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

"What the Hell is wrong with you?!"

I got that unexpected one today, and no, I am not happy about it.

The biggest question I get is how do they mate. Followed by why do they have 2 penises lol. It's always an interesting convo

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I had a great, educational session with our neighbors last night. We have new neighbors that I had been talking to, in our driveway, about my boa and brought her out to show them. While we were talking about snakes and looking over my snake, our neighbors on the other side of us came out to check her out. They touched her, the granddaughter held her and they asked a ton of questions. They were so interested (and surprised that I have snakes) that they wanted to see my ball python. They thought that both are beautiful and interesting. And to think I was worried about the neighbors finding out that I had snakes (for all of the reasons above this thread - I feared that somebody would freak out about the big, bad, scary snakes).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by distaff

"What the Hell is wrong with you?!"

I got that unexpected one today, and no, I am not happy about it.

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I've had that one as well. My favorite reply is, "Me? Well, I'm a normal person who happens to believe that not all pets have to have four legs and fur to be enjoyed. You on the other hand, seem to be a paranoid nutcase who watches way to much TV. Maybe I should rethink being around you, you might be dangerous."

Gale

Funny story: soon after getting Cake, one of my producers who apparently hates snakes immediately proceeded to tell me the recent news about a guy kissing his pet cottonmouth on the mouth, and getting bitten in the face. He showed me a video of the guy at the same time and kind of just waited for my reaction.

Yeah, ball pythons are totally a venomous species and I would need to care. :colbert:

A few minutes after that, one of my coworkers asked me in a VERY serious way, "Have you seen the movie Anaconda?"

Me: "No..."

Coworker nods gravely, "You should see it."

Because my 5 foot ball python is totally an anaconda and watching a hollywood stereotype is going to suddenly make me hate snakes, as if I'm not aware of what kind of animal they are?

(spamming more stories- I'll show myself out now.)

I've mentioned before but I had a neighbor once freak out over my tiny pet garter snake as a kid. Started all kinds of drama in the neighborhood. She automatically assumed I was keeping some child eating monster in my room when I was 10. Blamed me for her missing cat. Fear and ignorance makes people stupid.

And just the other day my mother asked me to make sure my ball python wasn't venomous.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Funny story: soon after getting Cake, one of my producers who apparently hates snakes immediately proceeded to tell me the recent news about a guy kissing his pet cottonmouth on the mouth, and getting bitten in the face. He showed me a video of the guy at the same time and kind of just waited for my reaction.

Yeah, ball pythons are totally a venomous species and I would need to care. :colbert:

A few minutes after that, one of my coworkers asked me in a VERY serious way, "Have you seen the movie Anaconda?"

Me: "No..."

Coworker nods gravely, "You should see it."

Because my 5 foot ball python is totally an anaconda and watching a hollywood stereotype is going to suddenly make me hate snakes, as if I'm not aware of what kind of animal they are?

(spamming more stories- I'll show myself out now.)

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I love both of my snakes but not too sure about kissing either of them! Can you imagine that your snake mistakes your bad breath for some sort of food and chomp! Explain that to your family, friends and coworkers (I cannot imagine what my wife would say or do or when I would ever hear the end of it - she loves to tell people about all the stupid stuff I do, none of the good stuff!). Also I've seen Anaconda but not sure that I've seen all of it - stupid movie but if you like Jennifer Lopez...

I don't tell people I have snakes usually. Its my business what I keep for a pet. The important thing when dealing with these questions is to not be defensive. People only know what they know. You can just give them the facts, educate and then whatever they do from there is their business. If you get defensive or feel insulted by peoples presumptions about snakes then you are only going to reinforce their opinion that you are a weirdo for keeping them. If you keep rational and educate, that's when you can effect people's opinions for the better.

Oh, I work at Petco so people are nasty with me all the time. I'm often told serpents are the devil and that I'm going to Hell...oh, not to mention that apparently my 3ft Ball Python is going to eat my 7lb chihuahua. LMFAO

If you wanna step inside, pay admission at the door...
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I find it funny how I react when I meet a fellow herper - it's like you can't stop talking snakes! I am a bit cautious about who I talk to about my pets but also educational. You can't change everybody and a lot will still cringe but I get a lot of questions (after a bit of debriefing) that actually are intelligent. A young guy at work said that he thought that I was cool because I play guitar (not very well but he doesn't need to know that!) and I told him what was cool was my pets. I think he has a whole new view of me now. I also tell people if they want to know about or handle a snake to come see me. They know, from working with me, that I would not do so If I wasn't comfortable with the visit.