supposed to get a ball python, but I was young and got tricked into a corn. Looking back, it was better that way. I was far too young to deal with humidity, temps, feeding.

But then I just kept wanting a ball python. I wanted one real bad, they were just so exotic and cool. So I got into geckos, which eventually slowly pried open the door to getting a ball python.

Here is a picture, damn this is old, of my corn snake Rocky. I scanned an old photo last year, and was able to locate the digital version:

[gozetec02]

When I was a kid around 7 years old I used to catch green anolls and garter snakes and keep them during the winter time. Then when winter started to subside i would let them go. I did that till i was about 15 then as many kids got into other things like football and friends. Then when i was 22 a friend of mine bought a burmese python. I had been doing these sound off competitions and got a couple of speakers from a manufacturer for free. Well he was interested in my speakers and i was interested in the snake so i traded him 2 subwoofers for the snake. I know how big it got so went to a local herp shop and they bought her from me for 40 bux. I bought my first ball python Jojo that same day. Thats how i got into ball pythons but not untill i did tons of research. anapsid.org and the care sheet on this website helped make my final decision about what kind of snake i wanted. Even though herps is truely a hobby for me i am expanding my knowledge of them all the time. Now I am keeping a Veiled Chameleon and plan on making baby veiled chameleons soon.

[green_man]

For a long as I can remember I loved animals. I would check out all the books on animals I could. My favorites have always been snakes, big cats, and sharks. I remember the my neighbors all called me when there was a snake in their yard (we dont get hots down in the valley). I would always go get it for them then ride my little bike down to one of the feilds and let it go. My mother would never let me keep any. She has always been deathly afraid of snakes. So when I moved out the first thing I did was buy a king snake. My collection has grown substantialy since. I always wanted to get a leopard too but im sure thats not gonna happen

[Ironhead]

I was one of the lucky one's. I was born into the herp keeping world. My father had allways had snakes as a child and into middle adulthood, so it just carried on through his children, as it is being carried on through my children also. I have had many snakes through my 43 years, though there were periods that I did not have a snake (through the years in the military, even marriage put a halt on it for a while, etc.) but I am back on track and owning snakes again.

And just for the heck of it, here is a picture of my pride and joy (an Indigo) with my little brother and sister posing with it. Sorry about the quality of the picture, but when it has been inside your wallet for 30+years......

[elevatethis]

I had a garter snake when I was about 13, I had always been interested in all animals, but I was on a reptile fix for that time. However, being 13, I wanted to interact more with mt pet, and the garter snake wasn't very happy to be handled. My parents mentioned that to the owner of the reptile shop around here, they are very cool, and he said he would be happy to take the garter snake back in and trade up to (drumroll....) a Ball Python. This snake would become Dexter, my first bp. He was about a year old or so when I got him, and I had him for about a year after that. Unfortunately, Dexter just went off feed one day. His cage setup was right on par and for some reason he just wouldn't eat. We even tried an assisted feeding one time, but he wouldn't swallow anything. I came to check on him one morning and he had passed away. We still have no clue as to why his health deteriorated. I guess some things are just meant to be.

The loss of Dexter kept me away from snakes for a few years. But last February I decided to go back to that same shop just to look around. In the snake room was the cutest high gold baby ball python I had ever seen. I asked if I could hold her and it was all over - I wasn't leaving that store without her. I scrambled around the rest of the day gettiing her setup right, then brough her home. Enter Amber.

[hhw]

In my elementary school communal classroom (grades 1-2), we had a garter snake, some red eared sliders, a box turtle, and an aquarium with fish and tadpoles. Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles also came out around that time (1987) and that couldn't have hurt either Then my best friend got some red eared sliders and I begged my parents for some relentlessly for 2 years until I got some for my 8th birthday. Of course, I wanted more herps but wasn't allowed to get anything else. Well, due to some slick maneoveuring, for my 10th birthday party which I held together with a friend, I managed to talk him into getting me some.

I would say my first real herp however was an Argentinian Horned frog I got when I was 12 for getting on the honour roll. I setup the temperature gradient that the book recommended through a little improvising; I layered a few books over the water heater (my house is very very old) for the warm end and had the other end over the window sill. I fed it appropriately sized feeder comets every few days and it grew like crazy.

[wolfman38]

I have always loved snakes poisnous or not. When I was around 8, my parents took my brother and I to a local amusement park where they had a reptile center. While we were looking at the retiples one of the keepers asked if my brother and I wanted to hold one of their snakes. And I of course said yes. Well they bring out this 9 foot long Burm, they placed it on the back of my brother's and I's shoulders. He has crying like a little baby (he hates snakes with a passion). I automatically feel in love with them. I wanted one for a pet, but my parents (who also hates snakes) would not let me have one. So, when I finally moved out on my own, I began my collection which is slowing growing. Everytime my parents come to visit me, they keep telling me I need to have my head examined. I hope to have many more snakes in the future.