What turned you on?

I had snakes in elementary school. They belonged to my stepdad, and I loved them. I've never been terrified of snakes as some of my friends are. My grandmother, grandfather, mother, and brother are all afraid of snakes. So I am constantly around people who think I'm nuts for keeping Zim. Nothing ever just turned me on to snakes. I've always loved them, and now I have one of my own. And I plan to get more. :)

I grew up on the edge of the Everglades. I became interested in it's special environment and the critters that lived there. Snakes had a particular facination for me and I was hooked. It also helped to have the Miami Serpentarium within an hours drive and the hub of major importers close by as well. In my early 20s, I had a pretty extensive collection of venomous, mostly North American pit-vipers. I had to give everything up due to my career and didn't get back into herps until I was in my late 30s and really not into it until I was 41.

Craig

Up here in ND, we don't have many snakes. When I was young I always watched the garter snakes move around in the bushes in my backyard. I would grab their tails and pick them up, but I was afraid of them. The blank large eyes of snakes always scared me. At my family's lake cabin we would find large bullsnakes. I was curious, but didn't want to get close to such a unique animal. One time I stubled upon a rattler. Their look is very intimidating.

I now live in a 4 plex apt. and I wanted a low maintenance pet. I want a dog, but dogs require much attention. I am always working and owning a dog would be impractical. I first wanted a tarantula, but settled on a snake. It was almost my self therapy to get over my stupid fear. I try to explain to my roomie how interesting snakes are. My BP just stole my heart.

To me, their physiology is so unique and interesting. They slither, constrict and suffocate prey. Then swallow it whole. Thats crazy! :)

My dad has been collecting a snake or two for a good while now. I never really had an interest until recently. Some of the snakes just look amazing (ghosts - none in particular) so that got me hooked. Still saving up money to buy some of my own!

Living next to a reptile shop and them letting me "volunteer" ( Cleaning cages and stuff )

when i was like 10 or 11, i got my 1st snake,garter snake, and i only had him for some time before dying from mite problems. after that i stopped with animals and began my tarantula keeping career, and on june of last year, i walked into petco to get crix for my T's and i just happen to see BP' on special.they went from $79.99 to $29.99(until the end of the week)!! luckily i had my wallet(with $$$) and i asked my dad if i can get one,he obviously said no cuz my mom was afraid of them and he telling me how it's gonna get out during the night and chew my finger off or something(stupid i know).so for the next couple of days i brainstormed(always do) on how to get it before the special runs out.luckily on a saturday my family was out somewhere and i was home alone, i called up some friends to see if they can drive me to where i saw it,fortunately the last guy i depended on was the one to take me. so i bought the BP, and kept it hidden from my parents for the next few weeks so that the "guarantee" on him would expire.eventually i told them and boy were they freaked out.my mom is still afraid of my BP and blood,but she's learned to deal with them.

it's like i say, if you want something done right you gotta do it yourself.

Man, this is a great thread, but I have no clue why or how I got into snakes.
I have always loved animals and when I was little my two favorite places at the zoo where the lions and the reptile house. After I checked out those two bldgs. I was ready to go.
I use to go to the library and get every book they had on snakes and read and dream of owning them someday until finally a small pet shop we had in the town next to ours had garter snakes for sale.
My mom raised tropical and fancy goldfish so we had some empty tanks and I was able to talk her into getting the snake. I was about 9 yo.
And the rest is history :)

I really don't own a snake yet but I will by the end of the year (waiting for the '07s) so I guess I'll tell you my story.

The first time I decided I liked snakes I was 5. I went to my mom's company party and they had an animal rescue group come in to teach us kidsabout animals and they had a large albino snake (i think it was a burm) and I went up and helped hold it, along with some other, as my mom watched in horror. About a year after that I was at my local pet store and they had a BP out and they let me hold it. Those two events helped me fall in love snakes.

I spent the next little while reading all the kids books on snakes and other animals I could get my hands on. My parents finally gave in and let me and brother pick out an animal. Turns out my mom didnt like snakes and we got a hamster. After a while my interest in the hamster died and a two years later so did the hamster. All the while I was still longing for that BP.

We adopted a cat a couple years after the hamster died and I didn't help out much with care but my mom fell in love with a kitten at the adoption centre so we adopted that one too. I started helping out more and more with the cats as time went by and I realized they were my responsibility. The thought of owning a snake slowly passed from my mind.

My brother decided a monkey would be a good pet recently and while I was convincing him that it wouldn't be I stumbled on a BP page. That brings to now. I am still trying to convince my parents that snakes are good pets for the third month in a row. My mom can't stand "the slithering thing" as she calls it. Needless to say this has hindered my success in convincing her but we will see..

my dad use to work in utah, and colorado and he would catch the collared lizards and horny devils and such and bring em home and take care of them. I use to always watch them in amazement as the horny devils would chomp up the little ants he fed them and 1 day i asked him if i could get a "pet" of my own. so after doing research and learning some basic care, my brother and i took up the job of owning our very own horny devil,
we named him "Horny" since we were young that was the most practical name we could think of and after owning him for about a year and a half he died. :'(
Ever since i always wanted to get another reptillian friend. Anyways fastforward to 2005 and there was a sale at petco instead of the bp's being $79.99 they were $29.99 so i convinced my mom to get me one i had him for about 8 months and he died of internal parasites.
so then i did some major research and got another bp and this time i took good care of him i have had him ever since and about 4-5 months ago got an rtb too.

sorry for the long story :)

It began for me when i was in 6th grade (im 22 now) and i went to a small zoo that had a reptile show where i was allowed to hold a ball python. After that it was nothin but bp's and herps. My first two baby balls never ate and being in 6th grade i didn't know how to fix it. then two years later i got an adult male, which i still have and since then beardies, leo's and a boa and some turtles.

~mike