What to say?

Was asked the other day "Why do all those snakes kill and eat their masters?" when I was explaining to my very dear grandmother about why I got ball pythons and how they're good beginner snakes and whatnot. It just put me at a loss at what to tell her. I was able to collect myself and do a little miniature explanation about responsible reptile keeping and common misconceptions, but I'm still reeling from something of a reality check at how most people view snakes and reptiles in general. I'm usually around people who already know about my "addiction" and don't mind (or are getting hooked as badly as I am when I introduce them to the balls :P ) so it just takes me by surprise when I'm outside my normal social circle and get these kinds of questions. It's also becoming something of an inspiration to go out and educate people on these animals.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's run into this, considering I'm only a newb into this hobby (long time reader/researcher). What have ya'll run into and how have you dealt with it?

My grandma asked if my ball python is going to eat me.

A friend of mine that rescues abused horses tells me how brave I am and how scary snakes are. How she couldn't even go to my house now. She was being nice about it, but was serious. Her horses can kick, trample, throw, and bite her. Possibly kill or paralize her and her children. But all my little ball python could do is bite me. My son bit me when he was one year old and I am sure that is worse than what this snake can do lol.

I would ask your grandmother how she expects a 4 ft long ball python is actually going to eat a person. If she can figure that one out I'm not sure there is a whole lot you can do to change her mind.

Go ahead and throw your grandma the responsible keeper response. The only reason I could ever possibly think of for a 12-20 ft snake to go ahead and try to eat it's keeper (an average size adult human -- too big for a snake that size) would be because it's not being fed as often as it should, and so when the owner opens the cage and smells like a feeder... Also, throw in some statistics. Owners or family members being killed by their snake is something that doesn't happen everyday. For lack of better comparison, it's like being attacked by a shark (which happens more often than snake attacks do anyways), hardly ever happens but when it does everyone's suddenly terrified of swimming and biased against the animal. Or you can use the "you've got a better chance of being mauled by your neighbors dog than being attacked by a python" response. If you're a responsible owner who knows what you're doing, you've got a better chance of winning a powerball prize than being squeezed to death by your pet python.

I've been asked the same question so many times (or some variant of it) that most people have to ask it twice in order for my brain to even register it anymore. I do what I can to dissuade fears and educate the people who take the time to listen (I can't even begin to count the amount of times I've had to tell people ball pythons don't get gigantic). When I got my first ball python, all of my friends bugged because they were afraid, and now half of them are tolerant and the other half either own their own snakes or want to own one.

Just throw the facts out there. Educate who you can, and they'll either come around or they won't.

the simple answer.. because they're snakes.. if you house cat was the size of a Lion you'd see people getting killed by them.. People dieing due to their pet snakes is the simple fact that they are doing what they are programed to do..

We as keepers take precautions to limit the risks but as with keeping any animal there is still risk..

Haha, I've already reached something of an understanding with her. She's not as close minded as I think I made her sound ;) Mostly curious to hear about other people's experiences with mis-education on reptiles and how they've resolved it. My biggest challenge with people in general is being patient and trying to explain what seem like simple concepts to me. The number one question I'm always asked by people who aren't herpers is about whether or not the balls are venomous (:rofl:). I guess a lot of people just expect snakes in general to be life threatening. I'm not saying that there aren't species who are dangerous to keep! But I'm definitely more determined to reach out to people I can and teach them about how diverse reptiles are