What is the dumbest thing anyone has asked about your snake?

I thought about puttin this in the BP general topic area but I didn't want to exclude other snake owners. What is the silliest thing that anyone has ever asked you about your snake? I got the idea to ask this question the other nite. A female friend of mine came over for a few minutes & she had her boyfriend with her. I had Hissy out before-hand cuz i didn't know she would be stoppin by. So, I let them in & as I am lettin her crawl all over my face & on my hands & arms, he asks me, "Is it poisonous?"

Um, DUDE, if it were poisonous would I let her just crawl all over me like that!!?? I just thought that it was a really silly question & my friend (his girl) made fun of him for askin a stupid question. I didn't because I realize that the more people we educate on snakes, the better we are as herp enthusiasts. I would never tell him that I thought his question was stupid, but I wondered if you had similar stories.

Same question. My sister said to me one day, "so they're not poisonous?" We've had snakes for quite a while now, and she just got around to asking me this like two weeks ago. She even let her 3 year old son hold one of them a few months ago (even though she herself won't even touch one). But that's what made the question so ridiculous - that she had just then thought to ask.

My favorite: If you keep them in a small tank, they'll stay small, right?

I usually tell them, "They'll stay small if you only feed them sawdust, but they don't live as long that way."

K

My favorite dumb question is "It's SLIMEY isn't it???"

My favorite answer is "Uhh, yeah. Can't you see the trail of goo he's leaving behind?"

I know I'm rotten. ;)

i always talk to all my family about snakes i want to get

and every time i say anything to my grandma about getting a new snake, she always, and i mean ALWAYS goes "is that the one that bites?"

and if i try to argue, she acts like she doesnt know that im there

but i do say "they all can bite when they are babies, just gotta tame 'em"

Everyone, and I mean everyone, asks if they've bit me.

I've been asked if a Ball python could constrict me. I laughed so hard. And alot of people ask me if their slimy. I just answer:
"Touch one and find out."

"Aren't you worried it will eat your children?"

Ummm ... no.

Luckily I haven't encountered too much ignorance but I almost always get "Does it have teeth?" I mean I guess that's not too bad, most people I know are very open-minded and although they don't "get it" as far as reptiles go, they are always interested to hear more about them and enjoy when I bring the animals out and let them interact.

i also get more of comments from people

like, we went to regal reptiles (me, my 2 cousins, and my aunt)

and my cousins would be like "oh thats very poionous, it makes your skin fall off" (talking about a RTB!!! hehe, im getting one, wonder what he will think)

and he alo makes comments about how big teeth are, on bearded dragons!!

and he called a savanah monitor a gila monster..... :shock:


but, i take it easy on him, he's only eight, i just tell him the facts, and tell him to look online if he wants to learn more about snakes


but.....if it were one of my brothers, i would freak out on them, make a big scene, use foul language, and then end with some type of analagy (sp?)

show them to be stupid and ignorant

"does it drink water"?
"Where does it crap"?
"it doesnt eat mice rite"?
"can you feed it table scraps"?
And my all time favortie,
"dont put it close to me, im not immune to the poison like you"

lol, of corse if they give me a stupid question, im obviously giving them a stupid answer in return

omg....


guess whos here, my cousins

im gunna have to get offline so i dont seem rude, but i wanted a JCP before, and i guess my grandma told steven (cousin) and he comes in and goes "grandma says you wanted a jungle carpet something...?"

so i said "yeah, i WANTED a jungle carpet python"

steven>> "Oh yeah, i seen them on venom er"

me>> "...why?"

Steven>> "it bit someone..needed anit-something"


i told him he must have been a lil confused, so i showed him google, and it turns out it was.....a mojave (sp??) rattlesnake

he really needs to....learn

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Originally Posted by Marla

"Aren't you worried it will eat your children?"

Ummm ... no.

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That is one of my favorites as well. Also to go along with that is will eat your cat? :roll:

Marla- I was about to say the same thing...
I dont have kids yet, but everyone expects me to get rid of my snakes when I do because they might "eat the baby". lol

they left, just came over to drop off something for my mom

and i think a dingo would eat your baby before a snake :wink: :wink:

People need to learn the difference between poisonous and venomous.

omg!!!

i was just talking about that on another forum i go to, i think its really annoying and ignorant

i tell people all the time, but they still say that snakes are poisonous

its really getting on my nerves

My eight year old likes to correct her grandparents and friends by telling them that snakes are not poisonous, they are venoumous. She does all of this with an attitude.

I like this topic. I volunteer every Sat and Sun at our zoo. I've heard lots of stupid things in addition to some already mentiond:

* "Can they bite?" - duh, anything with a mouth can bite

* "You mean snakes actually have intercourse to make babies?" (I guess they thought it was immaculate conception or something)

* Then there are people who think they literally eat frozen prey (not thawed or warmed up)

* "Do you guys inject the snakes with something to keep them still" (this was mostly in referenece to one of our Emerald Tree Boas that was sitting on a branch)

* "Why does it let you hold it"

* The snakes that we allow the public to touch we only allow them to touch their back in the direction of the scales staying away from the head and tail. We get a bunch of idiots that are first afraid to touch the snake and then want to touch it's head!

* "So how long did it take to train him not to move and stay in your hands?"

* "Is that a real snake?" (as the snake is moving and crawling through my hands)

I'm sure I'll think of more...

I hope as the hobby grows that we'll have fewer truly snake-ignorant people in the world. Surely, at some point in time, people actually said things like, "OMFG! You let a dog in your house? Can it bite? Aren't you afraid it will eat your ten children? I think that looks just like the dog that killed my cousin!"

Wow, & I half expected no one to asnwer this question! Good stuff everyone! THANKS!

I "like" the people who think snakes are cruel or mean in how they kill their prey. I just watched Dixie dispatch a live mouse. From strike to swallow, I think it took her less than 90 to 120 seconds, and the mouse wasn't kicking anymore when she quit squeezing and started positioning to swallow.

If you want to talk about cruel, watch that precious family cat with a mouse. The cat will literally torture the mouse to death for as long as the cat can prolong the mouse's life and remains interested in playing with it, sometimes for 15 minutes to a half hour or more.

The snake doesn't waste any time "playing" with its prey.

My mother in law is the best one for these things.
"You better keep them locked up because they will get out and strangle the children." Yep sibling rivalry can be hell can't it.

"Do they have to eat rats?"
Nope when they get bigger they can eat rabbits.

Our largest right now is a bp who is about 3' 6". I can't wait until the boas are all grown up. Then she will be really freaked out. They wont only strangle the kids but they might just eat them.

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Originally Posted by ffollett

"Do they have to eat rats?"
Nope when they get bigger they can eat rabbits.

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sure, you can say it like that, and it sounds normal, and the people might get disguisted, but not half as disguisted as when you say

"oh no, in a little bit, she will be eating cute wittle bunny wabbits"

but you gotta say it like a lil kid

they find you like you are a horrible person

My Aunt asked if when he grow up who was I giving it to, like what Zoo because it would be to big to keep and might attack my son ( mind you my son is 5' 7" )

I am on a mission to teach as many as I can that even venomous snakes do not attack because they are mean or evil. Most times it is because people almost step on them and such, that if left alone or givin some space they will go the other way.
Most days it is a lost cause

"What is it doing to the mouse?"

Was it bad for me to say, they are playing...?

Unfortunately, I meet a lot of visiotrs at the zoo that say things like "the only good snake is a dead snake", "we should kill them all" and other stupid thinkgs like that. One thing I like to ask them (especially women), is if they like mice and rats. Invariably they don't and often times seem more disgusted by them. I proceed to tell them that snkaes are (as many animals) and important part in our own lives. I explain how all snakes are carnivours with most of them eating rodents. I then explan that if we didn't have snakes that there would be mice and rats running or streets and in our houses - especially since rats can give birth 13 times a year with 20 babies in a liter. I also explain that farmers crops would often be destroyed making it difficult to get our favorite foods from the market and at a low price, and that since most people never even see snakes in the wild today I bet they'd rather have snakes then no snakes - because w/o them they'd surely see plenty of mice and rats. That usually gets them thinking and they often let their guard/prejudices down a bit. I then tell them that while they may initially think snakes are 'gross' and all deadly and dangerous animals, I can prove to them their thoughst are way off. I offer to them to stick around and I'd be happy to answer any questions they may have and let them touch/see some snakes.

It's hard not to initially want to just call them 'idots' and such (even though I think they are), but I've managed to get so many people who were scared and some even terrified of snakes (and wouldn't eve come in the door) to finally touch one and get interested in knowing more about their behavior and lives.

I always get people who walk in and see mbe holding a snake say "How can you touch/hold that?" (they also say this about our cockroaches, but I can kind of understand that - wimps!). My response: "Because there is nothing for me to be afraid of as long as I respect the animal and understand it." Then I follow up with: "Besides, don't you think he/she is beautiful". That gets their guard down to by getting them to see it for it's beauty.

If anyone is ever in Indianapolis, Indiana - you must stop by our zoo and visit our Deserts building "Drop Dead Gorgeous Snakes" exhibit (where our display snakes are). We have a room of snakes where the intent was to display them such that people would admire them for their beauty and get them to see them differently. They're not natural setups with branches or anything - they're done more in an artsy fashion.

The most stupid question to ask about your snake, and I know people ask this:

"Is that a snake?"

Er, no its not. Its a big piece of ugly sphagetti...

Some of the "dumb questions" or comments are based in a phobia of snakes.

Remember, though, that phobias are not rational. While I don't have a phobia of snakes, I still struggle with arachnaphobia. It's not rational. We have only two spiders in the US that are of any real potential danger to someone my size (the black widow and the brown recluse) and even those are not going to aggressively chase me down to bite me. The reality is that I have no real reason to be scared of spiders, and yet, I can still get that involuntary shiver up my spine when I see one, especially if the sight is unexpected. I do my best to keep it under control and not get into that "the only good spider is a dead spider" mentality, but it does take a conscious effort to do so. The same is true for people with snake phobias.

Don't belittle or trivialize their phobia; it's incredibly real to them. Try to work WITH it, and help them to understand that they don't have to LIKE snakes to respect what they do for the ecosystem. It takes time to work through something like that, and people are going to be more cooperative if they feel we respect what they're feeling as they try.

My experience with all the people I've met is that they are basically 'taught' to not like snakes. Most of them aren't really afraid - it's like they just think they're supposed to be. They just have misconceptions. I've not met one person who actually had a bad experience with them. Most have never even seen them - except on tv or in books. It's just a little too difficult for me to understand being afraid of something w/o having a reason to be - but I in no way show this frustration to the people I deal with.

Sunday I had these 3 big young men (looked like they could be college football players) who at first would not come near me and the ball python I was holding. They were clear on the other side of the room. They were so scared. I talked to them, calmed their fears and finally got them to come over one by one to touch him. It was just so funny, here you have 3 big guys afraid of a snake that's being held by a little young (I'd like to think I'm still young) women.

One of our very intelligent, well-read friends was afraid of our Bps, because he honestly thought they were poisonous. Once we reassured him, though, he calmed down a bit.
I guess that the topic of snakes, and learning about different types and their characteristics, is not something that everyone knows about. :(

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"What is it doing to the mouse?"

Was it bad for me to say, they are playing...?

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Or when they ask if you are going to play with the new rat you bought and you say no but I am going to let it cuddle with my snake for awhile.

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Originally Posted by Sassafrass

My favorite dumb question is "It's SLIMEY isn't it???"

My favorite answer is "Uhh, yeah. Can't you see the trail of goo he's leaving behind?"

I know I'm rotten. ;)

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That's my favorite and most common question as well....The Slim Factor!

You are still young Tiger! ^_^

Thanks! :)