Does owning a BP affect your relationship with others?

In my experience ... I have found that when telling others (mostly relatives/friends/co-workers) that I own a SNAKE I get nothing but distaste. My parents, for example, think every time I get a cold its because of my BP and other relative/friends won't even visit my house because of it. Just thought I'd see if anyone else has felt the similar prejudice.

Never seem to have that problem. Most of the people I associate with like snakes and my ball pythons. If they don't, I'm the one who looks at them with distaste. :oops:

People at work look uncomfortable when I talk about them and most of the time they'll cut me off mid sentence with a "I hate snakes, uuhhhh I'm getting chills just thinking about them"... bunch of losers.

I stopped by my Dad's house with my corn snake after our trip to the vet and he wanted it out of the house because he thought it would get the dog sick! lol

OH you get all sorts of reactions. From not caring to very interested. I had two people, one a co worker say if he ever saw them he'd kill them. An impossibility because no one from work ever comes to my house. Still If I said that about his dog then I'd be a jerk.


It doesn't bother me. and if It keeps relatives away it's worth it.

My grandparents don't like 'em, but are getting used to it.

My aunt will never come over if she finds out I'm getting 2 tarantulas...:P

As with anything that people are immediately offended by or scared of, the initial reaction is not something we can control. Owning snakes is not the thing about me that the general population finds difficult do handle, and I don't mean that as a joke. The reaction I get for owning snakes is VERY mild in comparison with some people, and I am ashamed of neither.
I think the secret is being confident. There's no reason to be rude to people who are being rude to us. That does not fix anything. We need to acknowledge it, and show that snakes make us happy. When people ask about my snakes, I like to respond by telling them "Ya, they're a great pet. I like them a lot", with a smile, and if people tell me that they hate snakes, I explain that there are TONS of people that feel that way, and it is very normal, but often a little exposure to them helps people overcome that. I mean, even my mother learned to love snakes.
Anyways, I don't know how old you are or anything, but I think that it gets easier to deal with over time. Just don't let it get to you and always wear a smile.
(Just for the record, I have the best family and extended family in the world so if my relatives stopped coming over because of my snakes, I don't know what I would do!)

My dad hates snakes, but because he and I are so close, he comes to my apartment and tolerates them. He gets chills looking at them like I do with spiders. But I give him mad props for coming to my home, anyway.

My mom has a hard time understanding the "domestication", so to speak, of snakes. She doesn't agree with it, but tonight I started educating her a bit about snakes, and stressing to not believe everything NatGeo and Discovery says.

One of my friends wouldn't even come into my apartment a few months ago because she's deathly afraid. By the end of the night, we had her touching our small BP's tail. A big improvement for her!

When I post things about our snakes in my Facebook status, I get "eww, I hate snakes", or "sick". You may not like them, but I do. They're my pets, so if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. I understand people have fears, because my fear of tarantulas runs very deep, but I'm not about to criticize someone because they have one, and I expect the same respect from others as well.

Great topic, by the way!

I wouldn't say it affects my relationship with anyone. There are a lot of my friends that don't really like them or think I'm crazy for the amounts of money I spent on them and then there are a couple guys I work with who hate them but are always interested in talking about them and learning cause they know nothing about them... its kinda funny but annoying with them cause sometimes they just say the dumbest things.

i know if i told my parents i have a snake they wouldnt visit, or they'd meet me somewhere. i hate prejudiced people, especially when it comes to animals. my fiance's parents however, know i want to get a snake & they're ok with it. they own our house so i had to ask them first.

Most of the people that I know do not like snakes and they are like ewwww, you have snakes, that's disgusting! My mother won't step foot into my home because of the fact that I have two bp's. I respect that and I do not push the issue. I just try to educate her about the snakes.

as long as they stay in their enclosures the ppl in know who are uncomfortable around them are ok

Most of my co-workers find it strangely interesting, and while it may not be something that THEY are comfortable with, I don't believe it affects our relationships - they just accept that's part of what makes Robin, Robin. They know I love going to reptile shows and always tell me to have a great time when they know I'm headed to one - and always ask how it was when I get back.

My mother swore that she'd never step foot into my home once I got my first. I now have 50 + and she's been in my home, my dad helped me build a rack, and the BIGGEST milestone was 2 years ago, when my very first clutch was due to hatch, I was travelling to NC to visit my folks, and my mother allowed me to bring the clutch of eggs into the home, knowing that they would be hatching while I was there (no WAY was I missing my first clutch hatching!).

After consulting with experienced breeders, I hooked up a styrofoam cooler with heat packs and a thermometer and off we headed on our road trip. Oh wait - it was actually TWO clutches I brought along with me. All hatched, Dad was very interested, my brother (a professional photographer) took pictures, and my mom warily peeked in and then shivered a bit! LOL

I lost a close friend of mine over owning bp's. She was horrified when she found out that I owned them, and it escalated into a rather nasty argument due to a rather snide, insulting remark that followed her shock. :oops:

But besides that one instance, most of the people I know are hesitant to be around them, but at the same time they a fascinated. I've even made new friends through them, and once people overcome their fears or doubts about them, they never stop asking questions.

My sister's think I'm nuts, but it doesn't stop them from playing the "get a close look and run away squealing" game (they're my older sisters, too :D), and the rest of my family just tries to pretend they don't exist. :P

It hasn't changed any relationships for me. And frankly at this point in my life I really don't get worried about what other people think, or perhaps more like I don't care what others think.

My on sister-in-law comes into the house, but the minute I go over to the snake rack to even just check the temps she runs out of the room. She can't explain why she's afraid of them and when I tried to educate her a bit on snakes, she didn't want to hear anything about it. Oh well. Can't change some people.

Now my 88 year old grams thinks nothing of going over the rack and tries to peer through the plastic to get a look. She'll even touch them when I take one out for her. And here i thought she'd be the squeamish one. go figure.

My mom's only aversion to them is that they eat rodents, but she excepts that its natures way and snakes have to eat too. But she's super excited about my first clutch so she's cool with it. My dad can't understand why I like them and so I tell him.. why do you like to go hunting or fishing or like dogs? He sees the point and leaves it at that.

When I told my coworkers I was getting a snake, one of them completely flipped out and began to rant about how she doesn't want any snake in her house, and how nasty they are. I wanted to look at her at tell her to shut the heck up. Then I began to rant about on how cute they are. Some of my other coworkers who don't like snakes though, are nice about it. Every once in a while they'll ask how she's doing, which is greatly appreciated from me. Even my manager who is terrified of snakes, brought her up in a topic and wanted to know how she was doing, what kind of snake and what not. It was great that she was curious about her, and respectful on a decision I had made.

When I told my mom I wanted a snake, she flipped out. It took me about two years to finally convince her to let me own one. Now that I have my ball python, she's growing to like her. She even touched her a day or so ago. I was so proud of her! My dad just loves her. He'll send me texts at work to see if it's okay if he goes and looks at her. I woke up this morning and went to the bathroom and when I got out and headed back to my room, there was my dad already in my room checking her out. I'm glad both my parents, especially my mom, like her. I think it helps a lot that I got her as a baby, so she doesn't look to intimidating and they'll be able to get use to her as she grows. My grandmother on my dad's side will not come in my room, even though the snake is in the cage. She's so terrified of them, but at least she'll come into the house. Both my grandpa's don't seem to mind very much, and I don't know exactly know how my grandma on my mom's side will react. I'll be finding out in about two weeks just exactly how she feels about the snake.

All my friends just love her. One of them is a little scared of snakes just because she's been bitten by one in her past, but she's still willing to come over and see her. She said she'd be willing to touch her once the snake is all settled in, and I understand her more. But they all think she's adorable.

I enjoy telling people that I own a snake, and even though some of their reactions aren't the best, I do enjoy telling them that they are on the smaller side, and that they're very docile. Most listen, but if I talk to more of an elderly person, all they think is that it's nasty. I personally am terrified of spiders. I can't sleep if I notice one over my bed, and if I do, I need to kill it. But I can't kill it over my bed, I need it to crawl over a open area. If it lands in my bed, even tough it's dead, I have to rip off my sheets and replace them. It's just bad how terrified I am. The only ones I can tolerate is daddy long legs, because I know they can't hurt me, but if it gets to close I freak out. And tarantulas as long as their inside a cage. (I know that was a little off topic sorry).

But over all, my family and closest friends don't seem to mind her to much, which is great for me. I don't really care what strangers think of her, but I do respect my coworkers who are curious about her.

I just don't talk about them unless I know the person I am talking about is comfortable with the idea :P

What you don't know won't hurt you!

That being said, my parents completely despise them :( They are convinced they are going to escape and strangle me in my sleep . :/

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

I just don't talk about them unless I know the person I am talking about is comfortable with the idea :P

What you don't know won't hurt you!

That being said, my parents completely despise them :( They are convinced they are going to escape and strangle me in my sleep . :/

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Maybe you can get a fancy limbic morph ball python and ask it very nicely to talk your parents into trusting it. :P

My mom HATES the idea, and wont even come in my room now, my dad thinks its cool. :P I generally just do like kaorte and leave it alone unless the friend asks, even the ones that like snakes think I'm weird for getting so into it so quickly.....

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Originally Posted by David802

Maybe you can get a fancy limbic morph ball python and ask it very nicely to talk your parents into trusting it. :P

My mom HATES the idea, and wont even come in my room now, my dad thinks its cool. :P I generally just do like kaorte and leave it alone unless the friend asks, even the ones that like snakes think I'm weird for getting so into it so quickly.....

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Yeah dunno about that one...My mom literally thinks snakes are a sign of the devil.....yeah...

My dad just despises all pets. He thinks they are all "useless". To each their own I guess.

:P My parents actually think I have 2 snakes....I have 6..

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Yeah dunno about that one...My mom literally thinks snakes are a sign of the devil.....yeah...

My dad just despises all pets. He thinks they are all "useless". To each their own I guess.

:P My parents actually think I have 2 snakes....I have 6..

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LMFAO nice, well what they don't know wont hurt them! How are snakes a sign of the devil? that just confuses me......

LOL...you should see the reactions when we go for a walk and take a couple of the boys along for some fresh air and scenery!

I'd say out of the ones that spot us, 50% do nothing but gawk driving by, 25% make sure you see them make a "that's disgusting" face, and the other 25% are actually intrigued enough to stop and talk with us. Particularly when we have Mr. Biggles out - he's our adopted 7' boa.

Ball pythons and reptiles in general are known to be gross and cause problems, only because people are not educated on reptiles. People call me insane for saying the prices of snakes, they say " I wouldent even pay that for a dog!" The only thing we can do is educate them as much as we can, and hope they accept them =D

-Payson

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Originally Posted by mrmertz

LOL...you should see the reactions when we go for a walk and take a couple of the boys along for some fresh air and scenery!

I'd say out of the ones that spot us, 50% do nothing but gawk driving by, 25% make sure you see them make a "that's disgusting" face, and the other 25% are actually intrigued enough to stop and talk with us. Particularly when we have Mr. Biggles out - he's our adopted 7' boa.

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ROFL xD well what ever gets the word out about how snakes really. :P

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Originally Posted by David802

LMFAO nice, well what they don't know wont hurt them! How are snakes a sign of the devil? that just confuses me......

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The whole adam and eve snake in the tree thing :/

yeah...I know..

Perhaps your family is very religious? I think a lot of close mindedness about snakes stems from the fact that a lot of people are very religious, and we all know what the snake represents in the Bible.

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Originally Posted by EvesFriend

Perhaps your family is very religious? I think a lot of close mindedness about snakes stems from the fact that a lot of people are very religious, and we all know what the snake represents in the Bible.

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My mom is catholic but she isn't outwardly stupid about certain things in the bible. Just the snake in the tree thing.....

:( Just my luck.

hmmm I don't know enough about religion to know anything more then there is a snake in one of the books... or something LOL :P Interesting. that does explain alot lol

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Originally Posted by David802

hmmm I don't know enough about religion to know anything more then there is a snake in one of the books... or something LOL :P Interesting. that does explain alot lol

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I just think a lot of Christians either consciously or subconsciously associate snakes with the devil since the devil appeared in the form of a snake. In some sects of Christianity they explain the snake not having legs by God banishing them to walk; so they had to crawl.

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Originally Posted by EvesFriend

I just think a lot of Christians either consciously or subconsciously associate snakes with the devil since the devil appeared in the form of a snake. In some sects of Christianity they explain the snake not having legs by God banishing them to walk; so they had to crawl.

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Thats actually very interesting. I dont believe in religion myself, but I've always thought it was interesting to hear about what others believe.

I've not had any issues in relationships. Some people don't like snakes, but he's in my room and no one has to go in there.

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Originally Posted by EvesFriend

I just think a lot of Christians either consciously or subconsciously associate snakes with the devil since the devil appeared in the form of a snake. In some sects of Christianity they explain the snake not having legs by God banishing them to walk; so they had to crawl.

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Yep, the po' old snake has gotten a bad rep for thousands of years. Particularly when it comes to religious beliefs and the unfortunate metaphoric correlation to snakes you can see the ignorance that has been passed down through generation to generation.

I have one person in particualr at the church I'm at who flat out states that people who keep snakes are quote, "weird". (It's a good thing I wasn't present at the time). That statement right there shows (to me) how ignorant and narrow minded people really are and also how they project their views upon the actual owners of snakes themselves. I would have slammed her with suggesting that she read Proverbs 12:10.

When i got my first snake (a garter snake who happened to be pregnant) when i was a little kid, my mom wasn't all too thrilled with it, but it didn't reallly affect our relationship. I've recently discovered how much of a hobby snake keeping really is, and got a ball python a few months ago and my mom actually likes her.

I'd like to know how people react when they hear/see you house your snakes in tubs. I built a rack over the weekend and my dad (whose much more of a dog person) doesn't fully understand how a snake can be happy in a small space. I've told him that, just like you shouldnt humanize a dog, you shouldnt treat a snake as if its a dog.

Well, all I can say is it keeps my nagging mother-in-law away, I guess thats a plus. lol. My wife doesnt care for snakes but shes pretty open minded, even suggesting that we start my son out with a baby corn. people I work with though, wont even come to my house anymore. They say things like "arent your worried about your kids, those things are dangerous and they'll strangle your kids in there sleep". I tell them ive been educating my children about snakes and im trying to pass my new hobby on to them, even getting help with giving medication without even so much as a bite. Then i get looked at like I have 3 heads. lol.

ive had certain freinds for years and when i tell them i have a snake there like "snakes are stupid why do you have a snake". i dont understand how they can critisize something they dont even know.

my mom LOVES Pheobe now :D

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

:P My parents actually think I have 2 snakes....I have 6..

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I loled a few times at this. :D

Most of my friends and family love the snakes! Every once in a while I'll tell someone that kind of gives me that 'your crazy!' face.

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Originally Posted by David802

Thats actually very interesting. I dont believe in religion myself, but I've always thought it was interesting to hear about what others believe.

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I am as far removed from religion as one can get, however I do find it interesting to study why people do the things they do, and usually it stems back to why they believe the things they believe.

My mom cannot understand why I have ball pythons. She constantly asks me what I'll do when they escape and strangle my kids.

I patiently explain to her that balls pythons stay small, are very docile, and the odds of one strangling you are about as long as winning the Powerball Lottery.

She asked me once why I liked them so much, since I talk about them like they are my kids. I told her the truth, they are ideal pets. They are small, don't make noise, aren't messy, are pretty much hypo-allergenic, and best of all, are great stress reducers. She was kind of impressed, I don't think she had thought about all that.

Gale

Plus how many pets do you hear of that you can feed once a week and still be perfectly
healthy. lol :D

my mom HATED SNAKES!! but i got a corn snake and she was like awe it has nice colors then i got my ball python pastel and she said wow those colors are so amazing haha a few months later shes petting them next step is holding XD

I own a pitbull & a python. I get lots of dirty looks just walking my dog down the street, I take this opportunity to educate people. My dog is extremely well trained & socialized, I want her to change the public's mind about these animals. People are sheep..they hear stories on the news & they never consider the real problem..THE OWNER! Responsibly owned pets, whether exotic or otherwise, are rarely causing chaos or mauling children. When people ask why my dog is muzzled, I explain that the city's lack of education on 'dangerous dogs' has led to passing a law that targets the wrong citizens..responsible owners! My 80lb lapdog is more well behaved than most little yappy dogs, but the majority of people hear 'pitbull' and think 'baby killer'. Milkshake & I have changed LOTS of minds about the breed..and I'm always happy to answer questions about my dog or my balls.

I'm in the same boat, I remember not being able to rent apartments in dog friendly buildings because I own a pitbull. The same thing with BPs, someone hears "SNAKE" and they get flashbacks of the anaconda movies or something. But I do agree its an education and awareness thing, show the world how fun a BP or pitbull can be - and they will love them for ever.

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Originally Posted by PitBull Python

I'm in the same boat, I remember not being able to rent apartments in dog friendly buildings because I own a pitbull. The same thing with BPs, someone hears "SNAKE" and they get flashbacks of the anaconda movies or something. But I do agree its an education and awareness thing, show the world how fun a BP or pitbull can be - and they will love them for ever.

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Exactly, the public tends to equate these dogs with ghetto trash & drug dealers..one reason why my city has banned any 'pitbull type' dog (we put up such a fight against city hall, lawsuits are acoming tho!). My city wants to get these 'thugs' out of the city. The funny thing is..I'm not a piece of ghetto trash, I have a great, decent paying job & live quite comfortably. I don't let my dog run lose or set her up for failure.. she's spayed, microchipped, temperament tested, insured & will one day be a therapy or search & rescue dog. Lack of education is the downfall of so many of our beloved pets. Yay for responsibly owned pitties & balls :)

If anything it attracts guys. Its a great talking point, ditto with my marine fish.

They do keep my family from going anywhere neer my room, which can only be a good thing lol

At first my family was like snakes? Now, everyone thinks they are cool and call me whenever they see one one on there property "Sarah, I just saw a rat snake and I didn't kill it!" LOL........its a start :)