People are people, I guess.

So, my husband posted a picture of our new baby snakes on his facebook and he got tons of comments... all except 1 of them (and that was from me) are saying, take a shovel and chop it up or "the only good snake is a dead snake"... etc. etc.

Also, one of our friends posted a status on her facebook saying (i'm paraphrasing) "When I see a furry dead animal on the road I feel sad, that must mean I'm sensitive and caring. Today I saw a big black snake dead on the road and I was happy. Is that bad?". And everybody except me said No, of course not.

:tears:


We have a lot of educating to do, guys.

Yes, we do. It is sad how ignorant people are. The only thing we can do is try to open thier eyes to our world. It's not easy though.

Try getting one on one with them. Get some more snake people on your facebook. Show the world we are bigger than we seem :)

By the way, these are all people from Florida...

No surprise we got that ban legislation passed.

My kids are great ambassadors for their pets. All their neighborhood friends love hanging out at our house because they get to see the snakes. Their parents though... a different story.

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Originally Posted by anatess

By the way, these are all people from Florida...

No surprise we got that ban legislation passed.

My kids are great ambassadors for their pets. All their neighborhood friends love hanging out at our house because they get to see the snakes. Their parents though... a different story.

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The ignorance that goes on in Florida is mind boggling considering how much wildlife is actually there. When I lived in Ft. Myers my buddy and I would make weekly trips down to the Everglades (About an hour drive) and would always go out for photos and what not. He's graduating Auburn next year with a degree in Herpatology and Zoology. I can't tell you how many people we'd have to educate about rattlesnakes, pythons, gators, and lizards. They all thought every one of those animals was out to kill them. :rolleyes:

I don't recall completely and I certainly mean no disrespect by saying so, but isn't there a cultural predisposition to fear and dislike snakes with your friends and family? I thought you mentioned somewhere that you were or grew up in the Philippines.

If so you should take that into consideration as to why so many disapprove.

If that wasn't you then never mind, I am terrible with names.

condem what you dont understand, to much bad press, to many reptile people doing dumb things in the public eye and that makes us all the bad guys,

You know this may sound bad, but when people react like this towards my animals I usually get very mad. I usually say react in a way that they do towards my animals. After they deploy their insult it usually goes something like "hmmm so what kind of pets do you keep?"

"Ohh I have a bichon frise he's so cute..."

"Yeah its funny because I think they resemble oversized rats." "You know, how come they didn't exterminate them off they planet already, such a useless little animal am I wrong?"

"Well of course your wrong you jerk!!"

"So why is ok for you to talk about MY pet with such disrespect?"

There usual response is none. They look at me and agree, and say something like I just don't like them there gross. I follow with, keep you "gross" comments to yourself next time because thats all they are gross....And just say that you don't like them..." "Why say all those horrible things?"

I can't stand this and its my belief that us snake owners need to take this a little more personally then we do. I used to laugh and shrug it off. I can't anymore because I can't stand such a disrespect towards any kind of living thing. It really all depends on the comment and when to be a jerk back. Some people are fair and say, snakes scare me, and I just don't like them. Thats fine. Others say rude, derogatory things that I can't hold back from. Thats just my 2cents though :D

P.S. I have nothing against Bichon Frise's lol Just an example...

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Originally Posted by wilomn

I don't recall completely and I certainly mean no disrespect by saying so, but isn't there a cultural predisposition to fear and dislike snakes with your friends and family? I thought you mentioned somewhere that you were or grew up in the Philippines.

If so you should take that into consideration as to why so many disapprove.

If that wasn't you then never mind, I am terrible with names.

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I agree. Half of my family is from Mexico, and in Mexico snakes connote evil and satanic things, especially if you happen to be religious. I mean, their flag has an eagle killing a snake on it, and it's a triumphant symbol. Therefore, when my family starts griping about me wanting to get a snake I try not to take it too personally since it's just ingrained into our culture to fear/loath snakes.

I still doesn't make it right of course to discriminate someone's hobbies but I can understand where they are coming from.

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Originally Posted by anatess

So, my husband posted a picture of our new baby snakes on his facebook and he got tons of comments... all except 1 of them (and that was from me) are saying, take a shovel and chop it up or "the only good snake is a dead snake"... etc. etc.

Also, one of our friends posted a status on her facebook saying (i'm paraphrasing) "When I see a furry dead animal on the road I feel sad, that must mean I'm sensitive and caring. Today I saw a big black snake dead on the road and I was happy. Is that bad?". And everybody except me said No, of course not.

:tears:


We have a lot of educating to do, guys.

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i go through the same thing, i have over 200 pics of my snakes on my facebook. 98 percent are just them chillin or cool pics, other 2 percent are them eating ( and i didnt put them up on purpose, few went on by mistake) but i get all kinds of people saying crap about them, but i get alot of good comments too. people are always like put more pics of your dogs up not your snakes.... well everyone has met my dogs, NOT my snakes....

its just irritating that people are so dumb and ignorant....

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Originally Posted by Animals As Leaders

I can't stand this and its my belief that us snake owners need to take this a little more personally then we do. I used to laugh and shrug it off. I can't anymore because I can't stand such a disrespect towards any kind of living thing. It really all depends on the comment and when to be a jerk back. Some people are fair and say, snakes scare me, and I just don't like them. Thats fine. Others say rude, derogatory things that I can't hold back from. Thats just my 2cents though :D

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You do see the..... irony here, don't you?

Lol

The thing is, people need to learn to not talk like that. Its just sad, and ignorant. And when its directed at my animals, I don't take it lightly. I'm talking when people say things like Anatess stated. And the person knows I'm being sarcastic when I say all this lol. I'm not that mean ;) Its just to point out that what they said was kind of out of line, and that it bothered me. Usually after this they get the hint, and either don't talk about them, or just find another way of talking about it.

With all due respect, you can't say you didn't even slightly expect this sort of issue. Every single one of us knows the general consensus when it comes to snakes. People are ignorant. One snake is the same as the rest to them. They don't want to take the initiative to learn about something they fear, so they continue to make themselves look like insensitive morons.

I say that to every person who negatively comments the pic(s), post something along these lines: "How would you feel if I said that about your (insert animal here)?" "You obviously don't know the difference between one snake to the next if you're saying things like that." "If you bothered to learn about snakes, you'd realize you are wrong." These people obviously don't respect your husband (or you) enough if they cannot refrain from making negative comments about an animal that you both obviously love and care for. Not to mention that if they don't like snakes, why are they even looking at the picture? They're just doing it to be rude, is all.

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Originally Posted by wilomn

I don't recall completely and I certainly mean no disrespect by saying so, but isn't there a cultural predisposition to fear and dislike snakes with your friends and family? I thought you mentioned somewhere that you were or grew up in the Philippines.

If so you should take that into consideration as to why so many disapprove.

If that wasn't you then never mind, I am terrible with names.

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You got good memory wilomn! Yes, everyone in my family stopped visiting me when we got the snakes - except for my brother who is cool with them as long as he doesn't have to touch them. Now, interestingly, my brother and me are the only ones in my family who live in Florida.

My family know our love of snakes well enough by now not to make idiot comments about snakes. I visited my parents in Texas a few weeks ago and we had a long talk about the Burmese python problem in the everglades. Now - why that is awesome - my parents now know the difference between burmese and ball pythons. :) Wait, what is more awesome is that my dad told me he saw a snake in the backyard and he didn't mention taking a shovel and chopping its head off... I asked what he did and he said he just waited until it passed through the fence. Now - that's a big improvement!

But, yes, my parents will not visit my house anymore (they used to stay a few months with us).

Now, these guys on my husbands' facebook making comments are our friends who are not Filipino. Our Filipino friends, interestingly, hasn't posted comments... yet.

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Originally Posted by Animals As Leaders

I can't stand this and its my belief that us snake owners need to take this a little more personally then we do. I used to laugh and shrug it off. I can't anymore because I can't stand such a disrespect towards any kind of living thing. It really all depends on the comment and when to be a jerk back. Some people are fair and say, snakes scare me, and I just don't like them. Thats fine. Others say rude, derogatory things that I can't hold back from. Thats just my 2cents though :D

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Originally Posted by wilomn

You do see the..... irony here, don't you?

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Heres the Irony i see, aren't the people your being aggressive disrespectful too LIVING things. Cant say one thing and do another, dont work that way.

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Originally Posted by Animals As Leaders

Lol

The thing is, people need to learn to not talk like that. Its just sad, and ignorant. And when its directed at my animals, I don't take it lightly. I'm talking when people say things like Anatess stated. And the person knows I'm being sarcastic when I say all this lol. I'm not that mean ;) Its just to point out that what they said was kind of out of line, and that it bothered me. Usually after this they get the hint, and either don't talk about them, or just find another way of talking about it.

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Sigh... these guys aren't taking the hint. My husband replied "I love pet snakes, they're easier to take care of than my dog. And they're cool!" and got a jillion negative replies back, one of them saying they saw a snake in their yard so they run it down with their mower. They're not just teasing either. They're serious. I know these guys.

By the way, our dog is a bichon frise. LOL!

I would have your husband do a Facebook update to the effect of:

To all our Facebook friends. Please realize that we love our snakes as much as you love your pets. If you don't care for snakes, that's fine, but when you make judgemental responses, we consider that rude and disrespectful to our family and our choices. Please remember, if you don't have anything nice to say PLEASE don't say anything at all.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

Heres the Irony i see, aren't the people your being aggressive disrespectful too LIVING things. Cant say one thing and do another, dont work that way.

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When I say all this I am in no way being disrespectful, and its pretty obvious that its a ploy to get them to see it from my view. But I guess when your bored and want to pick things apart it may seem like being disrespectful...Trust me on this, I am in no way when this occurs, just a little role reversal to help see things different.

I simply take it to the same level they took it, but with there beloved pets. They usually laugh, and say "yeah I understand, but there still gross..." I then walk away without being angry and they realize they were out of line. Simple, not complicated...

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Originally Posted by Animals As Leaders

When I say all this I am in no way being disrespectful, and its pretty obvious that its a ploy to get them to see it from my view. But I guess when your bored and want to pick things apart it may seem like being disrespectful...

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I've got some ocean front land down Gulf Coast way, you interested?

i have a pic of my baby (who's still at the breeder's) on my facebook and i have yet to get a negative comment...thank goodness. but yeah i hate people's ignorance as well. my own dad falls under that...he goes along with that "a good snake is a dead one". my mom believes snakes are evil because the bible depicts satan as one. what if satan took the form of a cute little bunny rabbit...does that mean all bunny rabbits are evil now?
wheres the logic in that?
[shakes head & shrugs]
i just shrug and go on with my day. no sense in getting worked up over something thats out of my control, especially if the people in question arent willing to listen.

No thanks for asking, but I happen to have a whole lot of "drop-it" lying around the house, care for some?

Thats so terrible. :( I don't see how people can be so ignorant.

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Originally Posted by Bones

With all due respect, you can't say you didn't even slightly expect this sort of issue. Every single one of us knows the general consensus when it comes to snakes. People are ignorant. One snake is the same as the rest to them. They don't want to take the initiative to learn about something they fear, so they continue to make themselves look like insensitive morons.

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Actually, that's not the usual response I get from people around here at all. I do a lot of educational hands on shows with various other people from my herp society and have shown off my animals to literally thousands of people. Also nearly every person I know from friends to coworkers knows that I keep reptiles, especially snakes, in my home. Yet negative comments are actually pretty rare. Maybe it is a regional thing, this far up north we don't have any venomous species so the average kid growing up around here never heard their mom tell them to 'look out for snakes' every time they went outside to play so they didn't grow up with that fear. I don't know, maybe something to think about.

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Originally Posted by mommanessy247

i have a pic of my baby (who's still at the breeder's) on my facebook and i have yet to get a negative comment...thank goodness. but yeah i hate people's ignorance as well. my own dad falls under that...he goes along with that "a good snake is a dead one". my mom believes snakes are evil because the bible depicts satan as one. what if satan took the form of a cute little bunny rabbit...does that mean all bunny rabbits are evil now?
wheres the logic in that?
[shakes head & shrugs]
i just shrug and go on with my day. no sense in getting worked up over something thats out of my control, especially if the people in question arent willing to listen.

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I'm 37 and my mom hates the fact that I have my snakes. When she brings up any false statement regarding them, I correct her and tell her to do some research on a Ball Python. I also remind her that she has two 140+ lb dogs that are far more dangerous than my snakes. Conversation usually ends there...but then there is my rats......

Yuck, people need to get a grip...
Most people who I tell about my snake just get weirded out and say "oh... why do you have one?". An awkward conversation ensues.
And among my group of friends, I'm the "weird" one for having a snake. Cause you know, they're suuuuper dangerous and "slimy"

I have hundreds of friends on Facebook, probably 1/2 are reptile friends. The other half I guess are so used to my FB picture (which is the same as this avatar) that I don't get negative comments. My co-workers all know that I keep and breed ball pythons, some are afraid of snakes, but none make negative comments about my animals. They respect ME enough to not say negative things.

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Originally Posted by Animals As Leaders

No thanks for asking, but I happen to have a whole lot of "drop-it" lying around the house, care for some?

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So, the potty training was not so successful as one may have wished it was? Mommy issues?

I can believe that but I don't think it's pertinent to this topic.

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Originally Posted by wilomn

So, the potty training was not so successful as one may have wished it was? Mommy issues?

I can believe that but I don't think it's pertinent to this topic.

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Nailed it right on the head!!! Good for you Wilo, you smarty pants!! You must have graduated second grade!! Maybe you should just keep your un-pertinent comments to yourself, so we don't have to discuss b.s on someone else's thread! Freaking rude...

When I am confronted by people who are ignorant about snakes I do the most unintelligent thing ever, I give them true facts! I have found that if you blatantly tell them that what they are talking about is wrong and they are being ignorant they will either get all pissy and walk off, or they are so shocked it give me a few moments to explain their misconceptions.

I'm really horrible with other people's fears though, I don't have quite enough common sense to have much myself. I have a hard time understanding why something 1/10th your size that is non-venomous should scare you. I also try to find and show a statistic of dog bites, and then mention I've never been bitten by my snake. (I've been bitten by dogs before, although as a breeder you would expect that!)

Honestly the biggest issue are the people who have an "irrational" fear, they are so blind to everything but the fear. No amount of information can help someone who has decided to close their eyes and cover there ears. :/

My Mom used to hate snakes. She's was def a border line phobic! Well I've gotten her to touch my BP and even be with me when I feed her. She now wants to hold her....well eventually she said. And even made a comment that made me smile ear to ear....she said she wants one of her own! :D

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Originally Posted by anatess

Also, one of our friends posted a status on her facebook saying (i'm paraphrasing) "When I see a furry dead animal on the road I feel sad, that must mean I'm sensitive and caring. Today I saw a big black snake dead on the road and I was happy. Is that bad?". And everybody except me said No, of course not.

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that doesn't make much sense... I mean, to feel bad for any animal would be sensitive and caring. as soon as you say "but when I see dead snakes it makes me happy" that makes you prejudiced, not sensitive and caring.

I'm a dog groomer. People find out I have snakes, and some of them freak. Some ask "don't they just bite you all the time??"

Then they look at me like I'm some kind of pod person when I explain that first off, no they do not...and secondly, I'd rather get tagged BAD by my biggest Ball than ANY DANG DOG. Dog bites suck, even from little dogs.

Don't get me wrong, I love dogs, I love working with dogs, and I certainly love my own little dog, but...honestly, I also adore snakes. :)

I'm sorry people are giving you crap on Facebook. That's...so very rude and uncalled-for.

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Originally Posted by MarkS

Actually, that's not the usual response I get from people around here at all. I do a lot of educational hands on shows with various other people from my herp society and have shown off my animals to literally thousands of people. Also nearly every person I know from friends to coworkers knows that I keep reptiles, especially snakes, in my home. Yet negative comments are actually pretty rare. Maybe it is a regional thing, this far up north we don't have any venomous species so the average kid growing up around here never heard their mom tell them to 'look out for snakes' every time they went outside to play so they didn't grow up with that fear. I don't know, maybe something to think about.

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I honestly think it's a regional fear. Like you said, we were told to "look out for snakes" down here. The tall grass in the heat and humidity of Florida could yield all kinds of surprises. My best friend, my favorite uncle, my boyfriend and my dad are pretty much the only people that have never said anything negative. I've come to expect negativity when I speak of my snake.

I wish that everyone could experience the acceptance that you have. If every person that doesn't really care for snakes was open minded enough to give them a chance, we wouldn't have to deal with near the amount of nastiness that we do now. :)