Whats the worst BP Myth you've ever heard?

I posted on Facebook some pictures of my new BP, Archer. He is an adult, 2 years old and, while not particularly long, he is nice and thick. A good eater for sure :-) :gj:

So, in response to this? Someone told me I'm an idiot for getting a pet that will, given half of an opportunity, kill and eat my children.

It made me curious, what are some of the most outrageous claims you have gotten or heard about snakes, BP or otherwise?

Please Note: I am obviously aware that my BP is not going to kill and eat my kids (if I ever choose to have any). While he is very docile and sweet, I would never put him and a child in any kind of a situation together that wasn't closely watched and leaves me able to intervene if needed.

By far that they can, "Give you CANCER." Someone literally said this to me with a straight face, while looking at some of my hatchlings at a local expo. I am a biomedical scientist, and it took every ounce of me to not scream at this person.

Growing up I had a cleaning lady who told me that birds can give you cancer also. Not sure who is perpetuating this exotic animal and cancer link, but it is ludicrous.

My favorite was that when they're laying next to you they're sizing you up for a future meal! LOL Though that was more along the Retic and Anaconda discussions.

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Originally Posted by C2tcardin

My favorite was that when they're laying next to you they're sizing you up for a future meal! LOL Though that was more along the Retic and Anaconda discussions.

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I love that one. Especially when you hear it from multiple people and it always starts the same way with "I have this friend that had a.... or my friend knew this girl that had a..."

Probably my favorite is I had someone say that they couldn't believe Petsmart was actually selling ball pythons, what with all the trouble they have in Florida. She went on to say that it would cause problems when the snake got to big and people released them into the wild.

This is in Utah by the way.



Then of course there's always the strange misinformation that bps eat crickets.

I've heard more times than I can count that your snake is sizing you up to see if it can eat you while you sleep... Whatever that means

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Originally Posted by Timelugia

Probably my favorite is I had someone say that they couldn't believe Petsmart was actually selling ball pythons, what with all the trouble they have in Florida. She went on to say that it would cause problems when the snake got to big and people released them into the wild.

This is in Utah by the way.



Then of course there's always the strange misinformation that bps eat crickets.

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At a Petco the other day there were a ton of crickets in the Ball Python's enclosure... I was wondering what that was about.

How about the one where the guy woke up in the middle of the night due to his escaped Retic had made his way half way up his leg feeding!!

Of course that story is always my cousin's friend's brother's uncle.....


http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/07...1ce9ad7380.jpg

The myth that is my pet peeve is that feeding them in their enclosure causes cage aggression and that feeding them is a separate container is a must.

^^^This annoys me as well.

^^^^^
More then agree.


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After I first got Cake and posted it on facebook... can not believe the response I received from my friends HAHAH. The kind of comments that are half joking but implying half serious, you know?

I've gotten:

"Have you seen the movie Anaconda?"
me: "No."
"You should watch it."

... implying that somehow, watching the movie Anaconda will make me fear snakes, as if I didn't know what I was getting myself into?

And another immediate response after I got Cake:

"There was this guy in another state who had a pet cottonmouth. He kissed it on the mouth and he got bitten in the face."
As he waited for my response to decide to NOT want a ball python...

I guess those aren't exactly myths and I'm kind of on a tangent here. But essentially the level of misunderstanding people have about snakes in general...

Oh here's a fun one... earlier this year, I did an experiment on ball python feeding habits (and whether conditioning seems to do anything to help) and brought it to school. The parents of other kids came in to look and one came up to me and said something to the effect of, "What?! Pythons? Honestly, what kind of parent would let their kids have one of these? Let alone more than one! Don't they know that Satan is inside each one? They are nothing but cold blooded killing machines." Looking down at me disgustedly, he began to lecture me about how one day my pets would "grow to be twenty feet long and eat me before escaping to the wild and would eat children playing on the streets". It was like he expected me to go home and kill every one of them. I was struggling between laughing, being angry and being a little scared of this guy. So I did what any irritated teenager would do... ok, maybe not. I told him every ball python fact I could remember and stuff into five minutes. I started by telling him where they were from, the burrows they live in, what size they grow to, how they're considered sacred in some places, what they eat, their defensive behavior, their color morphs, prices of various morphs, personalities, housing, heating, lighting (or lack thereof), how to breed them and why they make great pets. Yes, I can speak very quickly. Looking quite stunned with wide eyes and a half open mouth, the guy backed away slowly and walked off while I was in the middle of a sentence. I watched him wandering around for a while looking a bit dazed. A boy from my class was just standing nearby with his eyebrows raised before he laughed a little. Don't insult my pets. I will overload your brain.

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Originally Posted by Penultimate

Oh here's a fun one... earlier this year, I did an experiment on ball python feeding habits (and whether conditioning seems to do anything to help) and brought it to school. The parents of other kids came in to look and one came up to me and said something to the effect of, "What?! Pythons? Honestly, what kind of parent would let their kids have one of these? Let alone more than one! Don't they know that Satan is inside each one? They are nothing but cold blooded killing machines." Looking down at me disgustedly, he began to lecture me about how one day my pets would "grow to be twenty feet long and eat me before escaping to the wild and would eat children playing on the streets". It was like he expected me to go home and kill every one of them. I was struggling between laughing, being angry and being a little scared of this guy. So I did what any irritated teenager would do... ok, maybe not. I told him every ball python fact I could remember and stuff into five minutes. I started by telling him where they were from, the burrows they live in, what size they grow to, how they're considered sacred in some places, what they eat, their defensive behavior, their color morphs, prices of various morphs, personalities, housing, heating, lighting (or lack thereof), how to breed them and why they make great pets. Yes, I can speak very quickly. Looking quite stunned with wide eyes and a half open mouth, the guy backed away slowly and walked off while I was in the middle of a sentence. I watched him wandering around for a while looking a bit dazed. A boy from my class was just standing nearby with his eyebrows raised before he laughed a little. Don't insult my pets. I will overload your brain.

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Oh hey... I've also gotten the "spawn of Satan" thing that apparently applies to all snakes. Except from one of my friends, half jokingly.

I'm sorry friend, but they are simply another boring reptile that hides in a hole and sleeps all day and eats some rats and rolls into a ball when they're frightened. Spawn of Satan is really too grand.

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Oh hey... I've also gotten the "spawn of Satan" thing that apparently applies to all snakes. Except from one of my friends, half jokingly.

I'm sorry friend, but they are simply another boring reptile that hides in a hole and sleeps all day and eats some rats and rolls into a ball when they're frightened. Spawn of Satan is really too grand.

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I find that one pretty hilarious. I mean... it's just another animal. Why is my pet in particular the spawn of Satan because it has no legs? I wonder if they'd say that about legless lizards. :rolleyes:

I had a lady tell me once, completely straight faced, that they get out of their tanks at night and strangle people. She was serious, too.

I have an aunt that was a bit over concered...she asked what I would think when "the serpent got out and strangled" my son.

I have a few large snakes and I constantly get the "they're going to eat you and your whole family" thing a lot. The one I detest the most would have to be that somehow "all" snakes are "poisonous" and that I should get rid of them before I and my family are killed. I mean really? I live with my sister and her daughte, I would own venomous animals if I was paid to.

snake room

This isnt about bp's but...

i was at the zoo this one time and thet had 2 animals out in tubs. (the employees has them in clear tubs and educating people about them etc.) And this lady... oh my gosh this lady... she started going off on the employees about how the snakes should not be allowed out of their enclosures and that theyre venomous and will kill you. The employees were only volunteers i think. They were stunned by her she was being so nasty. (She had to be asked to leave)

Legless lizards. They werent even snakes... it was their pair of legless lizards.

I had heared stories, but up until then i thought they were a bit stretched and that people couldnt possibly be so ignorant. I was wrong. They were beautiful legless lizards tho.

My favorite that you hear for almost every reptile is that they will only grow to the size of their enclosure. And for garters, that they eat crickets. Which is ridiculous. When I got my BP everyone was telling me to be careful and not let it eat me because it was like a week after that African rock python killed two kids in Canada. At the time she could fit in the palm of my hand.

Another fun one for snakes in general is kind of localized to the rural South, but people say that if you have a snake in your house and bake a chocolate pie and sit it in a cabinet, the snake will go in and you can trap it by closing the door on it. Weirdly, this actually seems to work since it creates a heat source. I don't know where people got the idea that it specifically HAS to be a chocolate pie though.:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Daniel.michelle

This isnt about bp's but...

i was at the zoo this one time and thet had 2 animals out in tubs. (the employees has them in clear tubs and educating people about them etc.) And this lady... oh my gosh this lady... she started going off on the employees about how the snakes should not be allowed out of their enclosures and that theyre venomous and will kill you. The employees were only volunteers i think. They were stunned by her she was being so nasty. (She had to be asked to leave)

Legless lizards. They werent even snakes... it was their pair of legless lizards.

I had heared stories, but up until then i thought they were a bit stretched and that people couldnt possibly be so ignorant. I was wrong. They were beautiful legless lizards tho.

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I hear some of the best comments at the SD Safari Park and the SD Zoo, I end up hanging around the reptile area just to people watch at this point because it cracks me up. One of my favorites was when they had an albino berm on display (couldn't have been more than 7ft) and everyone was looking at it and it yawned and one of the older ladies standing there goes "good lord it must be looking at us like we are meals it just opened its mouth at us, I could only imagine what that bite would feel like, it just grosses me out" (here comes the shocking part, one of the young girls that was a volunteer there) looks at them and goes "this is a small one, their bite isn't that bad I was working with a WILD CAUGHT Reticulated Burmese python once that was 16ft long and it bit me, those are some of the worst snakes to work with talk about pain." My first reaction was a mix of hmmm and oh cool they have a hybrid here, but it couldn't have been wild caught so I asked and she goes "no no its not a hybrid it is a species of snake that they have found over is asia", and my 6 year old looks at her and goes "no that's not correct I think you are confused, dad lets go this makes my head hurt". Grabs my hand and pulls me away haha.

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Originally Posted by jclaiborne

I hear some of the best comments at the SD Safari Park and the SD Zoo, I end up hanging around the reptile area just to people watch at this point because it cracks me up. One of my favorites was when they had an albino berm on display (couldn't have been more than 7ft) and everyone was looking at it and it yawned and one of the older ladies standing there goes "good lord it must be looking at us like we are meals it just opened its mouth at us, I could only imagine what that bite would feel like, it just grosses me out" (here comes the shocking part, one of the young girls that was a volunteer there) looks at them and goes "this is a small one, their bite isn't that bad I was working with a WILD CAUGHT Reticulated Burmese python once that was 16ft long and it bit me, those are some of the worst snakes to work with talk about pain." My first reaction was a mix of hmmm and oh cool they have a hybrid here, but it couldn't have been wild caught so I asked and she goes "no no its not a hybrid it is a species of snake that they have found over is asia", and my 6 year old looks at her and goes "no that's not correct I think you are confused, dad lets go this makes my head hurt". Grabs my hand and pulls me away haha.

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Haha your sons quote was awesome. I have totally listened to what people say about snakes at the SD Zoo. I am always so happy when I hear somebody who knows what they are talking about or even knows snakes aren't bad. But more often then not people will talk trash about snakes, calling them "Satan", if you think they are "Satan" then why are you in the reptile area? Confusing, another example is people purposely avoid a snake that is moving and active. Like the sight of a moving snake is to much for them and will go to a cage with a snake that is resting.

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Originally Posted by Mustang5

Haha your sons quote was awesome. I have totally listened to what people say about snakes at the SD Zoo. I am always so happy when I hear somebody who knows what they are talking about or even knows snakes aren't bad. But more often then not people will talk trash about snakes, calling them "Satan", if you think they are "Satan" then why are you in the reptile area? Confusing, another example is people purposely avoid a snake that is moving and active. Like the sight of a moving snake is to much for them and will go to a cage with a snake that is resting.

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haha yup I see that a lot, especially when they are at the "infamous" monocle cobra" cage, I have been there a few times when it hoods up and everyone acts like it came through the glass at them where the kiddo and I are pushing people out of the way to get a better look. My wife always says when we are at the zoo it is like she is watch 2 kids haha. My kid has my attitude which cracks me up. You know in the reptile area facing the front side they have the snapping turtle? We were looking at it about 2 months back and this lady and her husband/boyfriend, doesn't really matter, goes OMG that thing is so ugly, again good ol kiddo looks right at her and goes "ummm that's not nice, what if I said YOU were ugly" my wife has her hands over her face and the couple looks at me like "fix your kid" and all I could think to say was "you know he has a point."

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Originally Posted by jclaiborne

haha yup I see that a lot, especially when they are at the "infamous" monocle cobra" cage, I have been there a few times when it hoods up and everyone acts like it came through the glass at them where the kiddo and I are pushing people out of the way to get a better look. My wife always says when we are at the zoo it is like she is watch 2 kids haha. My kid has my attitude which cracks me up. You know in the reptile area facing the front side they have the snapping turtle? We were looking at it about 2 months back and this lady and her husband/boyfriend, doesn't really matter, goes OMG that thing is so ugly, again good ol kiddo looks right at her and goes "ummm that's not nice, what if I said YOU were ugly" my wife has her hands over her face and the couple looks at me like "fix your kid" and all I could think to say was "you know he has a point."

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Haha, your sons quotes keep getting better! Ill admit there is something a little bit creepy about that snapping turtle but its an amazing animal.

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Originally Posted by Mustang5

Haha your sons quote was awesome. I have totally listened to what people say about snakes at the SD Zoo. I am always so happy when I hear somebody who knows what they are talking about or even knows snakes aren't bad. But more often then not people will talk trash about snakes, calling them "Satan", if you think they are "Satan" then why are you in the reptile area? Confusing, another example is people purposely avoid a snake that is moving and active. Like the sight of a moving snake is to much for them and will go to a cage with a snake that is resting.

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I actually know a percentage of people who don't believe that snakes are evil or ALL are deadly or any of that nonsense... but they are honestly just disgusted by the way snakes move. I never understand it, but (from those I know) the same group of people are also disgusted by worms, caterpillars, etc. And somehow, snakes are lumped into that group that invokes a "disgust" response.

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

I actually know a percentage of people who don't believe that snakes are evil or ALL are deadly or any of that nonsense... but they are honestly just disgusted by the way snakes move. I never understand it, but (from those I know) the same group of people are also disgusted by worms, caterpillars, etc. And somehow, snakes are lumped into that group that invokes a "disgust" response.

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I love watching snakes move but I can't do eels. I have to look away or I get creeped out.

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Originally Posted by EarMice

I love watching snakes move but I can't do eels. I have to look away or I get creeped out.

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I have to agree. Watching snakes move is awesome but eels are strange animals, when I am at the aquarium they will just pop out of nowhere and scare the you no what out of me.