Family Helpers

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Dont forget that sweet outdoor enclosure your stepdad(?) built for your tortoise!!! :)

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LOL yes! And they also agreed to care for her while I'm away with the military too (indoors of course...it's already getting chilly outside!). That's about the extent of HIS love for reptiles though. He's the guy that chases snakes with the lawnmower sadly :rolleyes: He never gets them....don't worry. My brother has also told me that if any of my tarantulas get within arms length of him that he'll squish them without hesitation. I'll take what I can get though, my mom is probably the most tolerant lol.

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Originally Posted by LGray23

LOL yes! And they also agreed to care for her while I'm away with the military too (indoors of course...it's already getting chilly outside!). That's about the extent of HIS love for reptiles though. He's the guy that chases snakes with the lawnmower sadly :rolleyes: He never gets them....don't worry. My brother has also told me that if any of my tarantulas get within arms length of him that he'll squish them without hesitation. I'll take what I can get though, my mom is probably the most tolerant lol.

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Yea!

Uhhh. Im SLOWLY warming up to the creepy crawlers. Theres a wolf spider that lives in one of the windows at work and if i catch a fly ill rip off one of its wings and open the window just enough to drop it into her web. Shes getting big and fat lol.

My kids want to help but since they are 1 and 2 they don't get to do much more than watch. They love to touch them, and my oldest knows which snakes are albinos. I'm trying to teach her a few more simple morphs. My husband will hold "his" snake, but gets too antsy with my other snakes. He pays for feeders when I have to buy them. Also food for the rats I have but thats it. He won't help clean anyone out or feed them. I'm ok with that though. If we ever go on vacation My sister is comfortable enough with my snakes to keep watch over them for me. I don't think she would be ok with feeding them though. Not sure about taking care of the rats yet though.
On the other end of things are my mom and grandmother. Neither one gets why I like reptiles especially snakes. My grandmother is so scared of snakes that she can't even watch them on TV. I respect her feelings towards them and make sure they never cross paths. When I hosted thanksgiving one year I hid my snake where she wouldn't go and covered it's tank just for good measure. My mom makes it clear that she thinks they aren't safe to be around my kids. She still gives me crap about keeping snakes, and has made it clear that if for any reason we have to stay with her long term they are not welcome. I make it a point that if she starts asking questions she gets calm honest answers, but getting her to realize she has stepped over the line with careless comments is still a big issue.

My mom helps with shedding issues on the rare occasion that I get a trouble baby, and she likes to take pics of my babies when I am at work and send them to me, she was very fascinated and helpful while my babies were hatching this year.

My youngest sister takes care of my snakes when I am on vacation, and will do pictures and help with hatchlings (and tries to hijack one once in a while), her 1 1/2 year old son love to "pet" any of the snakes, and rodents.

My husband will water his 2 snakes, and today he spot cleaned his boa's cage for the first time! Progress! (His snakes but I feed and clean cages for some reason.... just add it to the 21 other snakeys till I find homes for 8 of the normal babies from this year.)

Sadly my middle sister who got us all started on snakes when she was 13 with her ball python developed a fear of them and is afraid they will get out and strangle her kids when they spend the night at my house, not that that has stopped her from sending them over. Its sad, her kids both really want a snake, 7 and 4, so a parents support is required.

My son loves my snake and will "babysit" for me during tub cleaning and such. In other words, he makes sure Jax doesn't slither into trouble while I'm cleaning right by them. Still teaching him the proper way to handle a snake though. His 4 year old brain is just too excited most of the time. My boyfriend is my enabler. :D He gets excited about feeding time like it's a sports event and begs me not to switch to F/T cause "It won't be exciting anymore." He handles Jax when I have him out and basically whenever I need him to. Annnnnnd, teases me when I drop hints of more snakes but has made it clear that I'm pretty sure my stocking will be trying to slither away this year at Christmas lol. His moto is the more the merrier. :gj: Other fam is cool with it minus my dad. Poor guy is deathly afraid and even with his macho man act, his screams like a little girl when he sees one. He's okay with me owning them though as long as I keep them in their homes when he's over.