When You Have Children...

[Blueraven99]

I recently got my first snake, very young normal ball. He (unsexed) is a pretty fella. It's been almost a week since I purchased him. I have not attempted feeding nor had I handled him at all today.

My boyfriend has a 5 year old daughter. She has been exposed to a variety of animals in her short life as her father and II apparently have an addiction to sweet animals. He and I are very passionate about them.

Anyway, she is usually very respectful of our pets but this is our first snake. She has held a few and petted many. But he is very new and she met him for the first time yesterday.


I took him out today today as she has been dying to see him (as was i). He did very well. I kept his head away from her as she softly petted him (clean hands before and after)

But she did get very excited and scared him a bit. But he calmed down and I let him slither off my arm back to his hide to relax.

She only is with us every other weekend. I stay home so I have time to get him more use to being handled. I plan on starting with 5 minutes a day or every other day.

I really just want to know tips for when they do interact. Obviously, she won't be touching without supervision or anything like that. But she is getting to an age where she wants to help take care of our animals and such.

I obviously put her safety first and our pets but I would like her to feel included so she is more curious to learn and remain without fear.

[wolfy-hound]

Maybe you should let her help clean his enclosure? That way you would take him out and put him in a temp container, then you and she can clean the enclosure and dishes. Then she gets to pet him(with you making sure the head is away) before he goes back in.

Later once he's calm and you trust both him and her with more handling, you can take him out of the temp cage and hand him over for her to put him back in. (that way she's not the one reaching in and grabbing, which often startles the snake at first).

Double duty teaching that way. She learns how to care for the pet and how important it is to always clean and have clean dishes etc, and also that the reward for the work is the petting and fun part.

[Blueraven99]

Thank you wolfy, I appreciate the suggestion. I think I'll try to do that until things are settled. She is very loving with her animals but he is scared and if he moves top quickly it'll probably scare her. After she petted him and said hello I had her help me mist and Clean his water bowls. Her father and I are enjoying teaching her about snakes and learning ourselves.

I do worry if he ever nips and she Sees it. I'm anticipate being nipped at some point. But I do reinforce with her that he is very little and scared and that if we take care of him and are patient he can be a very good part of family. But we have to show him respect and understand how scary it can be (for him).

[Aercadia]

I do worry if he ever nips and she Sees it. I'm anticipate being nipped at some point. But I do reinforce with her that he is very little and scared and that if we take care of him and are patient he can be a very good part of family. But we have to show him respect and understand how scary it can be (for him).

I don't think this will be as big of a problem as you expect. I think the foundation you have laid is fantastic, just keep reminding her that all animals have the capacity to bite (people too), but they only do it if they are afraid or hungry, and how to avoid those situations - and don't make a big deal about it, just another factoid about keeping animals, and good handling practices. One day, if/when you do get bit, don't make a big deal about it, and neither will she! Just explain how and why it happened, and oops oh well, safer next time! And then on to better and less bite-related things.

[hanzo_baseball]

My youngest son turned 6 a couple days ago, he loves holding our BP Plissken. He sits in a chair and wears a pair of thick garden gloves that we got solely for him to hold Plissken (mostly to ease my wife's concerns). My son sits still and holds him, and has never had any problems with nipping. Having Plissken has really given my son and I another way to bond. I would recommend always being present supervising though.

[Blueraven99]

You all have really helped me feel more at ease. The nipping I just fear because our other animals when through a nippy stage (ferrets, rats) when thru were little and she got turned off by that. She still loves them but worries about biting still even though they are much older now. We have been trying to teach her baby mammals nip for many reasons aside from fear, like ferrets play fight as a kitten would, whereas a baby snake would only do it out of fear.

I know eventually I'll bitten... I've been bitten by all of my other animal babies. I have explained to her what a ball python babies bite looks like and how our other pets would actually hurt is more if they were to bite us.

Thank you. You are all amazingly helpful and non judgemental or new owner's concerns. Seems to foster better educated owners.

[wolfy-hound]

Yep, for biting you can choose to make it no big deal, or make it a silly thing. Either way, she should not react to fear about it.

Everyone was new once. Sometimes people forget that.

[Dexterune]

I think kids should be included in all animal care. My daughter is 7 1/2 yrs old and has been begging for a snake as long as I can remember. She is super confident with our ball python and has no fear of it. Prior to this she was collecting wild things outside (toads, frogs, bugs, garter snakes, ect.) but I would make her release them back. I think it's great for children to be exposed to as many animals as they can. They are naturally confident in their naivety which I think is great. It sounds like your five year old is the same. A natural animal lover and I would encourage that. I work as a Veterinary Technician and my daughter is use to me bringing home fostered pets and occasional wildlife to rehab. It's a passion for her and me as well.
She now though has to learn not to run to the snake cage and handle him all the time especially after feeding and getting use to our home. But I'm sure everything will go well with your LO just as long as some boundaries are set.

[Blueraven99]

Thank you all. When she at her mother's I'll be working with him and when she is around I will do limited interaction once a day and have her help me refresh water, spot clean his enclosure, ect.


As she gets older she is understanding how our animals require lots of work. And I'm proud of her.

[marya1962]

All children need to learn animals bite. This is especially true of wild animals, but it is also true of pets. The bigger you are to them, and the louder, the more you scare them. If you grab them suddenly, or make them feel trapped and unable to get away from you, they get terrified. They are scared and terrified because they think you are a predator going to hurt or kill them. They don't have voices to tell you this, so they use teeth. So it's your job to speak softly, remember how big you look to them, and make sure you handle them in a way they can feel they can get away if they want to.

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