snake haters

Just wondering how many of you guy's and gal's have friends that don't like snakes and harass you about you're collections and what you tell them.

I have several friends that were very much haters on my snakes until the day they forgot I had them come over and my kids are playing with them....they end up owning one with in months of it. :oops:

I have a few friends that hate snakes, and we get along fine. They don't harrass me over it, or they wouldn't be my friends. If they come over, the snakes are in their cages, and I don't push them on snakes. They don't threaten my snakes, or say I shouldn't own them. Works out fine.

Anyone who tries to dictate to me how I live, what I own, what I should enjoy, is not my friend, and will be treated as such. I don't live to please other people and all my friends understand that.

I have MANY friends and family which hate my snakes they think snakes are a waist of money.

I really do not care what people say and nobody can tell you how to spend your own money.

Im just being my own person and snakes just so happen to be a part of me. So if people dislike that too bad for them :D

If they hate on the snakes they hate on me :banana:

The people that are my friends have more class than to react in such a way. The ones that dont like it typically react by telling me they are not interested in snakes or do not like them.

I dont associate with many of the people at school or in the area I live in, too many drug addicts, people into the hip-hop/rap scene, etc who I feel are not really worth my time (mind you I know drug users who are pretty good friends as well as people into hip-hop/rap who are good friends, obviously you cant take it to mean everyone in those groups and neither of which are meant to be racially motivated, too many people just assume that due to rampant racism in America. There is something more to it than that and if you've lived in low-income areas you probably have an idea of what i am talking about, if not consider yourself lucky to not have to deal with certain groups and mentalities). The people that I do associate with, again, would have too much class or human decency to make such remarks of hatred.

I have met more people curious about them than anything, some people in fact are in my phone specifically because they are potential owners who I will supervise the husbandry of prior to giving them free snakes (would rather give a free snake to a loving, knowledgeable home than to sell to someone I dont know, like a guy I once knew who kept 4 bps with no hides in a 20 gallon tall tank). I have met people who are reptile lovers of many years (and in one case had a tragic situation where they left their fiance and ended up having all their pets murdered) and people studying to be herpetologists or herp vets. I have met old women on the bus when transporting live food items who have reminisced about their girlhoods where they had a pet snake, a boyfriend with one, have always been fascinated with them, or who... well, had they been younger I would have taken them home to see my reptiles and probably ended up in a relationship with. I have met people who live in the section 8 housing area around where I live that went on to regale me with tales about all the people in the complex who had alligators in their bathtubs, walls of herps, etc.

I have met many people, and quite simply if someone initiates a conversation with you they are likely to be open minded enough, and decent enough, to not freak out or scorn you for reptile ownership. If you are a good gauge of character then you will likely never have a conversation with someone who wouldnt have the decency to bite their tongues and respectfully ask you to not talk to them about it.

In return if you are the kind of person with the decency to not up and talk to random people about your herps, be offensive in conversation, or just be respectful of the people around you, you often will not have to deal with such close minded sadistic reactions.

I have never had someone tell me a tale of killing snakes as a reaction to my ownership, although I have had discussions about it as the experience that made me love snakes was one of a potential bite and someone else saving me.

Notably my girlfriend was afraid of snakes but, through her questioning, requests, and actions is getting over it and has fallen in love with my female pastel, Persephone.

You must be Filipino if... you make a sign of the cross when you see a snake then chop its head off.

Okay, okay, so it's a generalization. But, yeah, ALL my Filipino family and friends except for one brother are haters. My brother can be in the same room with them but not on the same couch.

We respect their phobic attitude and not take it too personal. We're committed to educating them. It's hard to educate somebody if you antagonize them.

I've got one friend that's REALLY afraid of snakes. Like, she won't come within ten feet of me if I have him out. There's another girl in school (I wouldn't say a friend) who's so afraid of snakes that if she sees one, she can actually have a panic attack and be sent to the hospital. So I just avoid them both when I bring Ramses to school.

That doesn't bother me so much, but my mom's mom isn't so tolerable. Her husband and my dad's family don't really mind them too much. But when I told my grandmother I was getting a second snake, she was like "Why in god's name would you do that!? How big is it? It's gonna bite you. What are you gonna do when it eats your dog?"

...It's a Texas rat snake. Rat snake HATCHLING. It couldn't eat my 50 lb pit bull's paw.

People assume that snakes eat anything and everything they can, and that they can eat a lot more than they actually can. I think they get that famous image of the giant python eating an impala. Sorry people, there's a difference between a 15' long, foot thick python and a 6' long, 3" thick rat snake.

It works great at keeping my family away from my house

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Originally Posted by iCandiBallPythons

It works great at keeping my family away from my house

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Same here! :rofl:

The only ones who have hated my collection has been all my previous boyfriends. They just could not understand my fascination with them, and why i kept them. One actually tried and make me choose between him and my snakes:rolleyes:
Not a hard choice there, i picked my snakes:D

maybe that's why i finally decided to take a chance on a long distance relationship, because my current boyfriend has his own, much larger collection, and he understands how i feel about them

Yeah, I've got family and friends who dislike snakes. But then again, I've got family and friends who don't want me to stretch my ears or buy more tarantulas.
I don't really mind that they dislike some things, I think what only matters is what I truly like so I don't listen to what people say.

My grandparents (grandpa mostly) tries to convince me to like a different animal, but that just won't happen in a million years. Though, that was before he went to a reptile expo with me and got me this pastel female I was eying for both days;).

Some people actually try to get over their fears, and I think my grandpa is definitely trying. But I have converted some people's fears into love for snakes:D.

My mother-in-law said she won't come to the house anymore. I find it as a big plus :thumbsup:

As far as the general "kinda" friend that finds out, I couldn't care less. My collection of reptiles is becoming so varied that most people just want to come over and see something in the collection, even if it means they will be in the same room as the snakes.

Hate is a very strong word. I don't know if anyone hates my snakes. Many in my family dislike my snakes. My mother pee'd her pants one day when she thought I had a snake and wrapped it around her shoulder. It, in fact, was just my arm.

Afraid of snakes is more the issue. Most of my family members are afraid of my snakes. They really didn't like my dumerils. There's something about a big 6 foot snake coming at you that my family don't like. Now the kids in the family usually warm up to my snakes a lot easier than the adults.

But hey, to each their own.
Jim Smith

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Originally Posted by j_h_smith

Now the kids in the family usually warm up to my snakes a lot easier than the adults.

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Fortunately, kids are generally much more open-minded than adults. It seems they're not as rooted in the belief that snakes are evil. I love showing off my snakes and other animals to little kids. The looks on their faces are priceless.

I always wanted to show my snake off to a really religious, by-the-book, Sunday Mass Catholic. I wonder if they'd respect that it's "one of God's creatures" or think it's the spawn of Satan....I think it'd be interesting.

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Originally Posted by SpartaDog

Fortunately, kids are generally much more open-minded than adults. It seems they're not as rooted in the belief that snakes are evil. I love showing off my snakes and other animals to little kids. The looks on their faces are priceless.

I always wanted to show my snake off to a really religious, by-the-book, Sunday Mass Catholic. I wonder if they'd respect that it's "one of God's creatures" or think it's the spawn of Satan....I think it'd be interesting.

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Other than the Catholic part, I'm about as Bible thumping as you can get. You do realize we are all different, not all Christains are snake haters.

Jim Smith

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Originally Posted by j_h_smith

Other than the Catholic part, I'm about as Bible thumping as you can get. You do realize we are all different, not all Christains are snake haters.

Jim Smith

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I know. It was more of a joke than anything. Sorry if I offended you. Wasn't my intention.

Ugh, it seems every time I hit edit it makes a new post instead....Ignore this.

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Originally Posted by SpartaDog

I know. It was more of a joke than anything. Sorry if I offended you. Wasn't my intention.

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No offense taken. I'm rather proud of my religion.

Take Care!
Jim Smith