my son is officially scared of my bp

i asked my son to hold him while i put more holes in his tub cause the humidity has been at 77 all day and he struck at my son but didnt get him..now he is scared to death of him..he told me to get rid of him..he never wants to touch it or be in the same room with him ever again...this sucks..i thought my son would be a snake lover..hopefully he will over come his fear..i kind of wish he would of tagged him so he could see that the bites dont hurt much and he has been through more pain when he split his lip in half or got 2nd degree burns on his hand..but hes not listening right now...

Well...imo you need to put your son in a tub and leave him there for a good long time. Only keeping his water dish full and feeding him once a week. In the meantime, you need to take your BP to baseball games and out for ice cream and always tell your BP things like "hey buddy, good job on your math test last week, I'm so proud of you"

Then after a month or so, do something really big, throw your BP a birthday party, invite over a bunch of other BP's and play pin the tail on the rat and have cake. Spend numerous nights reading your BP stories as you tuck him into your previous son's bed. (make sure you fluff his pillow!) Other than that, do other father son things together, as it definitely appears that your BP has fought his way to the top slot to be your favorite child.

Halloween will be epic, as you share your BP's collected candy between the two of you...

Then, at Christmas time, help your BP write a letter to Santa, hang lights on the tree and go Caroling. Christmas morning of course...should be HUGE.

Maybe after all these things are completed, your human son will realize that living in a tub sucks and be more participative.

That sucks. Give it time. Hopefully he'll get over it.

Luckily I've never had to deal with this with any of my kids. They've all been around snakes from the day they were born and don't look at them any different than they would a dog, cat, or fish.

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Originally Posted by melodyb1985

i kind of wish he would of tagged him so he could see that the bites dont hurt much

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I have to be honest, this made me laugh a little. But I agree. Usually after someone takes a bite or two they aren't worried about it anymore. My wife has actually been talking about intentionally getting bitten by some of the balls so she can get used to it and gain the confidence to handle some of the more temperamental species, like bloods.

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Originally Posted by Rawbbeh

Well...imo you need to put your son in a tub and leave him there for a good long time. Only keeping his water dish full and feeding him once a week. In the meantime, you need to take your BP to baseball games and out for ice cream and always tell your BP things like "hey buddy, good job on your math test last week, I'm so proud of you"

Then after a month or so, do something really big, throw your BP a birthday party, invite over a bunch of other BP's and play pin the tail on the rat and have cake. Spend numerous nights reading your BP stories as you tuck him into your previous son's bed. (make sure you fluff his pillow!) Other than that, do other father son things together, as it definitely appears that your BP has fought his way to the top slot to be your favorite child.

Halloween will be epic, as you share your BP's collected candy between the two of you...

Then, at Christmas time, help your BP write a letter to Santa, hang lights on the tree and go Caroling. Christmas morning of course...should be HUGE.

Maybe after all these things are completed, your human son will realize that living in a tub sucks and be more participative.

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I highly doubt living in a tub causes defensive strikes :rolleyes: to imply that is ridiculous.

OP, he'll get over it. Remind him that your snake is indeed a snake, and anything with teeth can bite.

he is probably a little young to understand how snakes react when they are scared. but hopefuly as he get's older it will all change and he will be into snakes

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Originally Posted by LGray23

I highly doubt living in a tub causes defensive strikes :rolleyes: to imply that is ridiculous.

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I dont think thats what he was implying.

thanks for the replies that were nice and made sence...for the others sorry you feel the need to be so whatever you wanna call it...i would use words im pretty sure i shouldnt be putting on here but anyways...my son has been around snakes sence he was 3 he is now 8 this is just the first time he had one strike...JKPCONSTRICTORS..i have tried to get mine to bite me so i can know how it feels and get over it when i try to feed him..but i have no luck...im pretty sure the reason he did strike was because he just got put in tub last night and realy hasnt had time to get use to it before i took him out to add more holes..and iv been trying to switch him to f/t so he hasnt eatin in about 2 weeks...hopefully he will take it tomorrow..but again thanks for the encouraging replies that he will hopefully get over it.

Im sure he'll get over his fear, I have used my snake to get alot of my family past thier fears and the 'stories' about them.

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Originally Posted by Ogre

I dont think thats what he was implying.

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That's what it sounded like to me, if not I apologize for not getting it....

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Originally Posted by LGray23

That's what it sounded like to me, if not I apologize for not getting it....

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I didnt post it so I really dont know.

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Originally Posted by Rawbbeh

Well...imo you need to put your son in a tub and leave him there for a good long time. Only keeping his water dish full and feeding him once a week. In the meantime, you need to take your BP to baseball games and out for ice cream and always tell your BP things like "hey buddy, good job on your math test last week, I'm so proud of you"

Then after a month or so, do something really big, throw your BP a birthday party, invite over a bunch of other BP's and play pin the tail on the rat and have cake. Spend numerous nights reading your BP stories as you tuck him into your previous son's bed. (make sure you fluff his pillow!) Other than that, do other father son things together, as it definitely appears that your BP has fought his way to the top slot to be your favorite child.

Halloween will be epic, as you share your BP's collected candy between the two of you...

Then, at Christmas time, help your BP write a letter to Santa, hang lights on the tree and go Caroling. Christmas morning of course...should be HUGE.

Maybe after all these things are completed, your human son will realize that living in a tub sucks and be more participative.

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^^^Really???

Op, hopefully he will come back around. Maybe just don't try to push it for awhile. Good luck.


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Wow, I thought this was a FRIENDLY community of people who were here to help each other out, not play the ja****s card. :rolleyes: Did it ever occur to you that maybe Melody was hoping that someone could give her some good pointers on how to ease her son back into not being so frightened? You automatically assumed that she was complaining because her son was scared, instead of realizing that she actually came here in hopes of making the situation better. Get off your high horse, please. Sorry for the rant, but nothing makes me more angry than a smart alec.

Now then, Melody. My suggestion would be to let your son ease back into it at his own pace. Don't force him to hold the snake or even come near it if he doesn't want to. In doing that, you will only traumatize him further than he currently is. However, I do think that maybe you should do some research and maybe pull up a few videos on YouTube of people getting bitten. Watch them with your son and explain to him what is happening and that the snake is only striking out of fear or hunger. Remind him that your BP was hungry and maybe thought your son's hand/arm was a tasty mouse! :D Be sure to tell him how BPs don't see very well at all and have to rely upon their sense of taste and smell to find food. Show him that your BP isn't the evil villain that he thinks it is by handling your BP often and maybe go over the specifics of what happened the day that the snake struck at him. Ask specific questions: Did you try to touch the snake's face? Did you maybe almost drop the snake? Reaffirm your son's questions and answer them fully to your abilities (even doing lots of research with him on the computer about it). Then.....just give him time. I do think that if you let him come back to the snake on his own, he will feel more confident about it. I really do hope that he will get over his fear quickly and will be back to handling them in no time. Best of luck to you! :)

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Originally Posted by Becca Granger

Wow, I thought this was a FRIENDLY community of people who were here to help each other out, not play the ja****s card. :rolleyes: Did it ever occur to you that maybe Melody was hoping that someone could give her some good pointers on how to ease her son back into not being so frightened? You automatically assumed that she was complaining because her son was scared, instead of realizing that she actually came here in hopes of making the situation better. Get off your high horse, please. Sorry for the rant, but nothing makes me more angry than a smart alec.

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:confusd::confusd::confusd::confusd::confusd::confusd::confusd:

Where was anyone unfriendly and on a "high horse"??? Who said she was complaining?

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Originally Posted by LGray23

:confusd::confusd::confusd::confusd::confusd::confusd::confusd:

Where was anyone unfriendly and on a "high horse"??? Who said she was complaining?

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x2

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Originally Posted by LGray23

:confusd::confusd::confusd::confusd::confusd::confusd::confusd:

Where was anyone unfriendly and on a "high horse"??? Who said she was complaining?

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Originally Posted by Ogre

x2

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Originally Posted by Rawbbeh

Well...imo you need to put your son in a tub and leave him there for a good long time. Only keeping his water dish full and feeding him once a week. In the meantime, you need to take your BP to baseball games and out for ice cream and always tell your BP things like "hey buddy, good job on your math test last week, I'm so proud of you"

Then after a month or so, do something really big, throw your BP a birthday party, invite over a bunch of other BP's and play pin the tail on the rat and have cake. Spend numerous nights reading your BP stories as you tuck him into your previous son's bed. (make sure you fluff his pillow!) Other than that, do other father son things together, as it definitely appears that your BP has fought his way to the top slot to be your favorite child.

Halloween will be epic, as you share your BP's collected candy between the two of you...

Then, at Christmas time, help your BP write a letter to Santa, hang lights on the tree and go Caroling. Christmas morning of course...should be HUGE.

Maybe after all these things are completed, your human son will realize that living in a tub sucks and be more participative.

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Dunno how you two missed THAT post.

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Originally Posted by Becca Granger

Dunno how you two missed THAT post.

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Ahhhhh well your post came off as if everyone was coming off that way. You should be more specific next time to avoid the confusion ;) I also responded to that same post...in less words.

:D Yeah, sorry. I was just a bit miffed over that particular post and didn't think about what I'd written. :oops:

I read it and didnt particularly agree but that person was a minority most everyone else was quite helpful. I personally dont take offense what people on the internet might say. There are millions of people on the internet and just like everywhere else there are people you might find rude, and also their is a reason that you can simply ignore other users

With almost 27,000 members, we're bound to get a handful that don't communicate very well, and a few that are downright mean or jerky. One person, or even two or three, behaving less than stellar doesn't suddenly make BP.net become an "unfriendly" place. When it seems that way, try to remember that for every jerk you see here, there are about 5000 really great people who love to help. Pretty good odds, I'd say.

To the OP...that adrenaline rush that can come from a frightening startle like seeing a snake strike at you when you were NOT expecting it can be very unpleasant. Especially when you're so young and can't really understand how/why it felt that way....all you know is that it was scary as hell. How long ago did it happen? I imagine just giving it time will help a LOT. As mentioned by someone else, don't force anything...let him come back to it at his own pace.

But I will disagree with other advice given. I wouldn't bring up youtube videos of folks getting bit and deliberately show him those. That might work for YOU trying to mentally train yourself to accept the inevitable, but for a young kid who is already scared, such things could very likely just reinforce the fear and build its foundation a lot more deeply into his psyche.

Don't let one negative experience suddenly make you feel like he'll never like snakes again. It's just a blip in the road, is all.

Bottom line, just do the same thing you would do if this was any other irrational fear. I've got one afraid of space volcanoes (damn TV), point is, kids develop fears of all kinds of things, sometimes logic and simple reasoning just won't work. You know if he gets bit it won't hurt bad, I know a space volcano isn't going to spew lava on my house, no matter how many times I tell my son that, it doesn't help.

Eventually I think your son will come around, just give him time.