What do people say to you when you say you have snakes?

What do people say to you when you say you have snakes and what is your response to it? :P


When I tell them I have a snake the first thing they ask "Is it poisonous?"
I response "No and there are no poisonous snakes. The correct term is Venomous and only a small amount of snakes are venomous."

Hahaha! It's funny that people jump to those conclusions. Most people ask me, "Are you worried about being eaten?" My Response is generally, "You must not know a lot about snakes :)"

And PS - wouldn't be the "eating part" I would be worried about ;)

"Aren't you afraid he'll eat Ninja" Ninja is my cat.
I have to explain to them that:
1. None of my snakes will get even remotely big enough to eat a cat
2. Cat's don't smell like prey, they smell like predators, snakes don't try to eat predators.
"well what about kittens, they smell like babies"
Reply:
I've held puppies, then immediately my snake without washing my hands, he didn't react to the smell of babies at all"

Also "don't ball pythons get like 20 feet long"
Reply:
"You seem to have them confused with burmese pythons. Ball pythons only reach maybe 4-5 feet and are easily held with 1 hand"

I also get asked if they are poisonous. Also when i say i have a ball PYTHON they ask if im afraid of it killing me. Even though ALOT of the things people say or ask are just plain stupid i always try to answer in a cool calm and collected way anf give them simple info about them.

I get flack about having ball pythons with a baby in the house. My family keeps telling me it's time to sell off my whole collection because I'm a father. Many many attempts have been made to educate them, but there's just an unfounded stigma against snakes. Very frustrating!

Ill usually get a awkward face and a "ewwww, you have a snake why would you want that for a pet?"
I usually reply with, "Because I don't have to listen to them talk."

Today someone was talking to me about having snakes and what their diet consisted of.
I sarcastically replied, "Mostly fruits and veggies to make them grow big and strong." :D Best part is they usually buy it ( thought it was common sense that snakes ate rodents)

Wait until you tell them you have 400 tarantulas. :p

I try not to tell to many people how many animals I have.

People usuay ocery react, ice been told how horrible of a father I am because my retics or burms couls get out and kill us all. You guys know they get like 60 feet right? :rofl:

Ive heard it all and I usually.just respond that they shouls gice them a chance. I love my reptiles moee than my cats oe dogs. They're also half the hassle. My worst response was someone called DHS on me, a case worker tried to enter my home and lobg story shorr, I had to have her forcefuli removed by police from my propert. :/

I get two reactions...I have a picture of my son (5) with my corn on his shoulders so everyone sees that picture....some people say that is soo cool what a lucky kid; but sadly the majority shake their head and say I cant believe you put that near your sons neck terrible parenting

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Here is how it goes almost everytime

Person finds out I have snakes, "WHAT?!"
Me, "yep"
Person, "WHY?!
Me, "I'm a breeder"
Person, "HOW MANY DO YOU HAVE?!"
Me, "Um...I haven't counted recently, probably close to 60"
Person, :omfg:

i live with four other guys who hate my snakes. they think im crazy and wonder how could you have them as pets (little do they know my breeding plans :P) but i try and sway their opinions about them. its not really working tho, oh welll.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 3skulls

Wait until you tell them you have 400 tarantulas. :p

I try not to tell to many people how many animals I have.

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OMG YOU HAVE 400 SPIDERS!!!! :omfg:



Seriously though, that's a lot of tarantulas! Do any of them live together? Sorry, I know nothing about them.

Anyone who has known me most of my life is not at all surprised (I was a major herp lover (and tomboy) as a kid and caught all sorts of things. Most of my friends are women and they think they are gross/scary, but as long as I don't bring them too close to them they don't care. I get that not everyone likes snakes, and respect that, as long as they accept me and my "craziness" :) Most people ask how big they get and stuff, that's really all. People who are interested like them, and those who don't like them aren't really interested. I haven't gotten any crazy reactions, but I don't tell acquaintances.

I have a couple species that can be communal but I don't have any of them set up that way.

I would have more if I had more time to spend with them. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 3skulls

I have a couple species that can be communal but I don't have any of them set up that way.

I would have more if I had more time to spend with them. :)

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Now I want to see your room of horrors....

Just a few.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/10/25/pu7y6ada.jpg

You should come check out all the spiders and bugs here :)
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...as-and-Spiders

People tried to have a problem with it when I told everyone what the very first baby shower gift we received was.

A close friend of ours gave our unborn son his first snake, a male pinstripe. Family, who normally knows better, exclaimed that we'd have a snake in the "same house" with our son. That's when I explained that the pin made number 8 in the collection and it got quiet. ;)

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Ok does anybody get this question because every time I tell someone I have snakes I get asked this the most: What do they eat?!?! I'm like RATS!!! Haha. I promise the next time I'm going to ask them what they think they eat because I think the responses I would get would be hilarious!! It just baffles me that people don't know what snakes eat, I thought everyone knew they ate rodents. It keeps the rodents from over populating the earth. That's like walking up to a spider and saying "Mr/Mrs.Spider what do you eat?" And that spider will say "I eat freaking bugs, Duh!" Lol. I never get are they poisonous or will they eat your cat or dog, just what do they eat. I went the the expo in Nashville in September and I was looking at some big freezers full of rodents and a lady walked up to me and asked me why they had freezers full of frozen rats. I had to explain to her that you have to thaw and warm the rats to feed to the snakes and she looked super grossed out. I was just like whaaaa. Lol. Sorry for such a long post. :P


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by 3skulls

Just a few.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/10/25/pu7y6ada.jpg

You should come check out all the spiders and bugs here :)
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...as-and-Spiders

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Holy crap.

I love all the jars/containers everywhere! I have to admit I'm a tiny bit freaked out by the thread, lol. The big hairy ones are pretty though. I kinda want to hold a big furry one, but I'm afraid I might have a panic attack or cry, lol. I can't believe you had a spider live for 20 years! I did not know they could live anywhere close to that long! In all fairness I do have a pet wild spider in my living room by the front door. My mom saw the web last time she was here and said "oh...I see you're ready for Halloween..." I laughed and said, "Yep, he has gotten carried away with his web lately." Mom, "there's a spider on that web! Why?! He could bite you!!!" Me, "Mom. He has been there for months, I see him every day and he never leaves his web." Mom, "WHAAAAAAT?!!!!!!!" My poor mom, I think she wonders where she went wrong sometimes. :rofl:

I get:
What do they eat?
Why do you keep them?
Why would you want those in your house?
Have you been bit?

I do find it strange when people know so little about snakes. It always seems like people think they are slimy too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SlitherinSisters

Holy crap.

I love all the jars/containers everywhere! I have to admit I'm a tiny bit freaked out by the thread, lol. The big hairy ones are pretty though. I kinda want to hold a big furry one, but I'm afraid I might have a panic attack or cry, lol. I can't believe you had a spider live for 20 years! I did not know they could live anywhere close to that long! In all fairness I do have a pet wild spider in my living room by the front door. My mom saw the web last time she was here and said "oh...I see you're ready for Halloween..." I laughed and said, "Yep, he has gotten carried away with his web lately." Mom, "there's a spider on that web! Why?! He could bite you!!!" Me, "Mom. He has been there for months, I see him every day and he never leaves his web." Mom, "WHAAAAAAT?!!!!!!!" My poor mom, I think she wonders where she went wrong sometimes. :rofl:

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She was well over 20 because she had some size when I got her.
I have a ton of true spiders all in the house :O

Good for you for letting it live!!
If you were close I would let you come over and check them out. I don't do a lot of handling but they can be pretty fun to hold.
Amazing animals!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 3skulls

She was well over 20 because she had some size when I got her.
I have a ton of true spiders all in the house :O

Good for you for letting it live!!
If you were close I would let you come over and check them out. I don't do a lot of handling but they can be pretty fun to hold.
Amazing animals!

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I've been trying to convince my mom on letting me get one xD. So far it isn't going very well. My dad doesn't really care what animal I get.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 3skulls

She was well over 20 because she had some size when I got her.
I have a ton of true spiders all in the house :O

Good for you for letting it live!!
If you were close I would let you come over and check them out. I don't do a lot of handling but they can be pretty fun to hold.
Amazing animals!

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Holy cow she was old! I would be half tempted to come over and try holding one. You would probably have to see me cry though, lol.

My daughter is 8 and she has let the other kids at school know that she has snakes. Since we drop her off and pick her up, we get approached by other parents who have heard from their kids that we have snakes. Usually it's disbelief... as in "You don't really keep snakes at home... do you?" So we explain that yes, we do, they make great pets (quiet, cheap to feed, easy to maintain, etc.), and it was our daughter's idea to get them. Most parents simply walk away in disbelief, but a few kids want to come over and see them. The boys in particular want to come over, they can't believe that a girl would be willing to touch much less own a snake, so therefore our daughter is cool. :D

some people are shocked, some get really interested and start asking a lot of questions. those are my favorite. lol my favorite response to the people that ask "OMG WHY?? you can't cuddle them" is "well, why do people keep fish? i find snakes pretty and i enjoy them. unlike fish, i can actually hold them." for some reason, relating them to fish seems to "click" with a lot of people.

I mainly get the shocked face along with BUT WHY?????? Then when I tell them because I think they are beautiful they start with the questions like aren't you afraid they will grow up and eat Baxter? Baxter by the way is my 25 pound Boston terrier so no chance of him being eaten. I don't know I've always been the strange one in my family. I've been fascinated by snakes since I was a kid.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SlitherinSisters

Holy crap.

I love all the jars/containers everywhere! I have to admit I'm a tiny bit freaked out by the thread, lol. The big hairy ones are pretty though. I kinda want to hold a big furry one, but I'm afraid I might have a panic attack or cry, lol. I can't believe you had a spider live for 20 years! I did not know they could live anywhere close to that long! In all fairness I do have a pet wild spider in my living room by the front door. My mom saw the web last time she was here and said "oh...I see you're ready for Halloween..." I laughed and said, "Yep, he has gotten carried away with his web lately." Mom, "there's a spider on that web! Why?! He could bite you!!!" Me, "Mom. He has been there for months, I see him every day and he never leaves his web." Mom, "WHAAAAAAT?!!!!!!!" My poor mom, I think she wonders where she went wrong sometimes. :rofl:

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You wanna take a stab at which part of this just ended up in the out of context thread? :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TheSnakeGeek

some people are shocked, some get really interested and start asking a lot of questions. those are my favorite. lol my favorite response to the people that ask "OMG WHY?? you can't cuddle them" is "well, why do people keep fish? i find snakes pretty and i enjoy them. unlike fish, i can actually hold them." for some reason, relating them to fish seems to "click" with a lot of people.

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Can't cuddle them?!? I've been handling snakes wrong for years then, lol! (I know, I know, not the same as a dog or something like that :P).

I'm very...bubbly about my critters, you could say, and the only people who really know I keep reptiles have known me for a while. So I think by the time they find out that "Baby Figment" is a five foot boa, it's in the context of her being absolutely adorable and a total sweetheart. So I don't really get too many bad reactions. And all the bad reactions I have gotten I've been able to turn around.

When people ask me about them, I talk about how great reptiles are, being quiet, and not smelling or making messes (usually), not needing to eat a whole bunch, not needing constant attention. Plus the fact that they are just breathtakingly beautiful animals.

On the rare occasion a stranger or someone I don't know too well finds out I like snakes, I do get a few negative reactions. I had one girl try to "save my soul". But pretty much most of my friends have been scared of snakes before I told them about mine. Now they still aren't fond of them, overall, but everyone loves mine. I guess she seems to have a personality to them, since that is how I kind of portray her when I'm talking about her (just personification, of course), so they feel like the can actually connect to her? Whatever it is, if it changes people's outlook on reptiles, I'll take it.

I get all sorts of stupid crap..people basically think I'm crazy. It's going to kill me in my sleep.its going to eat my cats... That's what I get most often. It's ridiculous.

I have heard the usual "watch out they will eat you" and "you should get rid of them", but most people are actually quite interested in my snakes and several have came to my house to look at them. I have brought my passion into school before and my piers are in awe. A lot of people asked me if they feel slimy, so I just told them to go ahead and pat the snake. Its always fun to tell people about the 8ft female red-tail I used to own and watch their reaction.

I hear so many stupid things. I love my responses more.

"Aint you afraid its going to come out and eat you in your sleep?"

When we bought our first ball I got from eeryone "Are you afraid that they are going to kill your son/dogs/you? I always respond they are not big enough. Most of my husbands family think I am Satan and a horrible mother, exacerbated by the fact I am pregnant and now the snakes will really KILL KILL KILL! the baby lol. My parents have grown use to the idea and een have held them. The majority of our friends think it is weird and irresponsible.People are nuts I have learned to let it roll off my back, and not tell them when we invest in a new one. I think the only person that thinks it is awesome is my Audi guy :P




Also Has anyone else noticed at the mere word "python" chaos erupts? It is insane.

- - - Updated - - -

When we bought our first ball I got from eeryone "Are you afraid that they are going to kill your son/dogs/you? I always respond they are not big enough. Most of my husbands family think I am Satan and a horrible mother, exacerbated by the fact I am pregnant and now the snakes will really KILL KILL KILL! the baby lol. My parents have grown use to the idea and een have held them. The majority of our friends think it is weird and irresponsible.People are nuts I have learned to let it roll off my back, and not tell them when we invest in a new one. I think the only person that thinks it is awesome is my Audi guy :P




Also Has anyone else noticed at the mere word "python" chaos erupts? It is insane.

My responses have been..

"Ewww! Why do you have snakes? Aren't they like.. going to kill you?"
"I bet I'll come over one day and find that thing wrapped around your neck" (Got to love my mom..:rolleyes:)
"That's creepy!"
"Do they bite?"

I've had a few people that think it's awesome and love to see pictures. Although some of the ones that are all "ewwww!" like to see the pictures too. Particularly when I'm showing pics of the baby cornsnakes. Then they're all like "Aww, that's sort of cute.. in a gross way!"

I get the same question almost every time - surprised nobody else has said it. I actually had this conversation yesterday with a co-worker.

Usually first question is
"how big do they get?"
"4-6 feet TOPS... so pretty small"
"that's as big as me!"
"it's a snake, it's not apples to apples... they weigh 5 lbs tops and are as big around as a skinny wrist"
"oh, yeah, I guess that's not bad"

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kat_Dog

"Aren't you afraid he'll eat Ninja" Ninja is my cat.
I have to explain to them that:
1. None of my snakes will get even remotely big enough to eat a cat
2. Cat's don't smell like prey, they smell like predators, snakes don't try to eat predators.
"well what about kittens, they smell like babies"
Reply:
I've held puppies, then immediately my snake without washing my hands, he didn't react to the smell of babies at all"

Also "don't ball pythons get like 20 feet long"
Reply:
"You seem to have them confused with burmese pythons. Ball pythons only reach maybe 4-5 feet and are easily held with 1 hand"

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number 2 is that a fact? you learn something new everyday cool!

ha! my ex wife hated my snakes. hence the "EX".

lol now my breeding plans can come to FRUITION!!!!! :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BrandiR

You wanna take a stab at which part of this just ended up in the out of context thread? :)

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Ah dang it. Lol

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Best one I got last night wasn't really about the snakes themselves but my rack... my friend says to me... "if you keep your snakes in drawers, where do you keep your socks?"
I almost died laughing considering he's just as sarcastic as me :)

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The conversation came up at work - I said I have ONE snake to guage their reactions (I actually have eight). Most of them seemed interested: my boss even said he owned a ball python in his youth, but it was killed horribly when he left a mouse in with it for days D:
One coworker was visibly disgusted but says she knows it's an irrational fear and believes me when I say they're harmless and tame. She was actually the one to ask the most questions! I showed her a picture of my cute baby pinstripe and she seemed to at least understand that they aren't dangerous.

My mom thinks the larger ones will kill my cats.

At one time or another I think I've told most of the people I work with that I keep snakes. Most seem mildly interested at first, then a lot of them just forget about it.

I think the most common one i get is the disgusted face and "ewww, why?" bs followed by the "Aren't you afriad it will eat ________". I do my best to educate those that will listen, but as a wise man once said "You can't fix stupid."

In order they say

Yuck
But why?
How many? Followed by rolling of the eyes once they get the answer.

I honestly don't disclose that I keep reptiles to people unless they are among my reptile connections or I otherwise know & trust them well enough to.

If there are people questioning a persons parenting then there is a problem.
Its very rude and only deserves the highest of blunt responses.

I would flip my wig if someone judged me as a parent because of what I do.
Ignorance or not it is uncalled for and isn't an excuse.

most ppl when i tell them that snakes are gross and are dangres but all pets coulb be dangres and none of my snakes are big enough to to any danger i think its mostly bc ppl are scared of snakes but inless you have a 17 ft burm that ur showing off theres no danger and i also have found that if u teach ppl about snakes and gently get them comfy with the snake they wil slowly change there mind i also have some ppl tell me that there the devil thats my fav one of all time....

It's kinda 50/50. Half the time it goes like: Eww! I hate snakes! And the other half I get questions about what kind of snake they are, husbandry, how big they get. Often I'll show people pictures of mine since they are all so different. When I show a picture of Nova, the silver streak girl a lot of non snake people get pretty surprised and say she's pretty.

With the "Eww I hate snakes group" I try to remain calm and counter their stupid myths and false knowledge they picked up from the media. I usually end up pretty irritated after it though I try not to show it.

I think just long enough exposure to someone who is enthusiastic about snakes eventually breaks through. One of my roommates hated snakes when we all moved in together. At first he'd see me hold one of them and ask questions. One time I had one of the girls out and she slithered over the table and was chilling next to his computer mouse. He stroked her a few times and said she was pretty cool. We still haven't gotten to the holding them part but when the other night he was asking me a bunch of questions about their care and colors and such. I showed him some of the morphs I planned to produce during my first breeding season and he was pretty surprised. He asked if there are any red snakes. I showed him a pretty blood python picture I've seen and he said he eventually wanted one someday, but first he had to hold one of mine. Snake hater to wanting to have one. :D

And my boyfriend hated snakes but now selectively likes Allure, my oldest one and will ask to hold him sometimes.

I get a lot of crap about my snakes expecially since i just had a baby, i get told they are going to eat her one day, the smell of a baby will make them more aggressive...etc. I think i heard them all by now. I even get crap about having cats lol i just ignore it tho there's no teaching my crazy granny. Every time she comes over i hear "where's your snakes im going to kill them if i see them." its got to the point where i have to watch out for all of my animals, making sure no one is going to get rid of them behind my back.

I usually get:

"Ew, why?!"

"Are they poisonous?"

"I'm never coming over to your house!!"

"Aren't you worried they'll eat your dog?"

:rolleyes:

But all of my real friends are cool with them, several of them are actually interested in reptiles/keep them.

Person: You have SNAKES?!?!?! O_______O!?!?!?!! *pets my dog on the head* What a lovely dog.
Me: Yup.
Person: Aren't the snakes dangerous?!
Me: See that dog you're petting? *points to dog*
Person: Yeah?? *keeps scratching dog's head*
Me: She's trained to bite the scat out of you on command.
Person *moves hand asap*
Me: See this snake? *points to snake*
Person: Yeah............
Me: It's going curl up into a ball........


OR

Person: Do you have rats?
Me: Yes.
Person: How many?
Me: A crap ton....
Person: ????
Me: I breed them for pets and food.
Person: Food......for what.................
Me: My snakes and ferrets.
Person: Snakes.....What kind of snakes
Me: Ball Pythons
Person: Python??? Don't those need food larger than rats!?!?!?! Pythons are HUGEEEEEE!!!!!!
Me: *SMH* =______=;;