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.