Adoption and Reptiles

So my wife and I have been talking about adoption lately. We haven't completely given up on having kids the old fashioned way but we aren't getting younger and the odds are against us.

One of the things that came up was would our owning so many snakes be seen a negative by an adoption agency or the government or whatever force is in charge of the adoption procedures. Have any of you had any experience with this?

Thanks.

Hi! I have no personal experience with this but I don't see how it would be an issue. If you're a responsible owner, who has secure caging, controls heat sources (e.I thermostats), I don't see how it would be a problem.

Do they actually inspect your home? If so just put boxes in front of the door to the snake room and when they come over say it's a storage room and show them how cramped it is.

Personally I don't think you owning a boa and ball pythons are any of their business or concern.

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Originally Posted by MasonC2K

So my wife and I have been talking about adoption lately. We haven't completely given up on having kids the old fashioned way but we aren't getting younger and the odds are against us.

One of the things that came up was would our owning so many snakes be seen a negative by an adoption agency or the government or whatever force is in charge of the adoption procedures. Have any of you had any experience with this?

Thanks.

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I don't think this should hurt anything at all, then again some people are uneducated knuckle heads. That's really cool that you are adopting man my wife was in foster care her whole life and I didnt have the best childhood, we said if we didnt have a girl our second time around we would adopt. Here I am with two boys, our plans are to adopt a baby girl within the next 2-3 years..

You might as well call me a Coral Glow cause I'm pretty sure I'm a male maker. I don't want to take any chances and get another boy. Plus giving a great home to a kid that I would love the same blood or not isn't a big deal to me so, I applaud you man. :gj:

3 boys here so I am a proven male maker :D

My aunt adopted a little girl from China a couple years back and went through the home inspection process. They checked mainly the cleanliness of the home and the childproofing. The childproofing will need to be completed before any home visits. The only thing that they were very hard on was the gate and latch leading to the in-ground pool. With pools being such a hazard to children I feel if the will allow the adoption to go through because of the control measures that are implemented it would be the same for snakes. I would recommend having a way to not only lock the cages but also be able to close off access to the snake room in general. Those safeguards should show that you are responsible and able to protect the child from accidental encounters.

Good luck whenever you decide to take the plunge. I am friends with a lot of people that have adopted and have seen first hand how special it is. I commend you for deciding to give a child a chance at being cared for properly and feeling love that was given, not required.

They will question the crap out of you about anything and everything.

They will ask any hypothetical situational question to get an idea of how you think.
I know with kids 5 and up you will get qustions like "what would you do if child was afraid of animals"
or if they saw someone smoking a cigarette and would freak out because they could have been abused.

If your getting a baby they will pull out all sorts of questions about your animals.

They make it really hard to foster or adopt in this country.

Its cool you guys would open your home to a child, we need more people like that.

I still stick to my original theory. Put a whole bunch of boxes in front of the door and stack them to the roof with random stuff. Say it's a storage room and put a locking latch on the out side of the door.

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Originally Posted by Neal

I still stick to my original theory. Put a whole bunch of boxes in front of the door and stack them to the roof with random stuff. Say it's a storage room and put a locking latch on the out side of the door.

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Seems like a lot of work for a lie, when the cages need to be secured anyway. Yes, people can be ignorant and judgmental, but lying just propagates the stereotypes.

I haven't personally adopted but many of my friends have. They check child-proofing of the house and they did look at the pets as well. None of them had reptiles but they did have dogs, the dogs personality and how it acted was taken into accound with having a baby in the house. I would think as long as all your cages are locked you should be good to go. If you want to take the extra step ensure the room that they are in has a keyed lock as well so no one can gain access without said key. just my 2 cents.

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

Seems like a lot of work for a lie, when the cages need to be secured anyway. Yes, people can be ignorant and judgmental, but lying just propagates the stereotypes.

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This.
And if I might add; my children are my priority. As such I would not let a hobby jeopardize any aspect of my relationship with them. If I were going to adopt a child, and there was any chance that my animals could impact the process in a negative way, then they would be gone in a heartbeat. With all do respect, if forced with a choice, they are just animals. After I have completed the adoption, if it were still important to me and I had the resources and time to do so, I could always come back to the hobby. And in that way the blending could be more of a diffusion then a collision. Children are life altering and you just never know where your mindset will be once they become a part of your life. However, it is pretty consuming of that you can be assured. Just my 0.02 but best of luck with whatever you decide.

I can ask my mom tonight about it. She works at Arizona Children's Association. She was a social worker for several years but now she doesn't go into the field that often since she was promoted into supervising social workers and therapist. It might be different in the area you are at but I can find out a general overview of the process for you from my mom. Whatever you do don't lie to them. You don't want a surprise visit after the adoption just to make sure everything is going good and them to find out that you lied.

My brother and sister-in-law went through it, though to no avail, the birth mother changed her mind immediately after the delivery.

I do remember that they both had to undergo a background investigation, health checkup, every room in their home was inspected, their well water was tested, etc. The process took several months and SIL mentioned to me afterward that they'd spent close to $100k.

My advice is to be up front about it, and make sure the enclosures are decent and lockable. Do not attempt to hide anything as anything discovered later will throw up big red flags.