An interesting read

This story came up on my dash earlier. This person literally loved their little ball python to death. It was rather upsetting to read but the problems were addressed well by another user at the end.

Story: http://kaijutegu.tumblr.com/post/139...ace-little-jor

I see a lot of people like this on social media, tumblr and instagram who treat their ball python like a cat or a dog. I just don't understand where this misconception that snakes will love and bond with their owners comes from. I think this is a good post to share to all new snake owners.

WOW. Just wow.

I couldn't even finish reading the OP's post, I had to skim...

I really really hope those 6000 notes were including kaijutegu's reply, and not just of the original post itself lol...

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Originally Posted by silverbill

This story came up on my dash earlier. This person literally loved their little ball python to death. It was rather upsetting to read but the problems were addressed well by another user at the end.

Story: http://kaijutegu.tumblr.com/post/139...ace-little-jor

I see a lot of people like this on social media, tumblr and instagram who treat their ball python like a cat or a dog. I just don't understand where this misconception that snakes will love and bond with their owners comes from. I think this is a good post to share to all new snake owners.

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KingWheatly......this is something you definitely need to read!!!

How bizarre. I mean. Wow.

I love all of my snakes deeply and am very comfortable handling them, but letting them SLEEP with me would freak me OUT!!

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Let's see anthropomorphism, ignorance, failure to research, failure to provide proper care, unrealistic expectations....sadly it does not surprise me anymore.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Let's see anthropomorphism, ignorance, failure to research, failure to provide proper care, unrealistic expectations....sadly it does not surprise me anymore.

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Sooo.... you're saying I shouldn't take my snakes on the subway?...... terrible joke


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I couldn't stand reading that, not because I found it incredibly sad, but every single thing that OP said was frustrating. It was irritating to no end.

That being said, there was a thing or two in the second post that bothered me. Mostly the 95 degree constant temp thing, even people who use ambient temps have them lower than that.

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Originally Posted by Fraido

I couldn't stand reading that, not because I found it incredibly sad, but every single thing that OP said was frustrating. It was irritating to no end.

That being said, there was a thing or two in the second post that bothered me. Mostly the 95 degree constant temp thing, even people who use ambient temps have them lower than that.

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I feel ya. The stupidity and ignorance seemed a bit surreal.


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Originally Posted by Mangiapane85

I feel ya. The stupidity and ignorance seemed a bit surreal.


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You would be surprise, as someone who sell animals and answer potential buyer questions I can tell you that the story is not that surprising. That's when "I reserve the right to refuse a sale" comes into play ;)

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Originally Posted by Deborah

You would be surprise, as someone who sell animals and answer potential buyer questions I can tell you that the story is not that surprising. That's when "I reserve the right to refuse a sale" comes into play ;)

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This is honestly one of THE BIGGEST FEARS I have for when I start having clutches. I've settled in the idea that im just keeping every single last one of them or gifting them to friends I trust100%/trading with reliable people.

I don't breed because I would quiz people interested in buying my animals and if they didn't pass my quiz I'd refuse the sale, lol.

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Originally Posted by Lotix

This is honestly one of THE BIGGEST FEARS I have for when I start having clutches. I've settled in the idea that im just keeping every single last one of them or gifting them to friends I trust100%/trading with reliable people.

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You basically have to hope for the best and in most cases people have done research and you can tell, by the first email exchange and if it does not seem right you just don't sell to the person. I do not do this for a living, I am not depending on this to pay bills so I have no pressure to sell to anyone unless I want to.

This year I refused a sale to a young woman that wanted to know what we was the best deal I could give her on a 1.2 Het Pied (all hatchlings), I answered with a quote, and she proceeded to tell me that she was hoping to pay less because she just had spent ton of money on a 100 gallons tank. That obviously was an issue, I ask her if she realized that those were hatchings and that they should be housed individually in a much small enclosure and sent her a caresheet, and her answer was "I though they were adults".

If someone ask to buy an animal and at the same time proceed to ask how you take care of them I will also refuse the sale for the time being. If people are not willing to do the leg work and do some research prior to buying an animal that is a problem to me. I am not requiring people to be expert but demonstrating that you care and want to provide the best environment by researching the animal you are about to purchase is important to me, more important than a sale and spoon feeding the information.

I am also lucky to sell to forum members which is a good thing as you can tell a lot, and whether you want to sell to them or not.

The other thing people forget about snakes is that regardless of what emotions they do or do not feel, since they are not social animals they do not have any reason or mechanism for communicating anything about their mood or their needs to other individuals. And likewise, they have no ability to interpret signals like that. They don't alert each other when predators are near or when they've found a good food source, and they likewise wouldn't know how to interpret a signal like that. The only body language they use and are able to interpret are things like threatening a potential predator or rival male, and signaling receptiveness to mating.

So we are left with trying to interpret what they need or want based solely on reactions that really aren't signals at all; when we are extremely social creatures who are primed to see social signals in absolutely everything. When we see another person sitting on a bench staring off into space and not doing anything, we automatically start drawing conclusions about their mood whether we realize it or not. We intuitively make assumptions like that even about animals whose body language is different from ours, even inanimate objects. Look no further than all that Grumpy Cat stuff on the internet, which is entirely because someone's cat's face just happened to be shaped in a way that resembles a human facial expression that we associate with grumpiness, even though we all know very well that it doesn't mean anything of the sort on a cat.

That's not to say that we can't learn to interpret our snakes' behavior, recognize signs of stress or curiosity, hunting, "food mood", and provide them with opportunities to express a variety of behaviors. But anthropomorphizing is tempting because our brains are hardwired to expect social signals and to expect that others can interpret ours; and because snakes are just not wired to give them to us. So we read what our brains expect to see rather than what we're actually looking at, just like how we tend to see faces in clouds and ink blots.

"When he was thirsty, he told me"
....What? Lmao [emoji23]


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This is one of the saddest things I have ever read :(

I lost a couple brain cells reading that. I try to give Sammy the best care I can offer him, reading that just DISGUSTS me. I lost faith in humanity, again.:colbert:

Reading that was PAINFUL.

They killed their pet because they willfully ignored any care advice they were told or read. They outright stated they read what was proper and instead they did what they wanted to do regardless of the outcome.

"Leaped into my arms". Really? A ball python? Leaping? Are we certain they didn't own a frog? Because they don't. But then they also can't tell us when they're thirsty or hungry and that's probably why the snake never looked to be a healthy weight in any of the photos. The idea that a healthy snake has "shiny scales" and the pet was HAPPY so it was still shiny even when it was dying is so ridiculous that I audibly snorted while reading it.

So much wrong. Hauling that poor animal around for so long, it was cruel and completely uncalled for.

This gal was a nut case lol. I do believe snakes learn to recognize their owners and accept that we wont hurt them so they let us carry them around. But honestly I think they view us as "The Rat God" and/or "The funky Moving Warm Tree that sometimes drops rats". Don't get me wrong, I too take all my gals outside during the summer and let them hang out on me in the sun but that's about it. I don't go driving with them, take a shower or bath with them or take them out to dinner and a movie and then come home and cuddle with them lol. I'm waiting to read a blog of an owner who tried to have a intimate relationship with their snake lol. Now that would be a read. I can see the first line..."I tried to make love to my 8' boa and she bit my Johnson and coiled it like a bald rat and I had to call 911!!" lol.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

This gal was a nut case lol. I do believe snakes learn to recognize their owners and accept that we wont hurt them so they let us carry them around. But honestly I think they view us as "The Rat God" and/or "The funky Moving Warm Tree that sometimes drops rats". Don't get me wrong, I too take all my gals outside during the summer and let them hang out on me in the sun but that's about it. I don't go driving with them, take a shower or bath with them or take them out to dinner and a movie and then come home and cuddle with them lol. I'm waiting to read a blog of an owner who tried to have a intimate relationship with their snake lol. Now that would be a read. I can see the first line..."I tried to make love to my 8' boa and she bit my Johnson and coiled it like a bald rat and I had to call 911!!" lol.

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That was a gal?? :$

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Originally Posted by Fraido

That was a gal?? :$

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Or that was one mighty feminine looking dude lol. Plus what man reads Harry Potter!!?? J/k...well kind of :P

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Or that was one mighty feminine looking dude lol. Plus what man reads Harry Potter!!?? J/k...well kind of :P

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I donno man. xD

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Originally Posted by silverbill

This story came up on my dash earlier. This person literally loved their little ball python to death. It was rather upsetting to read but the problems were addressed well by another user at the end.

Story: http://kaijutegu.tumblr.com/post/139...ace-little-jor

I see a lot of people like this on social media, tumblr and instagram who treat their ball python like a cat or a dog. I just don't understand where this misconception that snakes will love and bond with their owners comes from. I think this is a good post to share to all new snake owners.

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Thank you for this post.


Herp Derp

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

This gal was a nut case lol. I do believe snakes learn to recognize their owners and accept that we wont hurt them so they let us carry them around. But honestly I think they view us as "The Rat God" and/or "The funky Moving Warm Tree that sometimes drops rats". Don't get me wrong, I too take all my gals outside during the summer and let them hang out on me in the sun but that's about it. I don't go driving with them, take a shower or bath with them or take them out to dinner and a movie and then come home and cuddle with them lol. I'm waiting to read a blog of an owner who tried to have a intimate relationship with their snake lol. Now that would be a read. I can see the first line..."I tried to make love to my 8' boa and she bit my Johnson and coiled it like a bald rat and I had to call 911!!" lol.

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I'll take the title of, "The Rat God." That totally works for me.


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"That day he decided that it wasn't worth the trouble to drink from a bottle cap and began to drink directly from my lips."
:O:confusd:

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Originally Posted by RamMac

"That day he decided that it wasn't worth the trouble to drink from a bottle cap and began to drink directly from my lips."
:O:confusd:

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And that, ladies and gentleman, is how you get salmonella! 😂;)

So sad to think that poor snake was so dehydrated that it would drink from the lips of a much much larger animal.

And sickening to think the "owner" never realised they were abusing the poor thing :(

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Originally Posted by RamMac

"That day he decided that it wasn't worth the trouble to drink from a bottle cap and began to drink directly from my lips."
:O:confusd:

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Everything that bothers/confuses me in addition to that:

"he leaped right into my arms"
(What...? How does a snake leap...?)

"he let everyone pet and grab him, sometimes even prompting himself strangers to initiate the contact."
(Was he sticking his butt up for grabs or something...?)

"Sometimes he didn’t want people to pet him and he literally jumped into my arms"
(AGAIN... how the heck did he LITERALLY jump!?)

" But the most surprising was the time he sneaked on my (pun intended) friend’s cat."
(WHAT PUN!??!!!?!? Did they know what a pun was?)

"We went running to the vet, and he was fine, only a bit scratched. Only then the man noticed a little bite in his neck, from the mice that he was supposed to eat. He was so [....] docile that his own food attacked him instead of the opposite!"
(Hang on. This person was hanging out all the time with the snake and some how missed that his food bit him?)

"When the snake sensed my touch, uncurled, stretched his neck and deposited his little mouth to my lips, as he ever did when he felt my sadness. "
(Is this a fan fiction...?)

"He ate with me, bathed with me, and even slept with me. Three different vets said to me that jormundgander was convinced I was his mom."
(Beyond the part of the snake thinking she was his mom.... Who bathes with their child?!)

" He was so happy all the time that his scales never faded as it happens with sick serpents and none suspected anything"
(As ill informed as I've been... Im 90% sure that Bearded Dragons do this... not Ball Pythons. Am I wrong?)

"And even when he was dying, with me crying as I held him in my arms, even when he was barely moving and didn’t let anyone touch him (when capable of moving), he cuddled in my lap, searching with his head to touch my skin and made little movements as if to say that he was fine. "
(Again... is this a fan fiction?)

Also some of the photos... I may be over analyzing here, but not all of them seem to be the same snake...? Especially the one in the hair.

Some of this makes me think a lot of it is made up


Herp Derp

There's a marking on the left side I could see in almost all the photos. I think it's all of the same tortured snake. I really do hope it's at least mostly fiction!

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Originally Posted by KingWheatley

(What...? How does a snake leap...?)

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Find an angry coachwhip and they will show you.

As crazy as it sounds there are def people like this. My mom is the dog version of that person.

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Originally Posted by cletus

As crazy as it sounds there are def people like this. My mom is the dog version of that person.

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All one has to do is Google search "crazy cat lady" and they will find the insanity is strong in those amongst us.

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Originally Posted by enginee837

All one has to do is Google search "crazy cat lady" and they will find the insanity is strong in those amongst us.

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Hey, don't diss the crazy cat ladies! *Looks around nervously*

My family members think of me as the crazy snake man. :rolleye2: And my measly 7 snake collection pales in size compared to many on this forum! :snake::snake::snake::snake::snake::snake::snake::snake::snake::snake::snake::sn ake::snake::snake::snake::snake::snake::snake::snake::snake::snake::snake::snake ::snake::snake::snake::snake::snake::snake::snake::snake::snake:................ .

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Originally Posted by Fraido

Hey, don't diss the crazy cat ladies! *Looks around nervously*

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Giggles aside, I do have to diss crazy cat ladies. The real ones.

Not the ladies who have ten to fifteen cats and adequately take care of them all. Sure they may be ladies who are crazy about kitties but...

But the ladies who buy too many cats, the majority of which are feral due to little to no actual contact, and their carpet turns into layers and layers of cat feces. Those are the real crazy cat ladies imo.


Herp Derp

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Originally Posted by KingWheatley

Giggles aside, I do have to diss crazy cat ladies. The real ones.

Not the ladies who have ten to fifteen cats and adequately take care of them all. Sure they may be ladies who are crazy about kitties but...

But the ladies who buy too many cats, the majority of which are feral due to little to no actual contact, and their carpet turns into layers and layers of cat feces. Those are the real crazy cat ladies imo.


Herp Derp

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Yeah, those are the people with problems. 😔

Lol you all see that video with the guy who is taking a shower with the snake, taking the snake to park to play on the toys and swing, takes it to the mall on a leash and drags it in the mall. It's a joke(god I hope) but it is hilarious. The snake is actually really mellow in it and pretty big. IIRC it's some form of carpet python, pretty big.

Haha here it is, sooo funny lol. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/new...rk-SHOWER.html

I love that the thing that bothered you the most was the pun 😂😂😂😂😂

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Originally Posted by dumdum333

i love that the thing that bothered you the most was the pun 😂😂😂😂😂

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yes. What was that pun?!

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Originally Posted by Fraido

yes. What was that pun?!

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Who? Me? I wasn't aware of any pun.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Who? Me? I wasn't aware of any pun.

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I'm not sure who they're talking about, lol. You know the horrific pun in the original link! So bad... makes no sense... so I agreed that it's amazing to be so bothered by the craptastic pun and then expressed frustration about the dang pun. Lol

I think they're talking about Wheatly, though? Noot suuurree.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Who? Me? I wasn't aware of any pun.

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EXACTLY! BECAUSE THERE WASN'T ONE!

(seething at the misuse of "pun intended" by the article posted xD )


Herp Derp

Maybe it meant to say "snaking" instead of "sneaking"??

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You guys are all confusing!! I'm going back to kissing my snake and cuddling with her because she like to share BonBons with me!!

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

You guys are all confusing!! I'm going back to kissing my snake and cuddling with her because she like to share BonBons with me!!

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Lucky you. I have to take my girl out to dinner first and hand feed her chocolate covered strawberries before she lets me cuddle and give her kisses....


Herp Derp

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Originally Posted by Fraido

Maybe it meant to say "snaking" instead of "sneaking"??

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I thought about that too, but it doesn't make sense grammatically... unless she was just replacing the word "sneak" with "snake" which wouldn't be a pun by a phonetic mix-up (example: Jokes about German sausages are the wurst.)

(Which... admittedly are kind of puns, just not a true pun...)

Herp Derp

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Originally Posted by cletus

As crazy as it sounds there are def people like this. My mom is the dog version of that person.

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Last summer I saw a man walking down the street in the afternoon with a young ball python dangling around his neck. It was a very sad sight and he did not think he was doing anything wrong or that the snake could possibly be stressed from the activity.

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Originally Posted by crazy snake girl

But the most surprising was the time he sneaked on my (pun intended) friend’s cat. He saw him and wanted to play. Of course, the feline scratched him, playfully.

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No.
No.
No.

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Originally Posted by The Golem

Last summer I saw a man walking down the street in the afternoon with a young ball python dangling around his neck. It was a very sad sight and he did not think he was doing anything wrong or that the snake could possibly be stressed from the activity.[/FONT][/COLOR]

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I don't think there's anything wrong with bringing your snakes outside some times as long as the temp is ok for them. Nor do I think a snake being around your neck for a short time is dangerous to its well being. .. that's much different than sleeping with and feeding it fruit loops or whatever. Lol


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It's just mind boggling that he obviously loved that snake to death (literally), yet couldn't be bothered to sit back for a moment and reevaluate his thoughts and plans for how he will care for his new baby. I don't know how the whole aspect of free-roaming a little 12 inch baby ball python didn't terrify him, with how attached he was... Husbandry issues aside, I would think he would be worried about the baby getting loose or finding its way into the walls, maybe getting into a shoe and getting squished, the cat getting them, them getting stuck behind something, etc... I'm honestly surprised none of that happened, and I really think the only reason t didn't is because quite literally his guy was constantly hands or eyes on his snake. But then again... he had to sleep sometime! And when I think about the sleeping arrangements, I'm completely shocked he didn't either a.) disappear in the night, or b.) wind up crushed to death by his owner rolling over.

I really am surprised he lasted as long as he did, considering his whole environment was essentially a death trap. And that's not even touching on husbandry, which I'm sure we all know had to have been way off.

Its just sad, the whole thing. Literally everything leading up to the poor baby''s death was easily preventable and would never have happened if the owner had gone the safe route and followed the maybe one care sheet he looked at. And the most tragic thing of all, in my opinion, is that I really don't think they learned from it.

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Originally Posted by Trisnake

And the most tragic thing of all, in my opinion, is that I really don't think they learned from it.

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Quite the opposite, going by that original Tumblr post. They were PROUD of the fact that they loved their snake to death, and completely misinterpreting its behavior to prove their agenda about how "attached" to them that poor thing was. Sickening, tbh.