so...why snakes?

im curious, why did everyone choose to get snakes for pets? how long have you been interested in them?

well ive been interested in snakes since i was in elementary school so thats about 13 years now.i had my very 1st snake(Garter snake) when i was in the 6th grade 7 years ago.of course i was a little kid so i didnt know much about snake keeping and my first snake died eventually from mite problems.i decided to get snakes for pets because i like snakes,as a matter of fact,herpetology is my "backup major"(entomology,the study of insects and spiders,being my main major).also,i want to educate people on snakes so that they know facts about snakes and not just the whole "they're poisonous" thing.snakes are a huge part of my life and they always will be.

Well I'm an animal lover. Growing up I pretty much asked for every type of animal imaginable (Tigers, Dogs, Snakes, Praying Mantis). But I have always had cats and various types of fish. I always loved snakes though (one of my earliest memories is a father coming into daycare with a garter snake he found in the grass when he was coming to pick up his daughter and getting to hold it and everything. I was about 2 1/2 at the time).

Now that I'm 21, and more mature, I felt I could properly take care of a snake (as being the primary care giver, not having my parents do all the work), and I can afford it. Really I waited until I was ready.

Give me a chance to have any type of animal, and I'll take it in.

I grew up in the woods of western Oregon before moving to Alaska and I always had pet garter snakes and gopher snakes that I had caught. When I moved back to Oregon, I was walking through a state park and caught a garter snake. I guess that little garter snake brought back the interest.

I've always liked peculiar animals... bats, sloths, and snakes were always my favorite. I didn't think about getting one until a few years ago when we found a California King neonate and tried to keep him as a pet. I knew little about keeping them, and didn't realize he was brumating when we found him. I eventually let him go a couple weeks later, but I got the "bug". I guess I never really thought of keeping one as a pet until that point because I was always turned off by their feeding requirements. I didn't like the thought of feeding them another animal, but after braining pinkies to get the King to eat I came to realize that it was something I could deal with.

I admit at first I had all the typical concerns about Balls harming my children or even myself, but now it's interesting to see how my hobby has affected and educated the people around me as well. My wife used to be terrified of snakes. She could look at them, but would FREAK if one got near her. Now she picks up my 6' BCI without batting an eye.

i got them to assist myself and others to overcome their fear of snakes... and then i became addicted!!!

I'm big on all types of animals. I got my first snake when I was about 12 years old. A baby corn from a breeder that lived on my street. I bought it with some money I got for Christmas. Long story short, I only had it for a day, as it escaped from what I was keeping it in. I really didn't know anything about snakes at the time, and now that I think about it, the breeder probably could have helped me out a bit with husbandry practices.

I didn't get another snake (although I wanted to) until I graduated from high school and moved to go to college. That was less than 4 years ago and I've been keeping snakes ever since, but I am only now starting to really learn good husbandry practices. The info I was initially given turned out to be not so great.

But I love the snakes and am learning more and practicing better habits every day, and I'm definately addicted!

I thought snakes were pretty cool when I was younger. Turns out my dad is not to found of snakes, which might explain why we stopped for any turtle that we found, and never any snakes or anything like that.

I touched a big boa when I was in grade school, and learned for myself how they felt, etc, how they work.

I've thought snakes were interesting for a while, but I'd never gotten into keeping snakes until about 2 years ago. I got the chance to observe a couple of pet ball pythons outside, with their owner. Not long after that I purchased my first snake (which was a ball python).

Ive always aloved animals. I have had several encounters with venomous and non venoumous alike and I was hooked from there. I aquaired my firast snake around 7 years ago. And I am now getting more. My fingure is broken and i cqant type so I will get of now..lol.

When I was little all the kids were getting ducks and chicks for Easter. Of course I cried all night because dad said no. I don't know where he found it, because it was still cool out, but he brought me a lrge black snake. He then went on to explain how it was so wrong to keep ducklings and chicks because they aren't as hardy as a snake. Loved them ever since. I was about 7 or 8 and had the neatest pet in the neighborhood. :) :)

i always like animals... around 02 or '03 i was interested in corn snakes, and my mom said no... so the idea died down for awhile. and then in '05, i started up lookin corns, and that led to ball pythons. i joined this site last year, never really posted, cos i didnt have a snake, went to the 2005 narbc show in anaheim didn't get a snake, went to the show this year... and the rest is history

This is my first snake. I actually bought it for the hubby because he had one years ago and the woman he was with at the time let it out of the house when he was not home. He always talked about it. So I decided 3 months ago to get "him" a snake. Well, guess who does all the research and care and cleaning and handling????? Me. I was not real keen on the idea of a snake. I was actually quite afraid of it when I first brought it home. I quickly over came my fear and truly love the little one(although Zeke is growing soooo fast) I would like to have another but space and money will not allow it right now:)

Animal nut from day one...horses will always be my first love, but I'm a critter person regardless. Caught a rough green snake on my back porch 20 (!!!!!) years ago, and it's been game over since then, reptile-wise! ;)

K~

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Originally Posted by Blu Mongoose

When I was little all the kids were getting ducks and chicks for Easter. Of course I cried all night because dad said no. I don't know where he found it, because it was still cool out, but he brought me a lrge black snake. He then went on to explain how it was so wrong to keep ducklings and chicks because they aren't as hardy as a snake. Loved them ever since. I was about 7 or 8 and had the neatest pet in the neighborhood. :) :)

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what a coooool dad! :rockon:

They are quiet, easy to take care off non demanding of your time.Somthing differnt to expose the children to our 5 year old now has his own snake wich is more on his level of taking care of then his puppy. Ohh Did I say they are quiet and not demanding of your time like my son's I mean my puppy but I have one five year old in the house who says daddy whats a door what's the light do Daddy what does the door do,what makes cars run, coupled with a whining barking puppy we thought is was cute that she didn't bark so we taught her to speak bad idea typical woman once they start they don't ever stop.(just kidding) did I say snakes were quiet.

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Originally Posted by McAdry

but I have one five year old in the house who says daddy whats a door what's the light do Daddy what does the door do,what makes cars run, coupled with a whining barking puppy we thought is was cute that she didn't bark so we taught her to speak bad idea typical woman once they start they don't ever stop.(just kidding) did I say snakes were quiet.

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Have a rough night last night, Mike? ;)

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Have a rough night last night, Mike? ;)

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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Winner winner chicken dinner! You got it in one Robin!

Just remember my dear husband that you taught that dog to speak and you're the one who thought it was "cute" to carry her lazy butt up the stairs (spoiling her rotten in the process!) LOL ;)

I've always loved animals but specifically fell in love with snakes during a school trip with the older kids. A lady brought her collection to show the classroom that was visiting a kid's science center. She had cornsnakes, ball pythons and spiders and I was actually more into the corns. Fast forward years later and Mike bought me a baby BP for a Mother's Day gift (note to guys: buy your wife what you really want for yourself but NEVER a power tool LOL). Back then I thought BP's, while nice snakes, were a bit boring, always balled up, kinda plain looking.

LOL Little did I know!

so i guess we're all similar in some ways.i grew up loving all kinds of animals.while most kids my generation grew with toy cars etc., i was always into dinosaurs,monsters,animals etc.

I grew up catching rattlesnakes, king snakes and garter snakes in our back yard while I lived in San Diego running around with all the boys being the Tomboy all the time. I now have 2 sons 5 & 8, I have always had no fear and have always caught snakes when we are out as a family to show my boys. Little did I know they were really paying attention.

This past summer my oldest son called me from a friends house and told me he caught a bull snake (the way I taught him) and he knew it was a bull snake and he told the friends parents - all about his mom the snake whisper - haha. He brought it home - I did some research and two days later I told him we needed to set it free and get a CB snake - so we went to the store and came home with a BP. I have been hooked SINCE THEN!!! I now have 2 and 3 on the way:) Are they my sons or mine? Well he thinks they are his and I think they are mine :D

I was one of those kids who was happier to get an animal encyclopedia for her birthday/giftmas than she was to get toys. ;) Always been an animal fanatic. In fact, in Kindergarden I told my teacher that I didn't need any more schooling because I already knew everything I needed to know to be a zoo keeper. :rolleyes: Needless to say... she got a big laugh out of that and rightly so!

I could never keep herps, Mom vetoed, even though I caught frogs, bugs, and even a wild mouse once and tried unsuccessfully to bring them home on a regular basis. Houdini the Gerbil upset her enough, she's much more a cat person. But when I found myself all grown up with a partner who wasn't critter-phobic I realized... I could get a snake! (yes, A snake... silly me!) So I got myself a corn snake, which I now consider to be a gateway drug.

I always had trouble drawing snakes even though I was big into Medusa and snake myths until I got some snakes of my own, and now I'm obsessed. Totally hooked. So while I still love all animals (except gnats, I hate gnats) I'm very very obsessed with and want to dedicate my life to gorgeous amazing misunderstood snakes and breed blue beauties.

Also, as was mentioned, they're quiet and easy to keep up with. :P This is something I love about my rabbits too, lol! The quiet part that is, rabbits aren't as easy to keep up with as snakes. ;)

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Originally Posted by MedusasOwl

Also, as was mentioned, they're quiet and easy to keep up with. :P This is something I love about my rabbits too, lol! The quiet part that is, rabbits aren't as easy to keep up with as snakes. ;)

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i know what you mean, my rabbit poos alot, he does it all in one spot, chews alot too

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Originally Posted by Kizerk

i know what you mean, my rabbit poos alot, he does it all in one spot, chews alot too

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That's why I call Unut "My Monster" He loves nothing more than to destroy carpet! They're pretty good about the litter box, though I have to change it a LOT for 3 bunnies, but man I can't wait to move into a home with no carpeting! We are so not getting our deposit back... :rolleyes:

I would have to say that I loved reptiles from day one. I always thought they were neat animals that moved in a fun way. My first incounter I can remember was in kindergarden. A local rescue group had brought some animals and reptiles in to show the school and then brought in a very large burm. she was normal colored and was covered with huge scars. The story behind her was (that I can remember) that they found her in a black trash bag behind an old tabaco store or something and she was cut from her neck to her vent and had burns where some one put out cigars and ciggretes on her. I think it was at that moment that I wanted that very snake so I could lover her and hold her every day to show her that not all humans were bad. but god that was SOOO long ago...

I got my very first snake over 3 years ago from a guy that should have never had a snake. and that was when I found out that all the love and hugs in the world wouldnt show a snake that humans wern't all bad. LOL he ended up being traded for my first BP Baby and I have been an adict ever sence!....and I just bought another BP today :P

I never intended to get into BPs. I got one for free from a Petco when this girl offered it to us; went home, took a few crash-courses (internet-info overload, lol) and enjoyed her so much that we now have 6 now, about 3-4 years later.
BPs in particular, are awesome as pets; they are great for handling and not trying to dart out of your hands all the time; they don't require huge caging either.

I started at a zoo as a mammal keeper. The zoo I worked at had one of the best herp exhibits I had every seen. I then became really close with our herpatalogist (sp) when they were short on staff I would help out. I loved it. One year we had a clutch of Indain pythons hatch after about 7 months one of them was having a real hard time he wouldn't eat he was 1/2 the size of the other as they ask me to take him home to see if I could get him into a less stressful enviroment. I did and now he is about 6 foot and eating great.


I moved on from the zoo ( keep the Indian) I became a humane officer in the county I live in and any thing that came into the shelter or was seized in an investigation became mine. That is how I got the collection I have today. And we are still growing.

I have always had a love for birds. And I have bred them in the past, and now I have only a parrot, may get a couple others like cockatoo, and a macaw late ron, but for now my Grey is my baby. Snake are so similar yet so different, and well I have always had a thing for scaley and feathery creatures who laid eggs. It amazes me, its so myterious, so..beautiful. And ofocurse many other reason but lets just stick to this one right now :)

We always had a bunch of animals growing up. My parents were pretty cool about that. My dad's friend had a whole bunch of snakes, and everytime we'd go over there I'd end up holding them. (Or going to the bathroom and finding a Burm in the bathtub...that was kinda scary..lol) Eventually the friend got us two corn snakes, one for me and one for my brother. Mine had some kind of deformity where half of its body would flip upside down everytime it moved, and it died pretty quick. My brother's is still alive though.


Then I started working at a pet store...Now that was a bad idea..hah. They had a Children's there that was there for almost a year. All of the other employees handled her a lot, and she was a great snake. They were asking $139.99 for her, so I asked the owner if he'd cut me a deal, and he let me take her home for $50....and the rest is history. (Found the male online, and then was at a reptile show, saw the adorable little Spotted and just couldn't resist.)

My mom really hates the fact that I'm 20 and am old enough to care for/get all of these things without her say..lol. She just laughs about it. Although, she did tell me if I bring home any kind of spider that "You and your snakes and your spider can find somewhere else to live!!!"...So I'm not going to get anymore animals until I move out on my own and am done with college.....well, that's atleast what I told her...lol

lol i know what you mean lisa.normally i would add scorpions to my collection but thats one thing that'll definitely have to wait until i finish college and move out.

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Originally Posted by jessie_k_pythons

I would have to say that I loved reptiles from day one. I always thought they were neat animals that moved in a fun way. My first incounter I can remember was in kindergarden. A local rescue group had brought some animals and reptiles in to show the school and then brought in a very large burm. she was normal colored and was covered with huge scars. The story behind her was (that I can remember) that they found her in a black trash bag behind an old tabaco store or something and she was cut from her neck to her vent and had burns where some one put out cigars and ciggretes on her. I think it was at that moment that I wanted that very snake so I could lover her and hold her every day to show her that not all humans were bad. but god that was SOOO long ago...

I got my very first snake over 3 years ago from a guy that should have never had a snake. and that was when I found out that all the love and hugs in the world wouldnt show a snake that humans wern't all bad. LOL he ended up being traded for my first BP Baby and I have been an adict ever sence!....and I just bought another BP today :P

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jessie, is that the same snake that attacked you?

My roommate's ditzy girlfriend asked me this same question 2 days ago.

I just returned the question: "well, why you?"

She didn't get it. Mr. Bojangles laughed.

i've grown up on animals all my life. When i was five my dad took me out at midnight to look at frogs breeding by his work, so my first pet was a wood frog. after that we had a 55 gallon tank with around 13 diff. species of salamanders, we've had fence lizards, five lined skinks, ring necked snakes, brown snakes, corn snakes, painted turtles, box turtles, cockateils, beagles...and the list goes on. everything we got from the wild we retuned within a few weeks, and of course all the captive stuff we kept. bascially since five i've had an interest in herps...snakes and turtles always being my all time fav.

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Originally Posted by Blu Mongoose

When I was little all the kids were getting ducks and chicks for Easter. Of course I cried all night because dad said no. I don't know where he found it, because it was still cool out, but he brought me a lrge black snake. He then went on to explain how it was so wrong to keep ducklings and chicks because they aren't as hardy as a snake. Loved them ever since. I was about 7 or 8 and had the neatest pet in the neighborhood. :) :)

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not only that but yours can eat everyone else's pet! lol



Well I have always loved snakes and my mom and dad never would let me get one. So when I was 18 I was at a pet store getting supplies for my red eared slider when I saw a ball python. I went back the next day to get it after being told incorrect husbandry info from a worker. I found this site that night and went out to get all the necessary supplies the next day.

We had ALL kinds of critters when I was little and my parents were still married.... EXCEPT for snakes! My dad, (The same man that built me a "turtlerarium" in the back yard where we raised Box turtles) has a fobia of snakes... When I was 6 I brought in a lil Grass snake that I found.. My dad flEWW throught the house slamming doors etc.. LONG/SHORT... Parents split... my mom & I still had all types of stuff, but that's when my Rep. intrest really sparked. My mom brought me a baby BCI for my 13th B-day...


I'm just AMAZED with their beauty... ALL snake species. I think they rival birds, fish, etc.. The closer you look at a snake, the more amazing they become...
"DEEP THOUGHTS" by: Laooda... :P

I'll admit I wasn't a big fan of them from the time I was little to the age of 21. Then again I didn't really know much about them. When I was 21 I found a loose toad in a parking lot hopping around on a very very hot day and I took him home. I had him for about 2 weeks then I knew he was in good enough heath to be released. I released him and a few days later I missed the little guy. So I went out and got a toad from a pet store. A few days later she died and I was pretty upset. A friend of mine then got a baby snow corn snake and that is all she wrote! After handling her corn snake that was it. I loved snakes, so I went out and bought Jinx... and well my snake family has grown him there