Is it ok to wear BPs as adornments at festivals?

Something has been concerning me lately and I want to get others' opinions on the matter. I have noticed a lot of folks at festivals, parties, and other loud, boisterous events wearing their snakes as accessories (who wouldn't want to do that?) and although I know that these people genuinely love their snake companions, is it healthy for a snake to be paraded around in such an environment?

My 2 main concerns are these:
1) Is the snake's temp at a healthy level? Many of these snake-wearers have been spotted in the PNW and even in the summer, there are cooler temps at night. If you, as a warm-blooded mammal have to wear a coat, what makes you think the snake is warm enough?
2) Since we know snakes are highly sensitive to sound and vibration, do loud crowds and music, heavy bass blasted from the speakers stress out the snakes? The answer seems obvious to me but I'm a newbie in this subject so I am totally open to being educated.
So what do you all think on the matter?

If someone can provide one good reason that doing so is beneficial to the animal, then I'd like to hear it.

These people do not love their animals - they love the attention for themselves that their animals provide. Do your snake a favor and leave it at home.

Thanks, Eric. That was the feeling I was getting...But when I speak up about it they say that the snakes are fine and showing no signs of stress....sure they're not trying to bite anyone but it just makes me feel really uneasy.
Do you think there is any way to acclimate a snake from very young to loud music and being around a lot of people? And if the snake was kept in a warm fleece bag, was able to breath and slither out or go in and retreat to warm up? What about that? Any better?

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Originally Posted by amandasovereign

Thanks, Eric. That was the feeling I was getting...But when I speak up about it they say that the snakes are fine and showing no signs of stress....sure they're not trying to bite anyone but it just makes me feel really uneasy.
Do you think there is any way to acclimate a snake from very young to loud music and being around a lot of people? And if the snake was kept in a warm fleece bag, was able to breath and slither out or go in and retreat to warm up? What about that? Any better?

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Again - why?

Ball Pythons are shy animals to begin with, I don't see how or why they would enjoy being in a crowded area feeling vibrations of what my guess would sound like a stampede coming at them.

I have seen many vendors at shows were animals. What do you guys think about that? I can see more of a point wearing them at shows then a loud party or something. Then again it is a sometimes a stressful situation for me because there is a ton of people there so I wonder how the animals feel?

To the comment about fleece something or other for the snake to crawl into... I don't think that would work at all. Snakes don't produce much heat on their own at all, and blankets only keep you warm by keeping the heat you put off from escaping. So if the snake isn't putting off heat, the fleece wouldn't be keeping anything in.

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Originally Posted by Mustang5

I have seen many vendors at shows were animals. What do you guys think about that? I can see more of a point wearing them at shows then a loud party or something. Then again it is a sometimes a stressful situation for me because there is a ton of people there so I wonder how the animals feel?

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I would say that's a bit different... Probably not IDEAL for the snake, but nowhere as bad as wearing one to a music festival or something. At the shows, the vendors probably have areas with appropriate temps available if they are necessary, and probably have a much better idea of when the animal is getting stressed and needs to be put away. Also, most of the people at those expos are mindful of the snakes and are acting in a pretty subdued way. Yeah, there are a lot of people around, but they aren't acting totally crazy and generally know how to handle themselves around live reptiles.

It's not really a benefit to the individual animal, but snakes at reptile shows are often used for educational purposes to teach people who may not have kept a species before about that animal. You could argue that that's good for the species as a whole and only minimally stressful to the snake being shown.

re: Noise and vibrations. The building I live in is having all the balconies torn out and replaced. For a few weeks, the whole frikkin' building shook from 9 am to 6 pm some days. My BP probably does not like it. I sort of envy that he has no external ears and it's not nearly as loud to him as it is to me. OTOH, I'm at work weekdays and don't have to put up with it.


Last week I passed a guy on the sidewalk of a busy street, around 5:30 pm. Stopped, turned around and caught up with him. He had a young (9-10 months) BP around his neck. It was hanging there limp and loose, like it was too tired to hang on. Watched as it tried to get down a couple of times. He also was missing most of his teeth. :( Couldn't be too confrontational so I just asked him about it and while he was positive the snake didn't mind being carried around outside during the day, I felt really bad for the animal.

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Originally Posted by The Golem

He also was missing most of his teeth. :(

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?!?!?!?!?!?!

Even at a show I've seen it. Around the wrist, with the dude walking and swinging his arm..

And some dude locally was walking around the grocery store with a BCI. Walking past people to get a reaction then laughing. I whitnessed the manager kick him out.

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Time and place for everything. I would never take my dog - who adores being out in public and seeing people - to a grocery store or a restaurant or music festival or dozens of other places because those are places that animals generally do not belong. With a more sensitive animal than a dog I can't even fathom why anyone would think it's okay to bring it out into a strange and non-reptile friendly environment for hours at a time when I wouldn't even contemplate taking them into a controlled backyard with good weather and no annoying grabby hands for longer than 15 to 30 minutes at a time. It's just irresponsible, and the whole "but they like it" argument is dumb as can be. Firstly because you can't prove they like it at all. Secondly, dogs love people food but that does not make it good for them. The same principle applies here.

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Originally Posted by CatandDiallo

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Originally Posted by The Golem

He also was missing most of his teeth. :(

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?!?!?!?!?!?!

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The man, not the snake.

Parading around in public with a snake is irresponsible behavior. Snakes terrify some people and it's extremely bad form to force one of these folks to be exposed to a snake. The people who engage in this behavior are not doing their snake any favors and they are DEFINITELY not doing responsible snake owners any favors.

See this is stupid. Festivals and events are not good places to take your snakes. Me? I take mine to my work on my days off sometimes so my manager can see them (she used to breed them). This year I'm dressing as a snake charmer for Halloween but you can bet your derriere that no snakes will be involved unless I'm home