What do people say to you when you say you have snakes?

I did have a classmate that I was studying with for an exam earlier this month, she texted me one day if she could just come to my house sunday night and study there. I replied, "Sure. Are you afraid of snakes?"...Her:"YES!"...Me: "well I have several, but you will likely not see them as they are in their own room"...Her: "No way, let's just make plans for Tuesday when my roommate is gone". LOL, on another note Halloween this year was extremely mild so I let my adult normal ball hang around my neck while we handed out candy...several people actually touched him and asked pertinent questions.

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Originally Posted by Physician&Snakes

LOL, on another note Halloween this year was extremely mild so I let my adult normal ball hang around my neck while we handed out candy...several people actually touched him and asked pertinent questions.

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It was mild here too. My husband wore a black wizard robe with our albino boa draped across his shoulders while he handed out candy. The kids loved it, the parents not so much when the kids started asking if they could have a pet snake.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

It was mild here too. My husband wore a black wizard robe with our albino boa draped across his shoulders while he handed out candy. The kids loved it, the parents not so much when the kids started asking if they could have a pet snake.

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Yeah, surprisingly most of the parents were very accepting of it, a few of them recognized the species, there are more BP keepers in my area than I honestly thought, one thing that made me really consider breeding them in addition to my other projects.

My girlfriends mom says why would anyone want one of those devil creatures.
Most people just look at me funny lol

Wow, I forgot about this thread. My husband is a home-based gunsmith and this incident happened last week. For the record, all of our customers make me smile - some when they arrive, others when they leave. And then there are the ones who get fired before we do any work for them...

So, the hubby is home waiting on a new customer whose rifle suddenly "doesn't work". The guy showed up right after lunch with an AR15. They go into the office and hubby starts taking the gun apart. Usually when someone has an AR15 that works, gets taken apart for cleaning, put back together, and then doesn't work, it's not hard to diagnose and correct the issue.

About the time hubby has removed the upper from the lower he hears the customer say "Snakes are the devil's spawn!"

Now, we have exactly one snake in the office, a beautiful male albino BCI about 18 months old. He's a very nice snake, laid back, never ever has threatened to bite. He's not one to hide all day, so he's in a Boaphile arboreal enclosure and even our customers who aren't herpers like the little guy.

Dear hubby (DH), knowing that he has bad hearing and thinking that he misunderstood what the guy said, goes "Excuse me?"

"Snakes are from the devil and people who keep them are Satan worshipers!"

DH, thinking that the guy is simply a snake-fearing pansy, tells the guy that we have 36 snakes and quite a few belong to our eight year old daughter.

"I don't care if your whore daughter owns snakes! No Christian can own snakes. Snakes are from the devil."

By now DH has had more than enough. Before the last comment DH was simply going to charge the guy a "stupidity fee" for being a jerk, but the remark about our daughter was over the top. So, the dude from Sister Coitus is promptly fired as a customer, physically ejected from the house, and the pieces of his rifle thrown out onto the lawn.

GOOD RIDDANCE!

WOW - People like that are just plain scary. I'd probably be worried about retaliation and maybe give the cops a heads up call.

This thread hits home with me as a new bp owner. We were a one pet household for many years. We had the typical cat and he was a good one. Once he passed on it was time to fix the carpet and enjoy the honeymoon of not having pets. Now, we are a one snake household. It is funny to see the typical reaction from other parents when they find out we have a snake. I begin by asking them what they know about snakes and ball pythons in general? The usual answer is nothing other than they "are slimy and dangersous...I mean they are a python right?". I ask them how dangerous is their dog? Oh so and so is great with the kids. If they persist on the danger issue I let them know that on average one child per state is killed by the household dog per year. Not a stray, the household dog. I tell them that with proper care and husbandry a snake can be an easy going wonderful pet. I describe our routines a bit, talk about feeding, that kind of stuff. By then, if they are still listening they usualy give a "huh, never thought of that" reply. Funny that I have many many firearms in the house and nobody worries about the safety of my kids. However, I put a little bp in the mix and folks freak out about THE PYTHON!!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by 3skulls

Wait until you tell them you have 400 tarantulas. :p

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Oh yeah, then you get asked the same questions as all snake owners. Is it poisonous? Did you get it's fangs removed? Etc, etc, etc...

I'm always up for educating folks, but sometimes the same old cliché questions get old.

I haven't really gotten any crazy responses. I only have one bp, but nearly everyone who knows I have a snake are fine with it I guess.. my boyfriends' mom loves snakes and used to keep some of her own! but my mom, doesn't exactly love my baby. She's come a long way though, and I think I've changed some peoples minds about reptiles :)

They are usually very intrigued or mortified, with few in between. Either way, I'm entertained.. :P

Most of the time I get "Oh, that's awesome!" or "Yea, you're crazy!"