Question about kids with herps

My 3 yr old loves all of our animals to death and always wants to hold them. I have no problem letting her sitting on the couch with my help of course. I have a 2 and a half foot burmese that she lets crawl on her. Now my mom thinks this is just not right but as long as I'm near to help I don't see a problem with it. I never let the animals near her if they are showing any kind of attitude either since I wont take a chance of her getting hurt.

I think your right on.

a small burm, you allow it to crawl on your 3 year old under your supervision, your kid loves herps.......THAT'S GREAT :gj:

i do the same with my step-son-to-be. he loves holding them and i figure, start teaching him now... what's it gonna hurt? i do make sure he washes his hands before and after handling. you never know with a 3yo... lol

well our six year old mikey already has his on bp (buddy) and he is wanting us to get him a girl snake to make baby's when they get older. The breeding gene takes off early. I think introducing kids to all pets especially reptiles is a good thing we've taken the snakes to his school it's amazing how many kids are not afraid of them curious for shure but it seems more adults that are afraid of them. We just make shure that all kids that come in contact with them use hand sanitzer when they are done.

Of course they have wash up before and after. She has a bottle of hand sanatizer that is just for holding all the animals and when she wants one she brings me the bottle and says please lol. Shes not even scared of the scropion and tarantula but those she only gets to pet while I hold lol. Also with me allowing her to hold them she leaves them alone more lol. She's already asked me for one of her own babies but 3 is still a little young lol.

Depends on the child and the snake, I let my husband grandson who is 5 handle some of my snakes that I know are the perfect fit for him.

Others I handle, and he can look at and/or pet them.

I started keeping and mainly handling herps when I was 11.. so I voted for my mom I guess... but yeah. Personally when I have kids I rather that they don't really hold herps at a very young age.. maybe touch a snake in it's enclosure or a monitor whatever. Little kids might drop a snake or squeeze it too hard, Just my plain old opinion. :)

I allow kids of any age to pet my Checkered Garter, but I only allow kids age 6 and up to actually hold him.

i let my 5 year old brother hold my bp and he's really gentle with it he was really afraid the first time but now he begs me to take it out and hold it...always when i'm around of course

Our 6 and 3 yr olds both hold the BP and the KSB. It all started with holding a friend's frog last July. We have our BP b/c it's really Ryan's - the 6 yr old! We have him to thank. So he may be on shortly, posting a poll asking, "How often do you let your parents hold your herps?" :P

They are both supervised while holding/petting the snakes. They are gentle and loving with them. And they wash up or use anti-bacterial hand liquid afterwards. And no more kissing, even though they beg!

Just like with anything though it all depends on the circumstances. Certain kids work well with certain snakes at certain times. Mikey knows that he must be calm to hold Buddy. The older kids know that they can't use their snakes (Emi and Severus) as fashion accessories or that sort of silliness. As long as the kids remember to respect their snakes and ours for the lovely creatures they are, then everyone's happy around here. :)

She only held the burmese once and it was when the burmese was in a good mood and only like 2 and a half feet. Now when the snake gets bigger she wont be holding it. I of course am right next to sittng with her helping her out no matter what animal. Our water monitor is a little grumpy most of the time when out of his cage so she knows she can look and pet but not hold. The bearded dragon is gentle and she can handle him if I am helping her with her hands.

I agree its a matter of each child and how they act and respect the animal. My son is still to rough so he doenst get to hold them yet.

I have let my 2 year old hold both of my corn snakes and he already knows to wash hands before and after each holding session. He also has partially held a sub-adult bp so he is comfortable with the idea. He initiates a holding session at least once a week and will say, Hold snake Matthew. and point to which snake he wants to hold. I see nothing wrong in letting children experience any animal as long as its under supervision and the child and animal are both suited for each other. here's to a future generation of children who will respect and protect animals.

Supervision and education is key..

Age is but a number. Education is forever :)

I think it needs mentioned when speaking about kids and herps that as the responsible adult and parent you make good decisions and plan for things.

Mike and I are bringing in a larger snake soon. She's a beautiful boa we are adopting from another BPNet member and she is over our normal 6 or 7 foot limit. We set that limit originally due to the age of our youngest child. Mike and I have thought for months about this snake, spoke extensively with her current owner about her temperment and are currently constructing a special enclosure for her. It features room for her and a level of security we feel is appropriate when housing a large snake around a small child. We've discussed safe handling procedures and what is appropriate with a snake of her size.

I think if you have small children in a home with larger snakes, it's incumbent on you as a parent and as a member of a greater herp community to make special provisions so that accidents and escapes do not happen. Even though this female boa would not be considered in the giant category, 8 or 9 feet of strong boa is not something to be casual about.

I have two children, a 3yro and an almost 2yro. Elliott was petting snakes, lizards, exc at least by the time he was two (catching bugs, exc long before that). Ethan is a bit rough so we assist him when petting, there was no option for under three so i voted 3-5.

I thought this would be a good place to post this since I haven't gotten around to doing a thread for it yet - here is a picture of me holding Mr. Snake at a snake education presentation we did at the Shepherdstown Library in WV on October 17th. Felix, my 3 year old, looks on as an atendee to the afterschool children's program meets and pets Mr. Snake. It was our part of introducing children, 3 - 10 yrs old, to a snake in a friendly and controlled environment - helping snakes get a better reputation in the world! :)

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...rdstownlib.jpg

I think Mr. Snake was thinking, "Got any books about mice?"

I agree that having a giant around smaller children does call for special practices. Right now our burmese is still a baby so we have her in a tank where neither child can reach her if they tried. As she gets too big for the tanks she will go into a special enclouser with locks that only me and her dad can reach and open.

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Originally Posted by MelissaFlipski

I thought this would be a good place to post this since I haven't gotten around to doing a thread for it yet - here is a picture of me holding Mr. Snake at a snake education presentation we did at the Shepherdstown Library in WV on October 17th. Felix, my 3 year old, looks on as an atendee to the afterschool children's program meets and pets Mr. Snake. It was our part of introducing children, 3 - 10 yrs old, to a snake in a friendly and controlled environment - helping snakes get a better reputation in the world! :)

http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...rdstownlib.jpg

I think Mr. Snake was thinking, "Got any books about mice?"

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What an awesome thing to do!! :gj:

Couldn't vote b/c there was no option for under 3.

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Originally Posted by MelissaFlipski

Our 6 and 3 yr olds both hold the BP and the KSB. It all started with holding a friend's frog last July. We have our BP b/c it's really Ryan's - the 6 yr old! We have him to thank. So he may be on shortly, posting a poll asking, "How often do you let your parents hold your herps?" :P

They are both supervised while holding/petting the snakes. They are gentle and loving with them. And they wash up or use anti-bacterial hand liquid afterwards. And no more kissing, even though they beg!

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Just so everyone knows this Ryan isn't me. OT:Your KSB doesn't nip?

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Originally Posted by nathanledet

What an awesome thing to do!! :gj:

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Thanks! Mr. Snake will be going to Felix's nursery school tomorrow for more of the same. But the ages will be 3-5 yrs. And we might take him to a 8-10 yr old school science club in the spring. Once Morty (KSB) is bigger and more settled, he might be joining the presentations or doing his own tour.

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Originally Posted by Onua Nuva

Just so everyone knows this Ryan isn't me. OT:Your KSB doesn't nip?

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No! :banana: He is only 6 weeks old or so; might be too early to judge his true personality yet. But he is a total sweetie so far. Hopefully, he's young enough that we can try to help him to stay that way.

I've heard some are nippy and some are not - just like some people. :rolleye2: