Your first time seeing or holding a snake

I used to be very afraid of snakes, a fear taught to me by my own mother and step-father. That fear followed me into adulthood. My first snake was a garter snake back in 2004. That snake wanted bite me every chance it had. I took a break from snakes for about four years until I saw my first normal ball python in a pet store. I was so intrigued by one of them that I asked to hold one and I was deathly afraid to do so because of the possibility of being bitten. Now I cant get enough of these amazing creatures and I have plans to one day breed my two females. My point is that the fear of snakes can carry well into your adult years. Sometimes you just have to step outside your comfort zone and face your fears.

I have been interested in snakes since i can remember. Every time i saw one on tv i would just imagine me having one of my own. First time i held one was at the zoo and it was a normal ball python.

I don't remember how old I was as it would have been when I was a kid in the 70's. Me and my friends would catch Garter snakes and they would bit us on the hands it was funny because they had such little mouths. My grandfather who was part native american taught us to catch them but not hurt them and to always let them go after we had checked them out.

The first time I can remember touching a snake was in grade school. I believe it was 3rd grade. I remember someone bringing in a larger snake, I believe a red tail, and the class getting to touch it. Sparked a lifelong interest in snakes. I remember wanting one as a kid and my mom wouldn't let me have a snake. Guess I've made up for that as an adult with 23 and more on the way. ;)

My first experience with a snake was my cousin's ball python. I couldn't have been older than four or five. I was petting her and at one point, in all of my five year old wisdom, wiggled my finger in front of her. Pow! I got tagged. I turned to my father with wide eyes (and he would always swell with pride when recounting this part) and said, "Dad! Beebee KISSED me!!" It's been true love ever since.

Other fond snake encounters include catching a ring neck snake in the Poconos (it's now my white whale - haven't seen any since) and nearly stepping on a rattlesnake sunning itself in FL after a night of heavy rain.

The first time I can remember holding a snake was was perhaps 4 or 5. I was playing outside on my grandmothers driveway and found a worm. I was having a blast letting it slide through my fingers and watching it wriggle around. Then the cat snatched it from me and killed it. I ran to my dad bawling about the worm and he went to run the cat off. Turns out I had been playing with a Pygmy Rattler (which were really abundant in the area) for who knows how long. Well that of course sparked a panic and my parents worked to instill a healthy fear of snakes in me.
It didn't entirely work out. I still loved to watch them and I would collect turtles and lizards, but I never touched a snake again on purpose until I was in my adult years and my snake crazy friend brought over his ball python. Now I have more snakes than he does! lol

Held a kingsnake at a summer camp I was in back in 5th grade. That was 15 years ago and I just got my first BP a month ago.

I was scared of snakes, as a kid (thanks, dad) but have always been intrigued by them. I first handled a boa and a ball python, briefly, a few years ago. I really didn't start handling and feeling comfortable doing so until about 6 months ago when my son left his young female ball at our place when he moved. She is such an easy going, lovable little snake (getting much bigger since my care and moving her up to rats) and I enjoyed her so much that after a lot of research (mostly on here) I bought my own - a young Hog Island Boa. This snake is gorgeous but a bit more of a handful. Thanks to being used to handling the ball, nothing worries me too much about handling the boa, even the hiss every now and then doesn't bother me. It's funny, she hisses at me (sometimes, but getting less frequent) and I tell her "calm down, be quiet, you're coming out..." like I'm talking to one of my kids or something!

I was scared of reptiles my whole life but when I was 20 I was with a girl I really liked and we ended up in a situation where I was asked to hold a friends ball python. I couldn't wimp out in front of her so I held it and it was dope. Ended up wrapping around my arm and hanging out with me for like a hour, evaporating my fear of snakes.

I had touched snakes at small town fairs for a couple years but I didn't actually be the sole holder of a snake until I bought Monty, my normal, now 3 year old male. The breeder was very good in making sure I got the calmest, gentlest of his clutch. My daughter and I spent an hour at his house, all while holding Monty, passing him back and forth. We met 3 of his females and 3 of his males. He kept them in racks. 3 curled up tighter when he pulled open the drawer, 2 hissed and curled up and one fake struck. He pulled out the female that fake struck and she settled down within 20 seconds, curled around his forearm and stayed there for 15 minutes.

My husband had a garter snake mating ball of about 400 snakes fall directly at his feet when he was 8. He had been deathly afraid of snakes until two weeks after Monty came home. Now, he often takes Monty out of his tank, drapes him around his neck and calmly does his thing on the computer or plays video games.