Age of owners?

I am 12 and have been breeding ball pythons for two seasons now.I talk most of the time with adults about my herp hobby and the all lend support...no probs here.

My son is 13 and wanted a BP for his birthday so we made it happen. It was a snake or a puppy that would chew all of our new furniture, lol. He spent several days doing research on BP's and other kinds of snakes before making the final decision to get a BP which really impressed me at his age. So far, he's done a very good job taking care of Monty with my supervision.. I do all the posting here when we have concerns (mainly because we are new here and I just need to feel out the community first) but my son does have a 'go to' guy when he has questions as well.

Since we have become snake owners, there have been many comments made by friends and family.. Most of the comments are made because as one person pointed out, some people are just simply uneducated and have no clue what they are talking about. Just smile and let it go :).

I think it's stupid how ppl judge cuz of what pet you have. I'm 18 and I just bought my second snake. I sold my first one when I was about 12 it got to big for me. But it's our choice of pets. Some ppl like cats or dogs or even birds but we like snakes. I love my snake more then anything just like my gf loves her cat. It's the same thing just different animal. It's like judging a book by it's cover.

im 19, i used to have long hair and what not buuuut that all changed and now got about 4 piercings, thooo in the family im concidered the bad kid that wont go anywhere in life... -_- buuut i like animals and what not even snakes whiich is why i got my first snake a month ago (mexican black kingsnake). thoooo my parrents dont kno about it yet. I've gotten in big arguments with the parrents about keeping a snake aaaand well me being a teen decided to get a snake and hide it, aaaand now im about to get a baby ball python sunday, man i cant wait to see their faces when i hall these snakes out when i move out. =p

I'm 17, and I have only been with reptiles for going on 3 years and I am a proud owner of 5 ball pythons (3 normal, 1 spider, 1 Het Clown), 2 Leopard Geckos (1 normal, 1 Hypo tangerine), 2 Corn snakes, and 5 garter snakes. :)

I'm 34 and a mother of 5 children, so I do get a lot of grief for having a pet snake, but I don't care what other people think. We have a ball python and I love her, my fiance loves her, and all of the children love her. Even our youngest (who just turned one year old) loves just sit in front of her tank and watch her. He is actually the only child who doesn't hold her (due to his age and the risk of salmonella). Our other children are 6,6,7, & 11 years old. To me, a snake is the perfect pet...they're quiet, eat once a week, and they don't cause allergy problems. So it doesn't bother me what other people think or say because our pet snake was a great addition to our family.

Im 26 yrs old i have 1 RTB, 2 normal BP'S, 1 BLOOD PYTHON, 1 SAVANNAH MONITOR, and 2 leopard geckos thats all my reps for now but i get alote of negative backfeed myself but you know what they say herpen aint easy lol.:8:

I'm 30 and have my first pet snake. (ball python) I've grown up loving reptiles. When I was a kid I always liked playing with garter snakes, black snakes, king snakes, and the occasional ring neck snake. I have to agree about the snakes being easier than other pets. (cats, dogs, and the like)

I'm 20 years old. If you judged be by my appearance you would probably think I'm a long haired stoner going nowhere. You wouldn't realize that I was a straight A student in High School (though I have to admit that college has been different) or that I have been an animal lover as long as I can remember.
I love "normal" pets like cats and dogs, but I have just as much, if not more, love for reptiles, fish, amphibians, rodents and other small mammals (birds I'm a little iffy on lol). I haven't been a snake owner for long, but from work I know the typical reaction to snakes and snake owners.... though I also get some good looks when I tell people that I have 7 fish tanks running... with plans for more. Just like I have 1 snake now with plans for both more snakes and other reptiles.

I think its stupid when people judge us. For all they know sparky the boston terrior has a bigger chance of ripping your throat out than ANY of my snakes do. Around my neighborhood I'm just known as the kid who has a bunch of snakes. Now this whole snake ban thing is going on, and its really bad. I hope it doesn't pass, because I want to get some of the sankes on the ban list in the near future. What a lot pf people don't know is that snake lovers are animal lovers too. For instance, I love sharks, snakes, and big cats. I also have 2 dogs, a cat, a fish, and 2 snakes.

It's just an education issue, plus bad stigmas from multiple outlets (movies, literature, symbolism, etc.) and fear from something that doesn't wag it's tail and lick your face when you come home before cuddling with you. I just love animals in general, from amphibs to typical pets to farm animals and wild animals. Snakes just happen to be one of the easiest pets to own (imo) so I'm happy to keep them. I'll soon have my first snakes, and the people I'm moving in with are fine with it, but don't understand anything but the financial part of the breeding bits. I've given up on trying to explain that I love the animals themselves too, and just hope that they'll learn through interaction. Age just doesn't count in much, I know more herpers that are 30+ than I do under that (aside from the 15 and under youtube crowd :P )

well im 22 and have 3 dogs 3 cats and a rescue snake. i work 2 jobs to support us all lol but i live by myself with them and they are all healthy and spoiled so i dont think age matters more than responsible and level headedness

I'm only 15 i tend to keep my owner ship of snakes to myself from previous experiences, on a side note my boas are breeding this year yay:D

I'm 21 and bought my first snake when I was 20... I'm still very clueless about a lot of this stuff

Don't let it get to you :) I'm 21 but no one can tell an aviator/teacher/snake breeder to grow up, it's a personal pref. I am also teaching classes on herpetology to expand awareness

lol, I am 43 yes that is getting up there in age but I do not consider myself old (right now you went..you should) lol anyways I still play with remote control cars, goof off all the time, love playing practical jokes and own bp's. People tell me to grow up.....I ask why?

I'm 25 and my wife is 21. We have 4 Boas, 2 bps, a guinea pig and a Yorkshire terrier. I started with bearded dragons about 5 years ago and once I got my first boa 2 years ago I went to strictly snakes lol. One things for sure, It keeps people from just "dropping in" to visit lol. People hate what they don't understand.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

I have had snakes for awhile now :) I am always shunned for it. I try to keep my love for my snakes away from general public but that doesn't always work.

For example...I work in an office for a large University...basically I am surrounded by a ton of prissy girls that are too scared to touch a doorknob with thier bare hand so they use a papertowel...

They overheard that I have snakes as pets and ever since they have tried to fire me...so luckily my mom new my boss's boss and got me moved to another office that accepted me for who I am and for my hobby outside of work.

Another time, I had run my snakes up to the petshop to get weighed as I have no scale at the moment. On the way home my boyfriend and I stopped to get lunch at a drive up. (Like sonic, but it's called Mug's Up). They took our order and when the person came out and seen the snakes in the container in the back seat, they FREAKED OUT and threw our food on the ground and ran away...regardless to say we got a huge apology from someone else but still...

It's ok for people to take dogs around anywhere they go but snakes, lizards, ect. are not allowed? That is not fair in my opinion but you cannot change them...sadly.

There are people that are just as scared of dogs...just not as many people...

Ah, you just have to roll with the punches. I have co-workers who think I'm a little off the wall, cause I hunt, have tattoos and own snakes. But I have fun with it and give it back to them. I also give them an education about the snakes as well. All in all it works out. Now my mom is another story. I still plan on getting her to read up about ball pythons in order to have an intelligent conversation with her regarding them :rolleye2:

im 22 and having one snake ( for now lol many more to come) has run off a few potential g/f's.....i dont really care how peope see me cuz i own a snake. or if i own tons of them

My co-workers are avid hunters and fisher-women... kill, clean and butcher their prey, so to speak. However today when they found out I was getting a new baby snake on Wednesday... they freaked smooth out because I feed them mice and rats. :O Hmm.. I knew I kept my love of snakes under wraps for a reason. They were totally shocked that such a nice wife and mother such as I would allow snakes in my home. **rolls her eyes** When I started telling them stories about George, the boa that I grew up with as a child and Dixie my 15 yr old bp... they just kept shuddering and stating that it was too gross. What's up with that?

I'm 20 and have been keeping reptiles for over a year.

I am 30 and my husband is 39. We have a 2 yr old daughter.

The thing I friggin HATE more then anything when I tell people I have snakes is "Won't it hurt your KID!?!?!" Sure, MAYBE one may bite her (though, this would never happen, since she's never even in the same room when we have them out), but none of them could hurt a 2 yr old.

I run a MUCH bigger risk with my pitbull. Though, she's such a wimp and afraid of anything, I worry more about my kid hurting her.

im 20 been keeping since...my 19th birthday! lol

22 play college football and have had snakes fish and reptiles for about 10 years now. my team mates call my apartment the ZOO hahaha. I feel embarresed sometimes for being a minority amoung my peer group but then i go to my snakes and they make me happy lol. keeping and raiseing these amazing creatures keeps my sanity hahaha. I dont know if anyone else can relate maybe someone on the 12 pages of responses hahaha. as a sociology major I must say people think we are dif because reptile keeping is not a SOCIAL norm but who cares. whats NORMAL right? lol I LOVE MY BALLLZ:P

i'm 23 and i didnt get my first bp's till 6 months ago its not an age thing some people would rather have reptiles as pets.

I started catching snakes as far back as I can remember. My mother likes to remind me that I got kicked off of the school bus in the second grade for trying to take a snake to school for show and tell. I caught it while waiting for the bus. I have had many snakes throughout my life. I have a 10 year old female ball that I have had since she was a neonate. I am almost 40 now and I am just getting into breading snakes on more than an accidental scale. Guess I will never grow up.:D

I am ten and i have been keeping reptiles for 2 months

I started to reasearch reptiles when I was for and have liked then since

10 your a bad arse kid. . . dont mess with hots lol. thats AWESOME:O

Im 24 Ive owned snakes since i was 14 or 15. I Used to have 8 at one time and delt with some very honary ones and got tagged a few times. Ive had several types but the dumerials ground boa and the ball python was by far the most docile ive owned i had a blood python that was docile to. I got out of it for a while because i ended up gettin tagged by the 8ft plus 30lb+ Redtail boa. I was leary for a while but now im over it, but not i take alot more precaution and pay alot more attention to the body languange, and the mood that there in.

im 26.i wasnt allowed to have certain pets i always wanted.now that i dont have a mother or disgusted gf i can get whatever i want.i only have one ball python.had her for four months and ive been missing out and want more critter friends.i definately prefer the companionship of animals as opposed to humans.growing up?it has nothing to do with growing up.thats such a biased statement.besides this passiion trancsends age.my herpvet is over 50 and he has tons of reptiles.

I am 24 and my husband (who would be perfectly happy in a 1 or 2 critter home but loves me and puts up with a zoo instead) and I currently have; 3 dogs, 1 cat, 1 fish tank, 2 ferrets, 50+ mice, 3 ASF, 3+13 rats and now 2.2 bps. Did I forget anyone?... Nope, the dogs just make it seem like more, psychos! I have always loved having a variety of animals around and our house is called the farm house by family and close friends, course my sister is as bad as I am and contributes more animals on her side of the house.

I tend to get the same response whenever anyone learns about my mice or snakes, "why?" Because I enjoy them. Why is it that if I spent a ton on clothes people would think I am normal but because I would prefer to buy a beautiful snake who I can cuddle and enjoy for 30+ years some people look at me funny?

My co-workers say I march to a different beat, doesn't sound like a bad thing to me. :dance:

I'll be 42 in July and got my first snake about a year and a half ago...My hair is short and I work in a profession that requires a high degree of professionalism and public trust...guess i don't fit into the pigeon hole LOL
I had fish, lizards, amphibians and dogs growing up and i would catch snakes and play with them...never let a bite discourage me. I know some people at work that have snakes and some that think it's very odd, but no one has ever said anything worse than, "You're #%$*ing crazy." but they say it in a semi-joking way.

wow alot of younger people :) i cant vote though :(

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by loonunit

I got my first snake on my 31st birthday, when it occurred to me that I -am- a grown-up, and I can decide what pets I have. I live on the other side of the country from my Mom, so it doesn't matter if reptiles freak her out, and I can jolly well have a snake if I want one. Or two. Or, um, ten.

And hey, I totally have dogs! For the record, two dogs are waaaaay more work than 10 snakes.

---

Wow we had the same situation. I am 27 and told my mom I was planning on getting a ball python after I had researched it thoroughly. She was disgusted and begged me not to. I guess even with our own lives, our moms will always be moms. :D:D

Hahah I'm 17. I bought my first from someone (including payment) a couple of months before I asked my mum. She freaked, but she's pretty cool and she just asked me not to torture her that way. Hahahah a week later she went overseas and it got delivered(: I told her and she gave me the -.- face after I promised to keep it out of everyone's way and faces. And that they don't ever need to see it if they dont wish to. My whole family's still squirmish about it, and hate it when I take them out.

lol ever since i was 14 my dad would bring me snakes so its his fault ive sold 9 and still have another 7 left