Do you let your family hold your snakes?

I personally don't have one yet, but when I catch snakes outside, I don't let my sister or anyone else who asks hold them. At first I wasn't sure why but yesterday I found out when I caught a garter about 8 inches and I let my sis hold her while I washed my hands real quick and when I come back I found that she dropped her and then I see the snake making a quick escape through a crack in our deck. I grabbed the snake who was halfway down the deck and gently pulled her out. Let's just say I don't trust her to hold anymore fast and skittish garter babies.
On another note, I found it adorable and funny at the same time that the 8 inch garter decided to start chewing on my finger. XD I snapped a pic of her doing it.
http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...bitten.png(pic should show...)
But when I get a BP, I don't think I'll be letting many people hold it until I completely gain their trust or I'm /right there/ watching them. Not that many people in the family besides me will probably want to hold it. XD

So, do you let your family hold your pet snakes?

There all :cens0r: scared of them

I don't let people handle my snakes if they're being jerks about it. But if they're curious about snakes and show a respect for the animal, I allow it.

I'm there to watch and make sure that both the snake and the handler are safe. I've had many people who were afraid of snakes hold my snakes over the years and it's often the first snake that they have ever touched. It happened again yesterday and I never get tired of watching their expressions change as they find out that snakes aren't slimy or nasty or mean.

Usually I start them out with the snake on a table in front of them and letting them touch the snake's back and tail. Within a few minutes I place the snake in their hands and explain how to support a snake so that it is not afraid. If I approach them by letting them just touch the snake first and work up to holding it, I find that a whole lot of people who are "afraid" of snakes end up liking them.

XD My fam isn't scared of them, I just don't' trust them with the snakes I catch. XD Plus I bring garters in all the time for pictures before I let them go.

I've let my brother handle my snakes plenty of times. He's good with animals and he reads them well. He handles them with no jerking or sudden moves and animals do fine with him. He's been bitten by a whole lot worse than snakes, he's not afraid of a ball python bite and the snakes seem to know so they react well to him.

His son is a different story. He's not mean to animals but he is exuberant. I have't let him handle my snakes yet but will in the near future as long as I am right there to make sure that he pays attention and doesn't startle the snake.

My bp's yes, my rat, no (not yet) she is lightning fast and extremely active.

My wife, who was scared of snakes a year ago has started to pet them, and now is willing to hold them. She has even adopted my little normal female as "her girl".
My boys (11,12) are very good with them, I'm even considering letting my 11 year old get one of his own, supervised. My 12 year old is only home 1/2 the year.

With a few minutes of do's and don't I will even let some of the neighborhood kids hold them. I think its helps to educate others on snakes, and undo some of the damage from crap shows like "Man eating super snake"

My grandson is allowed to go into the hatchling rack, and hold the snakes. Come to think of it, he's the only person I let go into the snake room unsupervised. Yes I do let my family handle the animals, I only wish they'd show up on cleaning days lol

It's mainly my younger sister... She's 12, but with the garters I just don't trust her not to lose the little ones when I give them to her to hold.
So when I get a python, I think I'll let her and my sisters when they're sitting down.
My neighbors, if they wanted to pet him, they'd have to sit also. They are both younger girls(8 and 6) and there's nothing I can fully trust them with. XD(I'm just not a terribly trusting person when iti comes to reptiles)

My brothers aren't too fond of mine, but have held them no problem. I even got my mom to hold my BP for a minute when she came to visit. That was a huge barrier to overcome with her. I'll also let friends hold him if they are interested. However, if the person doesn't want to, I don't urge any further. And everyone gets the rundown of the basic do's and dont's. That way there are no surprises on our end, or my snake's!

i have reasons not to trust my family anymore i left for 2 weeks with my snakes in their care and i came to check on them and my caramel albino female was dead thats why I want to get them a corn snake or something inexpensive unlike my caramel.....

D: That's so sad... I was scared to leave my dragons and rat for 5 days in their care, mainly with my rat because she had just lost her cagemate and needed company at that time.

myu family dont care for snakes so i dont have a problem with them wanting to hold them.. except my daughter

My mom "snakesits" for me when I'm on vacation, and she sends me pictures of her holding them. It's funny because she is becoming attached to them, funny how this addiction works :rolleyes: . My 4 y/o son holds my snakes to, but only under my close supervision. I am never far enough away where I couldn't intervene if something happened. I'm not necessarily worried about my snakes hurting him, I'm more worried about him accidentally dropping them. He has yet to hold my boa yet, only because he's very different from the balls that just sit there pretty much, he's quicker and stronger and I don't quite trust him enough not to bite. He's great with me, not sure about others yet though. I'd say if anyone is going to be holding your snakes, you need to be there as to avoid any problems.

I don't usually let people hold my snakes, but some people who I trust like my mother (she loooooves my 2 bps :P) and my best friend I'll occasionally ask to hold the snakes if I'm doing cage maintenance and need my hands (or in the case of my best friend, she'll ask to hold them and I don't usually say no).

I'll usually let pretty well anybody touch my ball pythons, or if I feel they really know how to respect the animal, they may get to touch my boa. I never EVER let anybody else hold my boa though, because she can get nervous and lash out, so I'd rather be the one that gets bitten since it doesn't hurt anyways, and it won't give any other people a bad experience when they're just learning about snakes.

For me it's more of a judgement call on both the person and the snake that is concerned.

I will let our adult family members handle them as long as we are home. Kiddos can pet certain ones, mainly just balls and corns when I'm holding them. They usually just get a tail to pet. We do have ones that only I handle or my mother in law handle, which are my amazon tree boas and to some extent my IJCP. They command a little more respect and we are both accustomed to being nailed. It works out because no one else wants to go near them. No one holds our Pueblan milksnake. He is a jerk. :D

I let any friends or family hold my snakes, if they're interested in it. Of course I generally lean towards handing them my puppy-dog 7' carpet python. He's big enough they wouldn't be able to hurt him easily, and by far he's the calmest.

I only let my best friend (of 11 years) hold them, aside from my wife of course. I would be willing to let other hold them so long as I am there and I know they won't drop any of them.

Yes, my family holds our snakes. My friends hold my snakes. Neighbors hold my snakes. Kids hold my snakes. Strangers who are afraid of snakes come into my home and learn they are great and hold my snakes. Just about everyone who comes into my home holds my snakes. Of course, they have to disinfect their hands first, but I encourage people to hold our snakes. I want them to be used to people so when they go to their new homes, they are accustomed to being held.

In fact, at night when I'm at home, my wife and I rotate snakes out of bins and hold them while we watch TV or do things around the house. Why wouldn't you let people hold your snakes? That to me is like not letting people pet your dog.

Here's a pic of a little neighborhood girl who loves our 'nakes:

http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/IMG_0568.jpg

Very cute picture! :3 I guess if as long as they were supervised then it's fine.
I guess I should say I don't want my younger sis holding the garters without me right there if she doesn't have a good grip on it and it escape, then I can catch it back.

I sometimes have trouble getting family members to hold my snake. Most of them are not fond of her yet although she is a super sweetheart. My 5 year old neice will touch her but she is still cautious. I do have one brother and my 10 year old nefew that will handle her with no problems.

I'm a little nervous letting people, especially kids around my ball, mostly because he's struck at me a few times and I've only had him a month. My corn on the other hand is really great. The kids I sit for absolutely adore him, and the little one is so good. I taught her the one finger rule and she always sticks to it.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o..._1026892_n.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o..._6721303_n.jpg

I am not sure I could stop my family from holding the snakes. My partner she does half the care so she is a given. Her daughter (12 yrs) is also allowed we have some ridged ground rules. they are if you are interested.

wash your hands,
Sit down and we'll bring the snake to her,
No walking or standing she must stay seated,
no kissing and no sudden movement,
no closed hands just open under the snake,
we return the snake to its enclosure,
never open an enclosure with out one of us there,
wash your hands again.

She has never broken any of them. She is a bit jumpy of them and until that goes well keep all of them.

I let anyone who wants too, with supervision. I feel that curiosity is a good thing for our hobby. The more people out there who are educated about snakes and proper husbandry the better. It will cause less fear and people will stop believing we are all a bunch of crazies who just empty out our hoarder nests into the Everglades. So yes anyone who is curious about my snakes and is not gonna act like a fool can pet, hold, or touch them. I also like showing off my snake room so others can see how they are all kept.

I don't have a problem letting family hold them. Everyone hates snakes tho:rage:(ececpt my 3year old neice but shes tooooo young)... the wife will hold "her" bp but never gives my bp or viper boa any love:mad:

I see two of the three neighbors next door wanting to touch the snake and I'd let them hold it if they were inside my house and sitting down. OF course hand washing before and after. ;P When I catch garters they like to look at and pet them.

I am all for letting others hold my reptiles. I just make sure I am present to supervise the situation.

i only let my girlfriend hold my BP


everyone in my family is too scared