advice on parents?

I've been wanting a BP for as long as I can remember and recently my OBSESSION with them has been rekindled. I've done tons and tons of research and am still learning (thanks to eveyone whos helped me). The only thing standing in between me and a new snake is my parents. My parents both feel like they will end up taking care of it in a month and my mom can't get over the thought of dead mice/rats in her freezer and what she calls "the whole slithering thing". Basically I want to know what you guys would do in my situation to convince parents to let me get a snake or what you have done in the past.

thanks in advance

Go buy an old dorm freezer for $20. Do other stuff around the house to show your responsibility.

Their hypo allergenic, don't mess up the carpet, don't need training, can be left (if set up properly) for a week or so with no babysitter so trips and vacation are no problem, and its like having the discovery channel in you living room live.

threaten them by saying your moving out or else!!!! :)

I think if I threatened them with me moving out all they would say is "Good then you can have your snake at your place!" :P

I like the freezer idea. I would also get your parents to see one up close and in person. Reptile show would be best, pet store would be ok though.

also visit a friend maybe that has one let them see what great critters they are!

I thought the Expo thing would work until they refused to drive an hour to get to the expo! Wow did that one fall through!

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Originally Posted by juddb

threaten them by saying your moving out or else!!!! :)

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or maby that you will kill your self. j/k j/k

you just need to have a frind over that has one. make for damn sure that it is tame. if you get bit in front of your parents it will be over.

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Originally Posted by Phreak

My parents both feel like they will end up taking care of it in a month

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Is there a reason that they think this? Are there other critters at the house that have been taken in by you and are now being cared for by them? if so, I'd say tough luck changing their mind. Start taking care of all of your animals in the house to show that you have responsibility.

Also, I am assuming that you're young enough to not yet be out of high school. If you choose to go to college, most dorms don't allow snakes--and many college-associated apt buildings don't allow them either. The BP could live thirty years, so even if you did take care of it with the best intentions which in high school, if you went away to college (or even had to move somewhere that isn't reptile friendly) your parents would be the default snake owners and caretakers. From what it sounds like, as well, your parents don't seem like they'd want to be handling the snake the way you would if they were in charge of it. Even if you planned to reclaim the snake post-graduation, 4 years is a while to make a snake be a summer-and-holidays-only pet.

I don't mean to rain on your proverbial parade, but I think your parents may be onto something. I don't know much about colubrids. Maybe they have a shorter lifespan more conducive to the time you have still living at home. I'd suggest that--then get your BP after you graduate college and have your own place, when you are better able to predict the amount of attention you can give it.

Rachel

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Originally Posted by juddb

threaten them by saying your moving out or else!!!! :)

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Ditto!:)

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Originally Posted by LostElise

Is there a reason that they think this? Are there other critters at the house that have been taken in by you and are now being cared for by them? if so, I'd say tough luck changing their mind. Start taking care of all of your animals in the house to show that you have responsibility.

Also, I am assuming that you're young enough to not yet be out of high school. If you choose to go to college, most dorms don't allow snakes--and many college-associated apt buildings don't allow them either. The BP could live thirty years, so even if you did take care of it with the best intentions which in high school, if you went away to college (or even had to move somewhere that isn't reptile friendly) your parents would be the default snake owners and caretakers. From what it sounds like, as well, your parents don't seem like they'd want to be handling the snake the way you would if they were in charge of it. Even if you planned to reclaim the snake post-graduation, 4 years is a while to make a snake be a summer-and-holidays-only pet.

I don't mean to rain on your proverbial parade, but I think your parents may be onto something. I don't know much about colubrids. Maybe they have a shorter lifespan more conducive to the time you have still living at home. I'd suggest that--then get your BP after you graduate college and have your own place, when you are better able to predict the amount of attention you can give it.

Rachel

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They think they'll end up taking care of it because of a hamster we got when i was 8 that ended up being their responsibility.

I also see your point on the summer/holiday pet situation but due to financial reasons I don't think I'll be living on campus. The school I hope to attend is within an hour of my house so I'll prob end up at home. It sucks but at the same time it saves me of money for other things that I wouldn't have otherwise.

I was thinking the same thing as LostElise. However, it sounds like there is some chance you may be in a position to care for your snake long-term after all. Here are some additional considerations and thoughts (and, by the way, I don't know of any snakes with a lifespan much shorter than 15 years):

While you may think now that you will be staying at home for the entire four years of college, that may change. My parents bought horses for me my senior year in high school--something I had wanted and studied for ALL my life. I stayed home for college and took care of them. But after two and a half years of watching the fun everyone else was having in the dorms, I finally convinced my parents that I really needed to live on campus. Campus life is fun. It's AWESOME, to be precise. I still miss it, and I'm 33 years old. :p So, consider whether, if it ever became an option, you would trade campus life (living with your best friend, down the hall from your other buddies, late-night pizza parties, mid-night outings, constant companionship, walking to class, relative independence, napping until five minutes before class, staying up all night typing term papers...) for having a snake now, rather than having one five years from now. In my case, we ended up finding new homes for the horses--a painful decision that still hurts a little bit. I wish I had waited until after I was settled in a home of my own.

If you're still convinced you want and can provide proper long-term care for a snake, here are some thoughts that might help you convince your parents. I love the dorm freezer idea for storing the rats/mice, by the way. Some other thoughts:

Find out, by talking to them, their specific reasons for believing that you won't always provide its care. Then plan how you can change their feelings on this. It might mean that you show them you're responsible enough to hold down a job for an agreed-upon amount of time, or that you're able to save up enough money not only to purchase and house your snake but to have an emergency vet-care fund as well. Be creative, and perhaps you'll come up with some *action* you can take to show them that you are not the 8-year-old hamster owner any longer.

And, of course, point out to them that a snake is an easier pet to care for than a hamster. Hamsters need thorough cage cleanings much more often, water changes, frequent feeding. They have a smell and they're much more likely to bite than a snake. And so on.

The bottom line is, though, that if you renege on your agreement, or go away to college, or take a semester overseas, they *are* the ones who will have to care for this snake. So be sensitive to that fact and try to find ways to work with them. Perhaps it would help if you had a fellow snake-loving friend who would agree to provide long-term care in the event that you have an extended absence, or some other similar agreement.

Anyway, I wish you the best with whatever comes about. I have made my share of pet mistakes, and at least snakes are lower maintenance than horses (or conures, or dogs, to name a couple other mistakes I made in my young and impetuous days), but they are long-lived and they do deserve to have their needs considered as well.

Good luck with your decision, and I wish you the best.

Heather

I really have taken all these into consideration and I think I'll try and compare the pros and cons of the situation. My bottom line through this descision will always be for the welfare of the snake. I want to be the best owner I can be so if my snake ownership has to wait so that I can properly care for a BP then so be it. I don't want to be one of those people who ends up giving away or selling their snake because it doesn't work right now. Also, many things can still change in my life that I won't be able to prepare for and I will have to try to prepare for as many things as possible and if in the end I decide it's not the time then at least I can say I handled the situation maturely and did what was best for both me and the snake.

It sounds like you're really getting your ducks in a row, and thinking this through responsibly. I'm sure whatever you decide it will be a good decision, and I wish you the best! :)

Heather

Thank you very much for the support and the ideas everyone you've all been a great help. :) :)