Boycott because of snakes?

I had some relatives over for Christmas and this is the first time some of them have EVER agreed to come over. The only reason they agreed was I had to cover the racks with blankets, lock the door to the room, and tack a blanket up to cover the doorway.

I was pissed. This was stupid just so people I could really care less about (my sister in law and her boyfriend) will show up. The wife wanted to accomodate them for "Christmas".

They were STILL afraid a snake would get them.

I say forget about them. If they cannot accept the fact that there are snakes in the house (they will not even have to see them unless they go into the back room and slide open a tub) then who cares if the come over.

This was the final straw.
I am sick and tired of having to cater to others because they are idiots who will not listen to anything I say.
The snakes cannot attack them in cages locked in other rooms.

Anyone else get their house boycotted just because there are snakes in it?

Can't say that my house has been boycotted because of my snake. That's rediculous though!

I have people who have told me they would NEVER come over to my house because I have snakes. I also had a couple people say they would NEVER come over because I have rats. I shrug and go .. "Fine with me. It's my den, and I like to arrange the old bones and snakes the way I like it. Tough cookies for you."
But again, I'm anti-social.
Wolfy

i figure that if someone doesnt want to come over because of my critters then i dont want them over anyways . none of my friends or family are bothered in the least by them .

I don't really care for this girl and her boyfriend. That is what really ticked me off the most. I had to do all of this to get them to come over. My wife doesn't even like them.


And to top it off they don't watch their kid and as a result, I ended up with a drink spilled on my BRAND NEW COUCH! No apologies, no nothing. The only good thing is I know the warrenty against stains and tears I paid extra for was worth it since they had a crew out on the 26th to clean it. Later on I had to get the kid out of the dog food and water bowls WHILE THE BOYFRIEND WATCHED the kid playing in them and doing nothing!

I told the wife, I will NEVER accomodate these people again. If they won't come, TOO BAD. They are idiots who have no respect for my house and are terrible with their kid. I won't even go into how many time that poor kid has ended up in the ER becuase she got hurt due to these idiots not keeping an eye on her.

Makes me want to tell my grandmother about the 7.5ft boa in my bedroom EVEN MORE! :twisted:

And no, I don't accomodate people anymore than maybe shutting my door. If they can't take seeing the PEDIGREED AND REGISTERED rats I have, or the snakes from quality breeders... then they can go home. *sticks tongue out at icky people*

I have people who say they will NEVER come over because of my snakes and I have made sure those people I dont want over anyway are notified that I have many snakes...LOL. I think its silly but I understand keeping the peace at home and trying something once but if it was me it would be the last time. Most of my family and my wifes family dont care too much for the snakes but trust that I would do nothing to put them or my kids in any danger. If they cared enough it wouldnt matter.

I have had people (family) come over to my house that are 100% terrified of the snakes. I always tell them, the cages are locked. I tell them that I care too much for the snakes well being to pull the snake out and scare someone and I care to much for my family. If that isn't enough and they are still freaked out, they can leave. I have refused to cover my cages and such. If they don't like it they can leave. I will only cover cages if I feel my animals will get stressed out with lots of people over.

My family respects my animals, fear or no fear and realize I won't buckle.
I know its very frustrating. I will tell your sister in law or brother if they can't stand it thats tough. Its not your fault they don't want to listen and get a little educated.

Right now im in the process of selling my house and have had the realtor tell me to put blankets over all my cages .And supposably a buyer backed out,They said they didn't like my snake room .I refused to cover them , telling the realtor and people that come to look at the house , that the snakes are NOT staying with the house evn going so far as walking with the people in the basement and then letting them know ,what is behind door number 1.So if me having snakes stop the sale of my house so be it

Steve,do you by chance NOT like those people? :8: If they were at my home and allowed there kid to spill anything i would take everyone of my snakes out for quality time :cool: .My wifes Grandmother said she will not come to our home because of our snakes.I told her o well one less hemroid i have to put up with :P .In my opinion if YOU pay the bills then YOU should not be expected to cater to (enter your choice words here) in YOUR home:cool:

I have had only one person that said that they would never come over to my house because of my snakes... I told her that was the reason why I got my snakes in the first place, to make sure she never came over. She has yet to come over to my house...

She says they are the devils creature!

I like to think she has'nt came over because of what I said, but I know its not. lol

i've lost one student because of my snakes. she came every week and sat beside the enclosures of my snakes... i knew she was afraid of them but she always chose the seat next to their enclosure. then for mother's day my hubby got me a little tiny corn snake... freshly hatched. well that was it, she dropped out of the class... and said she would never come to my house again.

i laughed... a little corn snake smaller than a pencil and yet she sat beside a hog island boa and a nice sized ball - but the corn snake was too much. oh well... i was fine with it.

my daughter is absolutely terrified of spiders and snakes... which is why we waited for her to move out before getting any. (she moved out last oct and we brought our ball home in november). well, she even comes into my bedroom which is where lots of them are housed and she just doesn't look at the cages.

her boyfriend has even held our snakes... although he doesn't seem CRAZY about them... he seems to sorta kinda like them... but IMO if she can tolerate them then anyone should be able to. cause i've never met anyone more afraid of them than she is.

i seldom even tell new students anymore about the snakes and tarantulas. i teach in a room away from the critters... except our meditation group which meets in the living room... so they really don't have to worry. besides... i always tell them. "they are secure... after all, they cost lots of money, i don't want my investment slithering out the door!" that seems to make them understand for some reason. ;)

sorry to hear about your christmas visitors steve.

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Originally Posted by SPJ

The only reason they agreed was I had to cover the racks with blankets, lock the door to the room, and tack a blanket up to cover the doorway.

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if there was a blanket over the door then how would they know if the door was locked and there were blankets over the snake enclosures?

and what exactly does tacking a blanket over the door do? if the snakes got out of their enclosures... out the locked door... couldn't they just slither under the blanket? i would think getting out of a blanket would be the easiest feat of all of this :rofl:

:giggle: some people eh?

Well fact is it's your house and you aren't doing anything immoral or illegal that would affect a guest or their child so as far as I'm concerned why in the heck should you accommodate them! Being a good host is one thing, allowing rude guests to dictate what goes on in your home is quite another. I would have mentioned ever so nicely that it's not my snakes that spill things on people's brand new couches! :P

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

I have people who have told me they would NEVER come over to my house because I have snakes. I also had a couple people say they would NEVER come over because I have rats. I shrug and go .. "Fine with me. It's my den, and I like to arrange the old bones and snakes the way I like it. Tough cookies for you."
But again, I'm anti-social.
Wolfy

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this is exactly what i say---Beautiful

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Originally Posted by SPJ

I had some relatives over for Christmas and this is the first time some of them have EVER agreed to come over. The only reason they agreed was I had to cover the racks with blankets, lock the door to the room, and tack a blanket up to cover the doorway.

I was pissed. This was stupid just so people I could really care less about (my sister in law and her boyfriend) will show up. The wife wanted to accomodate them for "Christmas".

They were STILL afraid a snake would get them.

I say forget about them. If they cannot accept the fact that there are snakes in the house (they will not even have to see them unless they go into the back room and slide open a tub) then who cares if the come over.

This was the final straw.



I am sick and tired of having to cater to others because they are idiots who will not listen to anything I say.
The snakes cannot attack them in cages locked in other rooms.

Anyone else get their house boycotted just because there are snakes in it?

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This is crazy----i would never invite them over ever again---and if they tried to invite themselves, i would let them know that the snakes will be on the couch so they couldn't spill anything on it----sound like a pair of savages to me!

My house is open to my friends and family but if someone comes and have a problem with my animals, the only thing I can say is "don't let the door hit you on the way out" ;)

Unfortuanly myself i have similar problems.
My family and my wifes family have no problem what so ever to come by and chill out with the scaly kids.
But our friends on the other hand,actually freak out when they come over and demand that we at least cover the cages so they may not see them.
I do not cater to no one,especialy when it is in the lions den.
I feel this way,if they can not accept the fact that i have snakes and lizards,then they are not my true friends or my wifes at that fact.
You should not be judged by what you love so much.

Evidently I'm in the minority. I haven't had anyone refuse to come over. On the contrary I usually have MORE people come over to see the snakes. They are usually disappointed when I won't do a whole 'show and tell'. I have a few larger male bps that are 'company socialized' that I will occasionally pull out for them but mostly they just stand in front of my racks and go "What's this one? Does it bite? Does it get big? Is it poisonous? Gee that's big..."

I would not cover my snakes for anyone. They are in a prominent place in our dining room, smack-dab in the center of the house. People mainly are polite, if not interested, in them; I have never had a family member or friend demand that thye be covered or anything like that. Even Mark's mom, who is pretty frightened of them, does not make an issue about it, and she is pretty-much a person who will say what's on her mind (like Mark, hehe.)

Most of my family won't visit me because I have snakes and one of my aunts won't visit because I have cats which is even more disturbing to me.

I'll say it like this I love my family but I don't like them. If I had known that having snakes would have kept them from visiting I would have gotten into snakes a long time ago.

And I refuse to accommodate for anyone because they have a fear of my snakes

People come over to oogle... I have no problem with it.


If they don't want to see, then I don't mention it. :D Easy solution.

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Originally Posted by SIRS

Right now im in the process of selling my house and have had the realtor tell me to put blankets over all my cages .And supposably a buyer backed out,They said they didn't like my snake room .I refused to cover them , telling the realtor and people that come to look at the house , that the snakes are NOT staying with the house evn going so far as walking with the people in the basement and then letting them know ,what is behind door number 1.So if me having snakes stop the sale of my house so be it

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We changed our mind about selling. Several months of people looking and going away. They made comments to the effect."How do we know they won't leave any behind?". If we decide to sell in the future the snakes will stay with my son, Lars.
As far as family, we are all animal lovers. All of my friends trust me to not pull them out if they are uncomfortable. Everyone else can just go away.

I dont tell anyone i keep snakes in my room :D

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Originally Posted by SPJ

I had some relatives over for Christmas and this is the first time some of them have EVER agreed to come over. The only reason they agreed was I had to cover the racks with blankets, lock the door to the room, and tack a blanket up to cover the doorway.

I was pissed. This was stupid just so people I could really care less about (my sister in law and her boyfriend) will show up. The wife wanted to accomodate them for "Christmas".

They were STILL afraid a snake would get them.

I say forget about them. If they cannot accept the fact that there are snakes in the house (they will not even have to see them unless they go into the back room and slide open a tub) then who cares if the come over.

This was the final straw.
I am sick and tired of having to cater to others because they are idiots who will not listen to anything I say.
The snakes cannot attack them in cages locked in other rooms.

Anyone else get their house boycotted just because there are snakes in it?

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i have never had somebody refuse to come into the house. Refuse to come into the snake room, yes, and some people when they get in and realize that there are snakes just freak out and get instantly chlostrophobic.

I agree with you, in that i would be absolutley sick of it, and not want them in my house, because it is like they are spitting on a part of my family, BUT if it means something to your wife, then you should respect it, grid your teeth and put up the stupid blankets so they can come in the dang house.

If people have a valid fear its a valid fear. I am afraid of heights so I dont go and ride the space needle or the sky lift over the Andes'. I stay the hell away from heights. Now I think it great that your wife is willing to do what she can to make them feel better.

However to ask you to change your lifestyle even for one night is a little... MMMM ... Rude (of the guest). If people are scared of my snakes.. don't go in that room. But these are my pets, if you are uncomfortable being in the house with snakes in an enclosure behind a close door in an escape proof room then don't come in the house. The choice is yours I will not change to make you comfortable because you can't master your fear.

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I don't really care for this girl and her boyfriend. That is what really ticked me off the most. I had to do all of this to get them to come over. My wife doesn't even like them.

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What I don't understand is, if your wife doesn't even like them then why would she even care if they were there or not?

My mother in law is terrified of spiders and swore she'd never enter our house because of all the tarantulas we keep....YEY!!!! :carrot:
I'm a witch with a REAL bad attitude when it comes to my castle. If you don't like my house, my kids, my music, my cooking, my "pets" don't come over.
I have tarantulas and scorpions in every room of my house save the kids' room and I will NOT cover or move my containers just to appease someone else. Everyone who knows me and my husband know we keep invertebrates and snakes and if they can't deal with that, don't even bother knocking on the door.

I have my 9+ inch Theraphosa blondi (Goliath bird eater tarantula) sitting right out in the living room in her 20 gallon long....she's gorgeous...I'm not covering her tank!

I have one of my snakes in my bedroom and the other in the bathroom, along with some of my tarantulas, if people don't like it, they can go pee somewhere else. :P
I make no bones about telling people I have snakes and a house full of big, hairy spiders. All of my friends are into the same things I am, which is cool and aside from that, I don't really care if I have company or not...like wolfy, I'm anti-social too. :D