Am I the only one that gets upset about this?

So, my roommate's parents came to visit him today and he asked them if they had seen my snake yet. His mom instantly freaked out, as if she was out of the cage and wandering around the apartment. He calmed her down and took her into the room where her cage is set up. She could barely even stand in the room when the snake was just chilling under her hide in the cage. I tried telling her that ball pythons are pretty darn harmless and that she's a sweetheart that couldn't hurt a thing....except maybe a mouse or rat. ;) She just wasn't having it. She was squealing and was so shocked when she found out that her very SON has held her! As if it was something to be ashamed of.

I can respect that people are afraid of snakes, but it just upsets me sometimes. :( I feel like they have such a bad rep and people don't realize that a lot of them are really just harmless little creatures. Sure, they aren't furry and cuddly like cats or dogs, but that (in my mind anyway) doesn't make them any less adorable. A lot of the time, I feel like people who are so badly afraid of them won't even give them a chance to realize their true beauty as an animal. :tears:

I deal with it all time I just laugh, my house has bout 100 rats, 100 roaches, 5 balls a 7 foot carpet python an a pit bull that was rescued from a fighting ring and tarantuals haha I got most people's animals phobias covered under one roof :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by carlson

I deal with it all time I just laugh, my house has bout 100 rats, 100 roaches, 5 balls a 7 foot carpet python an a pit bull that was rescued from a fighting ring and tarantuals haha I got most people's animals phobias covered under one roof :)

---

:rofl:Ever had somebody walk in and see all of this, only to turn away saying "NOOOOPE!....NOPE NOPE NOPE!" bahahaha

Yep my buddies wife she got in said how nice the place is looking made it into my rat an snake room seen the rats looked into the carpets tub. Screamed an was out the back door before my carpet even realized someone was looking at her lol she won't come over now

You can't fault someone for their fears, just educate them. We all fear something that another person looks at as ridiculous.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Luciferskeeper

You can't fault someone for their fears, just educate them. We all fear something that another person looks at as ridiculous.

---

Well said! It is distressing when a family member is upset and fearful of something we love. My sister and I share a common feeling she does not like snakes at all, I am not very comfortble around horses. She has horses I have snakes. WE deal, I wish she will come over and at least look at them but it is not going to be anytime soon. I love her with all my heart and wish she would at least see the animals I care about. I understand the fear I have met her horses and have touched the nose and such but go riding with her... I am not ready yet. I am fine as long as there is a fence between us. (not a fan of the eletric fence she comprimised and build a 20 foot section of post and rail for me...)

Sad yes but fear is fear and I cannot make her over come it she will have to do that on her own.

I've got a cousin that's very afraid of snakes, but keeps lizards as pets. I'm trying to het her to let me work with her on getting over that somewhat so she can go to expos with me, but she had a bad fright by one of her brothers involving a snake, so it will take time. Some people just don't see the problem with thier irrational fears and won't see a reason to try and change no matter what you do. All you can really do is respect it and try and move on.

At this point in my life I've realized that a good majority of people have an irrational fear of snakes. No matter what anyone does some people cannot be changed. I'm the one that owns the snake and it's my responsibility to respect their wishes. The one thing you cannot do, is let it bother you. People are going to make up their own mind regardless of our efforts. You can't force someone to think a certain way. It's like politics or religion. Inevitably, they well make up their own mind and you can't beat yourself up about what they decide. All you can do is relay the information to them and hope they consider what you say. We will never be afforded the luxury of dog owners or cat owners. Sad but true.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

People are idiots.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by scooter11

At this point in my life I've realized that a good majority of people have an irrational fear of snakes.

---

This is what gets me, that their fears are irrational. My mother, if she sees a snake in close proximity, will jump back and move away from it. This will cause her heart rate to elevate a good bit and cause her a great deal of stress. She has always disliked snakes but the reaction that I just described is from when she was bitten by a baby Crotalus atrox over 20 years ago. She spent a full week in the hospital and none of her medical providers thought that she was going to survive the bite. That said, her reaction to snakes is not irrational, it is from, quite literally, a near death experience.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BeccaBurrr

So, my roommate's parents came to visit him today and he asked them if they had seen my snake yet. His mom instantly freaked out, as if she was out of the cage and wandering around the apartment.
I can respect that people are afraid of snakes, but it just upsets me sometimes.

---

This type of reaction tells me that this woman is not a rational person in the first place. This fear is not based in ANYTHING and I fully believe that reaction is something that is learned. When you are shown evidence of something being not like you had thought it to be, and you still refuse to change your beliefs and actions towards the source of your fear, that by definition is irrational. Americans are good at this, though. Just look at the percentage of faithful here vs. every other developed nation in the world! I believe that our fear of snakes is up there with those numbers, with religion being a big source of that fear (fable of eve and the serpent).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Luciferskeeper

You can't fault someone for their fears, just educate them. We all fear something that another person looks at as ridiculous.

---

I agree with your first part, and education is EXACTLY what the OP tried to give. In this case, as in all cases dealing with snakes and religion in the States, you simply cannot reason with someone to get them to change their view. As to the second sentence in your post - please speak for yourself and not the human race as a whole in matters like that. You can say that all humans are mammals or that humans give live birth, but you're not the authority on everyone's fears.


In regards to everything that I've said, I view this kind of reaction to snakes and fear of snakes in the same regard that I view peoples' belief in a creator; you are entitled to believe in whatever you want, but I DO NOT have to respect those beliefs when they are not based in any science what-so-ever! There is talk in this thread about respecting others' wishes, but if you are in you own home with your pets being kept responsibly then no one can tell you a damn thing! I only have to respect your fear of snakes as much as I have to respect your opinion that blue is the greatest color in the world and that 311 and Incubus are the greatest bands of all time (though I will be inclined to respect that last bit ;)).

I think the best response to this kind of jackassery is to just ignore it. Sure, a lot of people could legitimately say their fear is phobia, but at least half of the people (especially girls/women) who freak out like lunatics like this are either slightly uncomfortable and are making a much bigger deal of it than need to or they aren't very uncomfortable at all and they think it makes them look cute to scream, cry, yell, flail, run from the room then back into the room, etc.

If a person calmly says, "I don't like snakes, I'd rather not see them," they they probably really have a snake issue. If they act as described above, they probably aren't really that scared at all and are just putting together a ridiculous story to tell later. Don't give them the attention they're after. Stay calm, put the snake away, ask them to leave the room, whatever.

- - - Updated - - -

It bothers me so, so much. I can't help but be extremely irritated when people freak out about things that I don't. Ugh

Wail until you have someone run away from you when you tell them you have snakes at home :8:. Its sad but dont pressure anyone to interact with your snake just educate them and if they decide to look at her let them :gj:

My mother-in-law is deathly afraid of snakes. Had I known that, I would have gotten one over a decade ago. :D

It doesn't bother me one bit. There are other thing far more worthy of getting upset about than whether others care for snakes or not.

Sent from my Samsung Note II using Tapatalk 2

People thought I was stupid for being afraid of chemicals, especially getting them on/near my face. It used to be so bad I would freak out and run. I was chased by this guy who had oil on his hands 'cause he thought my fear was funny. I however, ended up on the roof of a car almost crying. I'm a lot better now, but it's still a fear that seems silly to everyone else. At least snake phobias seem normal to majority of the population.

My parents, while they don't care what animals I want to keep, will NOT let me have my snake at my (their) house. They won't even meet her. Half the time I wish it WAS because they had a fear of them. They're just like "It doesn't have fur or legs, so automatically I don't care about it." I feel so low when I get a chance to share my knowledge or experiences and I basically get shut down with the equivalent of telling a kid "that's nice, sweetie." :(

Everytime I go into a house and see a child I scream in fear and start crying :) lol but in truth I don't really enjoy kids their sticky, ask why way too much, their like small drunks in a way.

All I have to say is, if they think a ball or carpet is something to fear, show them a retic or anaconda hahaha. I don't even fear them at all!!!

But on a real note, my mother is afraid of snakes and I can at least get her to come in the room and LOOK at them and nothing more. She says the pictures I post of them are pretty and she even got me my dumerils for Christmas, but when I take one out and get near her, that's when she gets a little frightened. Some people just have the fear (as others have said a few times) but they do like them. Sometimes I just wish she would at least touch one. Also, the look on her face when she saw my yellow anaconda in person was priceless for me lol.

Ball Pythons
0.2 Normals (Coilette and Mary Jane)
1.0 Spider Morph (Zeus)
1.0 Pastel (De Sol)

Boas
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Stella)
0.1 Hog Island BCI (Kiyoko)
0.1 Dumerils Boa (Gloria)
0.1 Yellow Anaconda (Serenity)

I got lucky with my parents. My was scared of snakes til i coaxed her into holding my biggest ball python at the time. my stepdad just didn't like snakes. However he thought it was cool that the snakes kept my grandmother away

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MrLang

People are idiots.

---

Couldn't have said it any better. Just keep them calm, and attempt to educate them.