Goin out with your Snake

I think that snakes are like other animals.. granted, they are not mammals, but I think of their actions as similar to horses. Some horses are very reactive and leary of everything, and I do not care if you had Olympic trainers working these horses daily; that 'tude would still be there. Same with my snakes, in my experience.. but I do believe that not handling a snake regularly, then expecting it to be docile when you pull it from its cage, is not reasonable.

In the past I would semi-regularly take my snakes out in public. Usually it was my Burmese python. She was just a really cool snake... not usually aggressive, defensive, or head shy, and not overly large, about 4 feet long. I most often took her with me to work (an exotic pet store that I bought her at) or to other pet stores. I did not take her out to draw attention to myself; I would compare my motives to the same reasons I would take my dog out, that is, for exercise and mental stimulation. I wouldn't feel comfortable saying that the snake did or did not enjoy going out, but it did not seem to have any ill effects on her. She always flicked her tongue investigating her surroundings and explored, but not in a way that would lead me to believe she was in a stressed "flight" mode.

I honestly encountered more people that are afraid of snakes while in the pet shop than on the street, and got a lot more curious inquiries from the general public than bad encounters.

That being said, I haven't taken any my snakes out in public in quite a while, one, because of cross-contamination at pet stores with fast-moving inventory, and two, because I don't have a single snake that I feel I have handled regularly enough to take somewhere for more than a couple minutes without being stressed.

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Originally Posted by krazi0469

we love taking our snakes out with us... we're just really careful of who and how many ppl we let come up a touch the snake's..... but what i really love is watching the reactions on ppl that are scared of them... i know thats mean....but we only take them into pet stores.... it's not like we take them into a mall or anything

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this is wrong and you should never see how many people hate them. you are doing this obviously for attenttion and in your best and the 3 bps interests to stop. do you think i could scare someone? i could bring a 16 ft retic a monacled cobra or even a king cobra and i bet it would scare the pants off someone compared to a ball python. point is it is your responsibility to not show off your snake to unwilling people and instead show them off to bpnet members:)

I second that.. the last thing that we responsible keepers need, are more people fearing snakes; it is bad enough as it is. :(
On a side note, I got my grandma to touch one of my BPs last time they were over; this was one of the most monumental moments in my life. She hates cats and dogs for pete's sake! But she was like "wow, they're not slimy!"

:snake: I agree that in some places bringing a snake is not appropriat, i only bring my snake somewhere if it is a pet store i go to regurlaryly, If i have to go to the vet later that day, Or if i am around people i know very well. If i go to a petstore i make sure that the people there have not touhed a rodent or any other kind of animal that would leave a scent i then instruct them on how to hold them for example do not touch the head and let them go for it. I also do not show the snake i walk around doing my thing and if someone asks i show them. Probaly one of my favorite experincs was were my younger brother who is in 3rd grade asked me to bring it in and show it to the class i gave a kinda of lesson over the snakes and let my little brothe rsay what he knew about them . But if you just go out for attention(ill admit i did it when i first got my snake) its not helping your snake or you.

1st.... i dont show them off to unwilling ppl... they always come up to me... or say something about being scared of snakes...i dont take them out just tp see who hates snakes... all i said is was that i sorta liked the reactions of ppl that are scared

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Originally Posted by uro1001

this is wrong and you should never see how many people hate them. you are doing this obviously for attenttion and in your best and the 3 bps interests to stop. do you think i could scare someone? i could bring a 16 ft retic a monacled cobra or even a king cobra and i bet it would scare the pants off someone compared to a ball python. point is it is your responsibility to not show off your snake to unwilling people and instead show them off to bpnet members:)

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we only take our to petstores.... and it's not for very long b/c like some ppl say we dont wanto stress them out

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Originally Posted by ReptileFan

:snake: I agree that in some places bringing a snake is not appropriat, i only bring my snake somewhere if it is a pet store i go to regurlaryly, If i have to go to the vet later that day, Or if i am around people i know very well. If i go to a petstore i make sure that the people there have not touhed a rodent or any other kind of animal that would leave a scent i then instruct them on how to hold them for example do not touch the head and let them go for it. I also do not show the snake i walk around doing my thing and if someone asks i show them. Probaly one of my favorite experincs was were my younger brother who is in 3rd grade asked me to bring it in and show it to the class i gave a kinda of lesson over the snakes and let my little brothe rsay what he knew about them . But if you just go out for attention(ill admit i did it when i first got my snake) its not helping your snake or you.

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Watch out for mites! I brought them unwittingly into my collection by merely entering a certain pet store.

exactly. taking any reptile to a pet store isn to bright.

Mine had mites... but i've treated them and they are doing great... i think they had them when i bought my snake... but all mite free now

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

Watch out for mites! I brought them unwittingly into my collection by merely entering a certain pet store.

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