Woo Hoo! Four more down!

Hello. One of the most important parts about owning reptiles, especially ones that are perceived as scarey, deadly, etc, such as snakes, is changing peoples minds and helping them get over their fears. I am fairly new to reptiles, but with what I DO know I have changed the way a lot of people look at snakes. Anyways, there is a park across the street from my house, which is fairly dead, so I don't have to worry about people getting in my snakes faces all the time and stressing them. I take all my snakes (Except for my Normal BCI. I'm letting him get used to his home because he's kind of a meanie). My Dumeril's is quite out of shape so I took her to the park just to kind of try and get her a "work out", and the trip didn't seem to stress her out, so that was awesome. I let her crawl on the ground, she ventured into a few trees, and eventually ended up at the playground (there was only four people at the park, and we're about to get to them). There's a big spider web looking thing for the kids to climb on and she decided that looked fun. So I let her play on there for a while, and they (the family of four) stayed very far away! It was two adults and two small children (maybe 6-8 years old). I could hear the adults yelling "stay away from that snake!! It's poisonous". That got on my nerves, because what you say to children about animals, they will keep with them for life, so it's unfair to say that. So my friend stayed with Duma, and I approached the family. Not to be rude, only to let them know that Duma is NOT poisonous, and not a danger to them, however, if she was making them uncomfortable, we didn't mind moving further down. The two kids were very very interested. The kept kicking their soccer ball near us, And then coming to eye the snake, and kept saying "we're just getting our ball, mom!!" Lol. So eventually after I stopped paying attention, the family came to me, still staying about 15 feet away, and asked what kind of snake it was, etc, etc.. Eventually they let their kids pet the snake, and even took pictures of their kids petting her. I told them that I own more, and the boy replied "can we bring her home as a pet and you can just have the rest of your snakes?" Lol! And as they started to leave, I thanked them for coming over, and I asked if they were still afraid of snakes. They all said "no"! :) As they grabbed their stuff the mom asked if there were any smaller snakes that would be good to start with, if they wanted a pet snake. So I told them to look up Corn Snakes and Ball Pythons! I was really happy that they wanted one by time they left :) I have never felt any better feeling than changing someones mind about snakes. I just love the way it feels because of how feared they are (for no reason!). It really is great. Especially because the children are the future. If no kids are afraid of snakes, than they can teach their kids not to be afraid, etc. Anyways... I just wanted to share this newest accomplishment. I have already changed a few minds, but it wasn't relevant until now. Hopefully I can do some sort of school presentations at some point in my life. I'm guessing I'd need some special sort of insurance or something, though? Anyways.. Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear similar stories from other people here!

I'm glad you were able to change a few peoples minds. I still correct so many people all the time about the venomous term.

GREAT story! I'm all for responsible education. I go to vet tech school so I play the poisonous/venomous game all the time.

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Originally Posted by TheSnakeGuy

GREAT story! I'm all for responsible education. I go to vet tech school so I play the poisonous/venomous game all the time.

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LOL I know one person last night thought that all snakes were poisonous. I'm like really? I just don't really get how people don't understand the simple concept.

Poisonous = Ingested or Inhaled
Venomous = Injected

It's really simple logic.

Very nice job with the outreach. Unfortunately it's just not safe (for the snakes) to take them on daily outings like we can do with a dog, or it would be so much easier to educate the public about them.

I like to tell people

'If you bite it and you die, it's poisonous
If it bites you and you die, it's venomous
Maybe a little too simplistic but easy to remember.

By the way, I REALLY hate people taking their snake out to the park for 'exercise' It just takes one person to complain to city hall and the next thing you know you've got a new town ordinance against keeping snakes as pets.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Very nice job with the outreach. Unfortunately it's just not safe (for the snakes) to take them on daily outings like we can do with a dog, or it would be so much easier to educate the public about them.

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For sure. I only take mine out every few weeks, and usually we just hangout on my porch but my Dums needed the exercise

I know someone recommended that you take the dum outside for exercise, but I'm pretty sure she didn't mean taking it to the park :/

A couple years ago a snake in a public place wouldn't worry me, and even small snakes wouldn't necessarily worry me. But please use common sense. Taking a large, five foot, twenty pound snake to the park and letting it crawl around on the playground equipment is just asking for someone to report you, or push for even further bans. I am happy that this family was receptive to learning about them (after a while) but most people won't respond this well. There are lots of ways to get involved in educating the public, but I don't believe that snakes should be imposed on people. And in their minds, being anywhere in public areas "threatens their safety". And with a snake that large you need to be super careful. I trusted my BCI completely but she hadn't been outside in a while, I took her outside (in my backyard), and she bit me. And bites from a snake that size hurt and can bleed a lot. Just imagine your reaction as a parent if that happened to your child. I don't know where you are, but where I am I wouldn't be surprised if that snake was euthanized. The more experienced you get, the better you can read them, but you're relatively new to snakes, and that is a new snake for you.

I'm just asking you to be careful. I'm not saying, "don't take your snakes outside" just be smart about where you take them. If the park is the only place you can go because you don't have a backyard, just pick strategic places where they won't draw attention. Not crawling on the playground equipment. Snakes are under extreme scrutiny right now. Even small incidents make national and international news. They spread around the internet like wildfire. I'm all for educating the public, but be incredibly careful how you do it. I know people on here would probably disagree with me, but I think that especially large snake keepers need to be cautious right now.

I am very happy that you changed that family's mind though. That's really awesome, so good job! Take every little opportunity you can. You're super passionate about reptiles, and that's key. Use your love for them to show others what there is to love about them. I think you will do a lot for changing people's minds, I really do.

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Originally Posted by MarkS

I like to tell people

'If you bite it and you die, it's poisonous
If it bites you and you die, it's venomous
Maybe a little too simplistic but easy to remember.

By the way, I REALLY hate people taking their snake out to the park for 'exercise' It just takes one person to complain to city hall and the next thing you know you've got a new town ordinance against keeping snakes as pets.

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I definitely get this for sure. So many local ordinances and local laws that we may not know about until you're reported. That would suck.

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Originally Posted by Shann

I know someone recommended that you take the dum outside for exercise, but I'm pretty sure she didn't mean taking it to the park :/

A couple years ago a snake in a public place wouldn't worry me, and even small snakes wouldn't necessarily worry me. But please use common sense. Taking a large, five foot, twenty pound snake to the park and letting it crawl around on the playground equipment is just asking for someone to report you, or push for even further bans. I am happy that this family was receptive to learning about them (after a while) but most people won't respond this well. There are lots of ways to get involved in educating the public, but I don't believe that snakes should be imposed on people. And in their minds, being anywhere in public areas "threatens their safety". And with a snake that large you need to be super careful. I trusted my BCI completely but she hadn't been outside in a while, I took her outside (in my backyard), and she bit me. And bites from a snake that size hurt and can bleed a lot. Just imagine your reaction as a parent if that happened to your child. I don't know where you are, but where I am I wouldn't be surprised if that snake was euthanized. The more experienced you get, the better you can read them, but you're relatively new to snakes, and that is a new snake for you.

I'm just asking you to be careful. I'm not saying, "don't take your snakes outside" just be smart about where you take them. If the park is the only place you can go because you don't have a backyard, just pick strategic places where they won't draw attention. Not crawling on the playground equipment. Snakes are under extreme scrutiny right now. Even small incidents make national and international news. They spread around the internet like wildfire. I'm all for educating the public, but be incredibly careful how you do it. I know people on here would probably disagree with me, but I think that especially large snake keepers need to be cautious right now.

I am very happy that you changed that family's mind though. That's really awesome, so good job! Take every little opportunity you can. You're super passionate about reptiles, and that's key. Use your love for them to show others what there is to love about them. I think you will do a lot for changing people's minds, I really do.

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Good point, Shann.

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Originally Posted by B.O.S Reptiles

For sure. I only take mine out every few weeks, and usually we just hangout on my porch but my Dums needed the exercise

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How did you determine that your snake needed exercise?

Ya know, never mind, I'm gonna say BS. It doesn't need exercise, you wanted to show off. It's your right, but somehow I think you're going to wind up not doing reptile keepers in general a service by doing this.

You're not the first to have made this claim, nor the last, but I'll tell you straight up, it's not really a good idea. Do you have a backyard? Why not be safe, for your snake and all your fellow keepers, and use that as your snake gym?

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Originally Posted by wilomn

How did you determine that your snake needed exercise?

Ya know, never mind, I'm gonna say BS. It doesn't need exercise, you wanted to show off. It's your right, but somehow I think you're going to wind up not doing reptile keepers in general a service by doing this.

You're not the first to have made this claim, nor the last, but I'll tell you straight up, it's not really a good idea. Do you have a backyard? Why not be safe, for your snake and all your fellow keepers, and use that as your snake gym?

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Wow. That was really inappropriate for you to respond like that. I live in an apartment ( no yard), and I didn't want to show off. I didn't expect anyone to be there. She can't be handled for ten minutes without wheezing, she's very squishy rather than solid, and lean, and she's 20 LBS. Many others have said she should be around 10-15 LBS at six feet. I could invite my friends who keep snakes over if I felt an urge to show her off.

Edit: in fact.... How can you just come to assumption after assumption like that??? You think you know my intentions, first. And then you assume I have a yard, and then doubt whether or not I know she's overweight, and doubt my reasoning/diagnosis... Get outta here with that, man.

Good for educating them, but I just wanted to add, that I wouldn't be thrilled about having a snake crawling around on the playground equipment where my kids play and then put their hands in their mouths and stuff. The whole salmonella thing isn't a huge concern for a healthy adult, but it can make a small child really sick. You probably just didn't think about that since you don't have kids to worry about, so I'm not blaming you, but in future, you might want to keep the snake off the children's play equipment.

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Originally Posted by Shera

Good for educating them, but I just wanted to add, that I wouldn't be thrilled about having a snake crawling around on the playground equipment where my kids play and then put their hands in their mouths and stuff. The whole salmonella thing isn't a huge concern for a healthy adult, but it can make a small child really sick. You probably just didn't think about that since you don't have kids to worry about, so I'm not blaming you, but in future, you might want to keep the snake off the children's play equipment.

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Thank you, Shera. I should have thought about that? I'll make sure she doesn't go there again. I didn't take a child's weaker immune system into consideration.

@Shann sorry if it seemed like I didn't fully acknowledge your reply. !(at work). Thanks, and I fully get what you're saying. I wouldn't take her to any park, but I see maybe 10 people there a week. So I figured no one would be there this time. I am not trying to make an excuse because I know I shouldn't have brought her to the park. We are moving pretty soon, though, so hopefully our new apartments have a yard/at least semi-private grassy area. The manager there said that the only requirement for any pet was a meet & greet. If the pet is nice/people friendly, no pet fee, and no restrictions :) Very stoked about that!

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Originally Posted by B.O.S Reptiles

@Shann sorry if it seemed like I didn't fully acknowledge your reply. !(at work). Thanks, and I fully get what you're saying. I wouldn't take her to any park, but I see maybe 10 people there a week. So I figured no one would be there this time. I am not trying to make an excuse because I know I shouldn't have brought her to the park. We are moving pretty soon, though, so hopefully our new apartments have a yard/at least semi-private grassy area. The manager there said that the only requirement for any pet was a meet & greet. If the pet is nice/people friendly, no pet fee, and no restrictions :) Very stoked about that!

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No worries. I didn't mean to sound mean at all, but I think you know me well enough to know that. Though other members here don't know me that well :P

And that's awesome about your potential new place? Did you ask specifically about snakes?

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Originally Posted by Shann

No worries. I didn't mean to sound mean at all, but I think you know me well enough to know that. Though other members here don't know me that well :P

And that's awesome about your potential new place? Did you ask specifically about snakes?

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Yup! I also told them how big all my snakes will get (based off of average sizes for each snake + what the biggest recorded size for each snake was, so they know how big they can get, potentially) and they seemed fine with it. And they told us that as long as they, and our dogs are tame, and people friendly, they wouldn't have an issue with it :) btw, you didn't sound mean. I got what you were saying