The same sad comments about my snakes... (vent)

I've taken mine out to let the neighbors have a look at them (and touch or hold them if they want). There is still a bit of apprehension from some of them but mostly they want to see the two of them, compare them and asking lots of questions. The snakes have been quite a learning experience for all (I have been an owner for almost a year and this forum has been such a great resource for me so I like to spread the knowledge around a bit!). Unfortunately, I have only the two snakes and (can you imagine?) they both shed at the same time! I got my boa in April and since then they both shed at the same time every 6 weeks or so. They are different ages, etc so I thought I would have one to play with when the other is shedding. Guess I have to get more snakes!

One time my cousin and her friend came over to my house. I went upstairs to show her friend my room and the snakes, and she tried to knock on the side of their enclosures. I told her not to do that because it'll scare them and they're asleep, and then she said to me: "Why do you care so much about your snakes?" Like it was absurd to have feelings for them.

I was so offended I didn't even know how to respond >.>

Woo, this is the BEST one YET.

There was a gigantic spider with a fat butt under the table during lunch just now with my coworkers, and most of us freaked out and I yelled, "LKSDJFKLS KILL IT!!"

He looked at me and said, "But you have SNAKES!" And then added something alone the lines of, "Why does it make sense to kill this spider if you're not killing your snakes?"

....?! ?! !?!?!?!

How DARE you even imply that anybody, yet alone I, would kill my snakes? Obviously NOT, they are MY PETS. Killing wild spiders as pests in a household is common. The general implication from this coworker was the most out of the blue, nonsensical logic I have ever heard about my snakes yet. LOL

He then stated that he's just being the "good guy", because I suppose he wants to be fair to spiders... Okay, then be fair, but how does bringing my PETS into the conversation help your cause or have anything to do with it at all?

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Originally Posted by Moses

One time my cousin and her friend came over to my house. I went upstairs to show her friend my room and the snakes, and she tried to knock on the side of their enclosures. I told her not to do that because it'll scare them and they're asleep, and then she said to me: "Why do you care so much about your snakes?" Like it was absurd to have feelings for them.

I was so offended I didn't even know how to respond >.>

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Reply "Why do I care so much about you and your friend? :)"

(Just kidding, don't do that. But it played in my head.)

I once had a very ignorant neighbor tell me that I had something wrong with me because I had strange pets rather than a cat or a dog. During this time, I used to have a beardie that I would take out into the world to soak up natural sunlight. It shocked and hurt me that my neighbor would say that so much that I wanted to retaliate with a comment about her life. However, being the bigger person, I kept my mouth shut and went about my day with a lizard on my shoulder.

I think there is just a certain barrier between those who have reptiles and snakes vs those who do not. Education about these animals is key to break it. However, there are just those who may never truly appreciate these animals even with education for whatever reason. Those kind of people, I just tend to ignore. Not worth my time and energy anymore. Wasted breath falling on a brick wall and such.

My mom sometimes is one of these people. Too afraid of these snakes to appreciate them and calls me crazy for having them. No amount of education could take away her fear from her childhood no matter what I do. When she was a little girl, she literally swam next to a wild reticulated python in the Philippines. Scared her to this day. Just got not say the 'S' word around her and call our ball python a 'ball puppy'.

Well, today a vegan/vegetarian coworker finally gave me the cold shoulder... maybe that's an understatement. She looked thoroughly disgusted/angry at me, stood up and walked as far away from me as possible mid-conversation after another coworker started asking me about how my snakes eat and how people euthanize rats for snakes. I wasn't given time to explain the topic further. We were all eating lunch, she was sitting next to me- and she stood up and walked away from me so fast and didn't look back, I thought I had said that I illegally hunted down an endangered species.

I think I deserve a gold star. I officially got the vegan seal of hate.

:\

It felt like she was abruptly angry/disgusted with me for the fact that feeder rats are bred and euthanized for snake and other reptile consumption. Ugh.

(more vent thread, but I didn't want to make a new thread just for this squeak)

That sucks. If you're talking about killing rats in glee even I would walk away, but I'm sure that wasn't the case. I also would not talk about thumping, freezing or other gruesome ways of killing the prey infront of my sisters because I know they don't want to hear about it. My sisters are vegan but don't say anything rude. They feel bad for the prey, but so do I. Anyway, they own a cat and they're not insane or hypocrites :P I actually don't think I've ever had anything rude said to me about my Reptiles. People at work are surprised, interested, frightened, but we don't go into it any further. The worst thing that's happened is probably my friends mom telling her not to be friends with me anymore because I'm the "snake girl" and she's highly religious. I didn't take offense, she doesn't know me personally.

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Originally Posted by Galaxygirl

That sucks. If you're talking about killing rats in glee even I would walk away, but I'm sure that wasn't the case. I also would not talk about thumping, freezing or other gruesome ways of killing the prey infront of my sisters because I know they don't want to hear about it. My sisters are vegan but don't say anything rude. They feel bad for the prey, but so do I. Anyway, they own a cat and they're not insane or hypocrites :P I actually don't think I've ever had anything rude said to me about my Reptiles. People at work are surprised, interested, frightened, but we don't go into it any further. The worst thing that's happened is probably my friends mom telling her not to be friends with me anymore because I'm the "snake girl" and she's highly religious. I didn't take offense, she doesn't know me personally.

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Yeah, not even- I was quite gloomy about it all, because obviously killing animals is not a gleeful topic in any situation, even if for use and consumption. But maybe I sounded a little too apathetic, who knows. Maybe she was hoping that I would be crying. :\

Also, the funny thing about cats too... They actually hunt and kill wild birds and rodents just for the fun of it LOL. It makes me wonder why vegans don't hate cats, but apparently my coworker hates my snakes?

Your friend's mom telling her daughter not to be friends with you is way over the top. That's very narrow-minded and severe.

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Yeah, not even- I was quite gloomy about it all, because obviously killing animals is not a gleeful topic in any situation, even if for use and consumption. But maybe I sounded a little too apathetic, who knows. Maybe she was hoping that I would be crying. :\

Also, the funny thing about cats too... They actually hunt and kill wild birds and rodents just for the fun of it LOL. It makes me wonder why vegans don't hate cats, but apparently my coworker hates my snakes?

Your friend's mom telling her daughter not to be friends with you is way over the top. That's very narrow-minded and severe.

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Yeaaah it's all super hypocritical and it's a great point to make that cats torture for entertainment. You won't find a snake doing that.. It's just a silly cultural thing that's really quite annoying. I think we're heading in the right direction though. Honestly the worst reactions I've seen come from the older generation. Religion plays a huge role in giving snakes a bad name.

I get negative comments all the time from coworkers. Luckily my family... well all but a few, dont mind and dont say anything about my pet choices. My uncle is deathly afraid of them and calls me gross and says my room is the room of nightmares, and im pretty sure my aunt/uncle and cousins hate me because i own them (great for me, i dont like them). I laugh and shrug to anyone who questions me and go on about future plans and how i also want to get into scorpions and tarantulas. And to top it all off, I'll even bring in Jimmy Bob, the well im not sure what type of spider he is, i just know he lives in my window and is guaranteed not to be one that packs venom. ;]

Another thing, Osirus gets out and about. I'll drive with her on my shoulders and she sits there comfortably and watches out the window. She goes shopping with me, when i go to the mall, she'll sit on my shoulders and enjoy it. She goes to WalMart, Gamestop, Target, Hot Topic (She's actually a local celebrity there, everyone knows her and asks how she is if i dont have her) and she even gets to go into the deli, where again shes a small celebrity to the girls.

I get a lot of people shying away, others whispering about how gross or scary it is, i get small yelps of fear. But what i get more than that? Is genuine fascination. I've had people afraid of snakes come up and ask and eventually pet her and be surprised that she's not "slimy" or "gooey". I've had people go from fearful and uncertain to wanting one of their own.

So when i have negative comments made to me, i can laugh about it. Because sure, they're negative, but dammit, me and my snakes can and have made a difference to others. We've helped people conquer their fears, and that's enough of a reason for me to just ignore the haters. They're just jealous they don't rock like the herp owners do ;]

It got to me at first and i would actually try to avoid chit chat about my snakes, but now, bring it. have something bad to say bring it, because hating on me or my pets or trying to get rises out of me about you saying something bad about me my pets or the way things are handled with owning snakes, it says a lot about who you are as a person. I grew up from owning my reptiles. It isn't changing. And they can all keep being negative, i've got positive stories to tell that involve my snakes.

One of the reasons I even remotely consider breeding my snakes in a few years is to potentially donate offspring to the local schools for educational purposes. Kids are willing to learn. Some adults are, as well, and maybe there could be some trickle-up education. I've already had several teachers who were very interested in the idea, not only for the chance at a classroom pet, but also the different morphs to demonstrate genetics.

Some of the foolishness I've encountered around here:

"Snakes are evil! I run over every one I can."

"Bull Snakes and Rattlesnakes interbreed, and the offspring are venomous with no rattles. You can't trust a Bull Snake not to be venomous!" - I've heard that from multiple individuals. Those are the two most common snakes around here, theoretically, though I've yet to personally see a rattler that I could confirm. I had a lovely big Bull living on my property... until someone ran over her.

Now, I have seen one thing that may give people the misconception that a Bull could be 'part rattler', and it was awesome to see. I had someone call me to make sure the baby they found wasn't a rattlesnake, since their toddler found it. It was a little Bull, but they had it in a bucket. It was rattling its tail against the side of the bucket, coiled up, head reared up and flattened out into a triangle. Emulating a rattle snake. I'd read about that, but I hadn't seen it. As soon as I let it go well away from any houses, its head sleeked down again and it slithered off just as mild as can be into some rocks. Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take any pictures.

Today I had two people give me looks of horror when I said I had snakes, and both said that they can't stand them and wouldn't want a snake anywhere near them. After five minutes of telling them about mine, they want to meet them.

Had an older friend over for coffee the other day. (She is maybe in her mid/late 60's?) We normally stay in the kitchen, but she saw my giant Monstera deliciosa (not exactly sure) plant at the far end of the house, making the place look like a jungle, and wanted to see it. Well, since we were then in a room with tanks, I HAD to show her the kingsnakes!

She said she wants one. I sent her off with a scrap of paper and a couple of YouTube web sites jotted down. I thought she might esp. relate to Carla, at 1SoftKiss. (My current favorite snake videos are Reptile Reality, DMexotics. Just discovered those, and watched everyone I could find straight through over the course of a couple days.)

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

I realized that my lip always quivers (in alertness) when people ask me more in-depth things about my snakes/snake info now, because I get on high alert if they're going to insult me again/make fun of me/make another pointless joke about putting my snakes with my birds to see what will happen. -__- ??!?!?

Why would anyone think this is funny to me? What do they expect me to do, be like, "OH HA HA YEAH, THEY'LL EAT THEM!!! HA HA HA!"

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I not only get these questions about my snake, but since I work at a wildlife rehabilitation center and do education programs with some of our permitted 'animal ambassadors'; I get these kind of rude insulting questions all the time - especially when I am working with our opossum. People come right up and interrupt whatever question I'm answering for an honestly interested person and say things like:

"Eww, it's so ugly!" or "If I see one of those in my yard I shoot it, or let my dogs out so they can chase it away / kill it" or the always fun "I've hit a bunch of them with my car" (sometimes people admit that they even do it on purpose)

The worst is when people stand through our entire presentation (which usually contains selected patient stories, what are goals are as a veterinary facility, and then the stories of what ever education animals we have with us that day) then afterwords say things like "I wouldn't help so injured snake / hawk / opossum. It's nature, things get sick and die" or "Why bother, they're just animals".

And through it all I have to maintain a professional demeanor, it can be really hard. Especially since 90% of our patients are sick or injured directly because of people like that. I get really defensive when people talk like that about our animals (or any animal), and it does hurt when it's directed at something you love, so I know how you feel 100%.

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Well, today a vegan/vegetarian coworker finally gave me the cold shoulder... maybe that's an understatement. She looked thoroughly disgusted/angry at me, stood up and walked as far away from me as possible mid-conversation after another coworker started asking me about how my snakes eat and how people euthanize rats for snakes. I wasn't given time to explain the topic further. We were all eating lunch, she was sitting next to me- and she stood up and walked away from me so fast and didn't look back, I thought I had said that I illegally hunted down an endangered species.

I think I deserve a gold star. I officially got the vegan seal of hate.

:\

It felt like she was abruptly angry/disgusted with me for the fact that feeder rats are bred and euthanized for snake and other reptile consumption. Ugh.

(more vent thread, but I didn't want to make a new thread just for this squeak)

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I have been a Vegan Gold Seal of Hate honoree for some time now, long before I had a snake :) I was stopped a year or so ago on campus by some vegan group who were giving out pamphlets on how awful it is to eat meat, since it's killing an animal. When I tried to polity decline, one of them angrily accused me of being an animal-hating meat-lover. I calmly (but through gritted teeth) replied that:
1. I worked a veterinary hospital
2. when not working I volunteered caring for animals
3. had pet cows and chickens that I loved very much and spoiled rotten
and 4. would still have turkey for thanksgiving

she was in 3 of my following classes that next semester, two of which were ethics based. It was a looong semester :P

I call those types the militant Care Bears.

I like to respond with rude comments about their own pets.


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I wonder why vegans are so in denial about the fact that homo sapiens has evolved as an omnivorous species.

but that does remind me that I need to stop at the grocery store after work and pick up some chicken.

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Originally Posted by se7en

I wonder why vegans are so in denial about the fact that homo sapiens has evolved as an omnivorous species.

but that does remind me that I need to stop at the grocery store after work and pick up some chicken.

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My sisters don't eat meat because of the horrible conditions we keep our factory farm animals in, what it's doing to the environment, and you don't need to eat meat to maintain a healthy diet (if you're educated.. Don't listen to the vegans saying they stopped because their hair fell out.) After watching an undercover factory farm video and witnessing the horrors that some of the terrible workers do to the animals for fun, I have a hard time eating meat. I'll probably be vegan some day.

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Originally Posted by Galaxygirl

My sisters don't eat meat because of the horrible conditions we keep our factory farm animals in, what it's doing to the environment, and you don't need to eat meat to maintain a healthy diet (if you're educated.. Don't listen to the vegans saying they stopped because their hair fell out.) After watching an undercover factory farm video and witnessing the horrors that some of the terrible workers do to the animals for fun, I have a hard time eating meat. I'll probably be vegan some day.

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You know, we all can vote to make sure we have people in power who can create and draft laws that would benefit not only us but the animals currently kept in deplorable conditions. Are you or your sisters doing that? Or are you just giving up and accepting of the situation we see ourselves in? Do you feed your snakes tofu?

Oddly, I can understand the side of vegans when it comes to feeding rats to our snakes (well... only slightly more). If they're already against the entire concept (chickens, cattle, pigs included) and add rats to the list of raising to feed to animals... fine.

What I'm angry with are the omnivores who chow down on meat from the market that come from inhumane meat farms, feed their dogs cheap dog food made up of other euthanized dogs and cats and butchered cattle, watch their cats hunt and torture wild rodents and think that is all totally A-OK, because cats are cute and fluffy and it's "normal" for cats to do.

And then come back around with, "No, not rats! God almighty, don't you dare raise and euthanize rats to feed to snakes, even though it's literally their exclusive food source! How absolutely disgusting and inhumane!"

Do they want me to feed my snakes lettuce? Do they also think that people who raise their own chickens to eat are inhumane and disgusting? Nope, it's just snakes. Only snakes.

I have a vegan friend who OWNS snakes and a dog who eats raw so I'm laughing at this 😂 we need more cool vegans like her

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Originally Posted by Galaxygirl

My sisters don't eat meat because of the horrible conditions we keep our factory farm animals in, what it's doing to the environment, and you don't need to eat meat to maintain a healthy diet (if you're educated.. Don't listen to the vegans saying they stopped because their hair fell out.) After watching an undercover factory farm video and witnessing the horrors that some of the terrible workers do to the animals for fun, I have a hard time eating meat. I'll probably be vegan some day.

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I buy my beef and pork from local family farmers. No factory farming from them. And I smile because the prices they charge are lower than what I pay at the grocery store. The only downside is that they only sell whole and half hogs, and quarter and half beev, which is a lot of meat to wrap and store at one time.

I found that some people, whatever their opinion on the snakes (or any other animal) will still make very rude comments about them.

I try to keep my (at the moment very small) snake collection secret from anyone that is close to my family so they do not know about it.
I still got stupid things like "OMG! It's going to be 10 feet long and kill you in your sleep!"

My stepdad, being a dad, likes to make jokes. Now those jokes are sometimes of very bad taste and he finds it funny that I get mad at him.
For exemple: "If you ever go hungry you can always put one of your cats in the microwave! HAHA FUNNY LOL"

I got a lot of "I won't ever go at your place ever now" because of it too. Even before the snakes, just my Crested Gecko was too much for some people and they won't even look at it and then tell me I'm the weird one for having it :/

I'm trying to get more "in touch" with what I eat and go for free range and more "animal friendly" meat sources, but same thing as for the snakes, I don't talk about it to family and to a very few select friends. I still need to feed rats to my snakes and meat to my cats (I raw feed them, the most happy cats you have no idea, except if you do ;) ) the only difference is that I try to go to the last horrible killing method. I'd go full vegan, but I'm of the mind that veganism is not having any pets at all. That would pretty much be my response to Vegans that don't feed meat to their pets or tell me I'm bad for it.

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Originally Posted by blbsnakes

You know, we all can vote to make sure we have people in power who can create and draft laws that would benefit not only us but the animals currently kept in deplorable conditions. Are you or your sisters doing that? Or are you just giving up and accepting of the situation we see ourselves in? Do you feed your snakes tofu?

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Wow, what a wonderful attitude to have. Vegans are trying to do something good vs. not caring at all. They're trying to help the environment, animals, and their own health, so I hate all of the crap that vegans get. Yes, my sisters and I all vote for who we think will help with this situation and work on petitions, and we do what is within our power to contribute like educating the public and providing vegan options when available at dinners. There's nothing about being vegan that is "giving up". If anything, the majority of people that eats meat and makes fun of vegetarians and vegans are the ones who have given up. Even though they know the causes of their actions, they think they can't make a difference and don't even bother to try.

Your ignorant rhetorical questions are really not needed. Why would you think I feed my snakes tofu? Have you even read what's going on? My sisters own a cat. They feed it meat. I own snakes, I feed them rats. Stop trying to make vegans look like they're bad or insane people just because you don't share the same lifestyle. There are some things we can't change, like having to feed your carnivorous cat meat. My sisters are healthy and don't have to eat meat, so they choose not to, so what's your problem? You can just stick your head in the sand and pretend the factory farms aren't doing anything, but don't attack the people that are working to also make YOUR living environment a better place.

Funny we're in a thread about saying hurtful things about hobbies and lifestyles. Just can't escape it. :D

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Originally Posted by bcr229

I buy my beef and pork from local family farmers. No factory farming from them. And I smile because the prices they charge are lower than what I pay at the grocery store. The only downside is that they only sell whole and half hogs, and quarter and half beev, which is a lot of meat to wrap and store at one time.

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That's awesome. Where I used to live in a rural community they were fighting a factory farm moving in. It's nice when people are able to buy from better sources.

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Oddly, I can understand the side of vegans when it comes to feeding rats to our snakes (well... only slightly more). If they're already against the entire concept (chickens, cattle, pigs included) and add rats to the list of raising to feed to animals... fine.

What I'm angry with are the omnivores who chow down on meat from the market that come from inhumane meat farms, feed their dogs cheap dog food made up of other euthanized dogs and cats and butchered cattle, watch their cats hunt and torture wild rodents and think that is all totally A-OK, because cats are cute and fluffy and it's "normal" for cats to do.

And then come back around with, "No, not rats! God almighty, don't you dare raise and euthanize rats to feed to snakes, even though it's literally their exclusive food source! How absolutely disgusting and inhumane!"

Do they want me to feed my snakes lettuce? Do they also think that people who raise their own chickens to eat are inhumane and disgusting? Nope, it's just snakes. Only snakes.

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I've never met a vegan like this, so I guess I'm just lucky ;P My roommate is vegetarian as well and he's cool with it all.

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Originally Posted by Galaxygirl

I've never met a vegan like this, so I guess I'm just lucky ;P My roommate is vegetarian as well and he's cool with it all.

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LOL interesting. Then I think calling my vegan coworker a militant carebear or "holier than thou" is accurate.

honestly, i wish my snakes ate marshmallows. be so much easier to deal with.

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Originally Posted by Galaxygirl

My sisters don't eat meat because of the horrible conditions we keep our factory farm animals in, what it's doing to the environment, and you don't need to eat meat to maintain a healthy diet (if you're educated.. Don't listen to the vegans saying they stopped because their hair fell out.) After watching an undercover factory farm video and witnessing the horrors that some of the terrible workers do to the animals for fun, I have a hard time eating meat. I'll probably be vegan some day.

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I don't deny that our farming practices are horrible, both to the animals and the environment. Growing up we raised our own beef and chicken, one cow would feed our family and our neighbors for the year, and the chickens were free range, we only used excess roosters for meat, the rest were egg layers. Most of the hens had names, and I'd take my rooster on car rides once I could drive. So for me, I only by meat from farmers I know or from farms that I can verify are sustainable. It does mean I eat less meat now, but I'm ok with that.

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Originally Posted by se7en

honestly, i wish my snakes ate marshmallows. be so much easier to deal with.

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For some reason this struck me quite funny - actually had to stifle a chuckle here at work! One of the reasons that I was slow to take up snakes is the feeding scenarios. I was under the impression that I would have to feed live and we have had pet rats in the house (loved the little buggars - fun, entertaining, and loving little critters but lifespan is so short). As I became more educated about the ownership of these beautiful animals I just had to jump in and am so glad I did. I had one those crappy days at work yesterday where every call, email, etc. seemed to be wacky (we were wondering if it was a full moon or what was making people/clients nutso). I was so happy to get home and get my buddies out - snakes are so much easier to deal with than people plus so much more relaxing. I can see that when I retire (end of March, 2016) that I will spend more time with my snake collection (have to add a few before then in order to call it a collection!) than people.

I surprised my husband with a snake on a whim (I've had one before, and happen to think they're wonderful, so it wasn't really a big deal) and after posting a picture on facebook of my little baby python, my aunt posted this huge thing on my wall about not cuddling with my husband's snake because it would size me up for a meal and try to eat me in my sleep- picture of a big snake in bed with a lady and "true" story to boot. She's always been pretty snobby when it comes to anything I do (my tattoos, even though she has several, my piercings, my life choices, etc.) so I immediately fired off a very informative yet subtly rude response and I haven't really gotten much flak since. Still gets under my skin at the thought though lol. As if having a snake in my house was some sort of insane sacrifice I made for my husband and totally doesn't benefit me in any way..

Some of the girls at work get a little freaked out but its mostly because they're afraid so I try not to mention it too much around them (they get all sorts of interested when I bring up the hedgehog though)

I know I'm lucky that my coworkers are interested in my snakes and ask questions about them, even though a few of them admit they are afraid of snakes. Certain family members on the other hand, are a little rude and passive a greasiness in Facebook about my snakes and snakes in general. I've sort of learned to ignore it, but it still gets under my skin when people are overly rude or ignorant about my pets.

My boyfriend's mother is probably the worst right now, she keeps insisting that I'm wrong when I tell her my ball pythons will never even be close to 16ft, and that I am rude when I politely say that the species I keep will never get that large. At least I've never mentioned that I have far more reason to worry about her poorly trained dog than she does about my lazy snakes.


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ppl who freak out at the mere mention of a snake are weird.

I hope you don't mind me posting about a recent experience with snake nay-sayers here.

So yesterday, I had some free time and decided to go pick up more frozen rats and mice at my favorite reptile shop. As soon as I come out and placed the frozen goods in my pack, I am BOMBARDED by this woman who says I am a terrible person for 'buying cute animals to feed to monstrosities'. I sat there for a minute, stupefied at what she was yelling at me for. When I tell her to relax and stop yelling, its like the air pressure built up in her head passed the normal capacity.

'Rats are good pets not snake food!'
'How dare you hurt an innocent intelligent animal!'
'You should be ashamed!'
Were among the things she yelled out.

All the while, she had a bag of McDonalds in her hands. After awhile of not being able to stand her yelling anymore, I stood up and pointed at her bag.
"What's in there?" I ask

"A cheeseburger. Why?"

"That was an innocent animal too. You're eating one. Why can't my snakes?"

"Well. Because rats are intelligent animals! They help science in so many ways!"

"That cow could've been intelligent like the rat...could've cured cancer for all you know. Those 'experiments' could've been far more cruel than what my snake does." I replied. She sat there with a shocked look on her face as I started to leave. I had a bit of a laugh when I got home. I know I could've that a bit better but I just got so fed up with the yelling.

Having a level-head definitely helps when dealing with nay-sayers.

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Originally Posted by gaitedappy

I know I'm lucky that my coworkers are interested in my snakes and ask questions about them, even though a few of them admit they are afraid of snakes. Certain family members on the other hand, are a little rude and passive a greasiness in Facebook about my snakes and snakes in general. I've sort of learned to ignore it, but it still gets under my skin when people are overly rude or ignorant about my pets.

My boyfriend's mother is probably the worst right now, she keeps insisting that I'm wrong when I tell her my ball pythons will never even be close to 16ft, and that I am rude when I politely say that the species I keep will never get that large. At least I've never mentioned that I have far more reason to worry about her poorly trained dog than she does about my lazy snakes.


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I love how people who don't know $&!# about these animals become absolute blowhards with their mis-information monologues. I also find the conversation (monologue) tends to turn immediately to all the world's most venomous snakes...how such-and-such will kill you IMMEDIATELY...blah, blah, blah...

(I actually like listening to that that Venom Doc guy, Bryan kyle (( IIRC, that is close to his correct name - not that any of them would even know who he is)), but when the original conversation was about a boa, or a colubrid...so, how does that relate?)

I recently watched an otherwise highly educated fifty-something year old man turn into a babbling ten year old. My theory is that people watch too many of those sensational "nature" shows.

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Originally Posted by MysticMoon001

I hope you don't mind me posting about a recent experience with snake nay-sayers here.

...

"That was an innocent animal too. You're eating one. Why can't my snakes?"

"Well. Because rats are intelligent animals! They help science in so many ways!"

"That cow could've been intelligent like the rat...could've cured cancer for all you know. Those 'experiments' could've been far more cruel than what my snake does." I replied. She sat there with a shocked look on her face as I started to leave. I had a bit of a laugh when I got home. I know I could've that a bit better but I just got so fed up with the yelling.

Having a level-head definitely helps when dealing with nay-sayers.

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The person who accosted you clearly has no experience with animal research and you're absolutely right about the potential cruelty of the research. I've worked in three different university animal facilities. The way the animals were treated at 2 of them was horrible beyond description and with no scientific rationale. The third tried to do a decent job but was incompetent at basic husbandry.

A few highlights:

-A study was being conducted on ticks. The white rats and white rabbits were literally solid black from the thousands of ticks they were covered with. The animals lived their lives, sometimes for many months, being bitten by hundreds to thousands of ticks every single day. The research could have just as easily been conducted with a few ticks on each animal. The director hated the way the animals were treated but really had no control beyond providing food and water. She would point out every violation to the inspecting agent at certification time but the agent never really cared.

-I've walked both sides of the line and can tell you that advanced hobbyists are much more capable than researchers at animal husbandry. This facility also included venomous snake research. At cage cleaning time, the researchers would don soccer shin guards, put an empty aquarium on the floor on its side, put the aquarium with the venomous snake on the floor on its side, and try to shoo the snake from one tank to the other. Sadly, I'm not joking and there were 70+ venomous snakes.

-A different lab was conducting a study on the effects of alcohol on fetal development. To do this they intubated pregnant rats without anesthesia or even an anesthetic which is excruciatingly painful. No reason pain management could not have been part of the protocol and it should have been. There is no ground for any person to complain about rats being fed to snakes, either live or humanely frozen, while torture like this goes on. This facility, at a very well known and respected university, was so horrible that the director forbade any visitors for fear the treatment of the animals would be leaked to the media by someone who couldn't be held accountable.

So there's some animal research stories from someone who has worked in several different facilities. If groups like PETA and HSUS, or the stranger who came up to you out the blue, really cared about the treatment of animals, they would start their focus on these research facilities because the daily treatment at many of these makes the worst treatment by the worst pet owner seem like a trip to Disney world.

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

I realized that my lip always quivers (in alertness) when people ask me more in-depth things about my snakes/snake info now, because I get on high alert if they're going to insult me again/make fun of me/make another pointless joke about putting my snakes with my birds to see what will happen. -__- ??!?!?

Why would anyone think this is funny to me? What do they expect me to do, be like, "OH HA HA YEAH, THEY'LL EAT THEM!!! HA HA HA!"

God lol.

It's weird how in the brief few months I've owned my HARMLESS, NON-VENOMOUS snakes, I have already gotten enough crude comments towards me and my pets to last a lifetime. They are ALL my PETS, just like a cat or dog is somebody's pet. Am I going to make stupid comments like, "Just wait one day, your dog is going to kill your other dog! FUNNY JOKE!" How does that make it okay for my small snakes, who in reality are just another harmless reptile?

Suddenly angry about this, because of the realization that I'm ALREADY hypersensitive/anxious when people talk to me about snakes. And that should not be happening unless I've already experienced hurt by it. *pychoanalyzes myself*

What kinds of sad comments has anyone else gotten? How do you guys keep your chill/respond? I wish I was a bit more stoic.

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If anyone you know or associated with is making these comments and are upsetting you. Just tell them point blank; i don't appreciate those comments and would like you to stop. No need to beat around the bush, if they continue end whatever friendship/relationship with that person. If someone undermines your feelings or beliefs then that person isn't worth being around in life. It may seem harsh in the short term but in the long term you're saving yourself from having to feel frustrated/upset.

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Originally Posted by distaff

I love how people who don't know $&!# about these animals become absolute blowhards with their mis-information monologues. I also find the conversation (monologue) tends to turn immediately to all the world's most venomous snakes...how such-and-such will kill you IMMEDIATELY...blah, blah, blah...

(I actually like listening to that that Venom Doc guy, Bryan kyle (( IIRC, that is close to his correct name - not that any of them would even know who he is)), but when the original conversation was about a boa, or a colubrid...so, how does that relate?)

I recently watched an otherwise highly educated fifty-something year old man turn into a babbling ten year old. My theory is that people watch too many of those sensational "nature" shows.

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Or they read one article on the internet titled "Python" and is instantly an expert on all snakes. Especially since "a girl lived across from me one time and had a huge snake, I think it was a python."

I know there will always be people like that, I just wish some of them would actually be more open to learning instead of getting offended.


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