Why do peole have to be so horrible!

Ok I'm tire of hearing every one I meet say "oh my god you have a python, the state is gonna come and take your kids away"

I spend a good portion of my day trying to educate all the people around me that snakes make great pets. I feel like I should start hitting these stupid people! I had to ask for some help lately to cover some of my bills, and everyone I asked just said "well get rid of the snake"
Like they think the snake caused the "its not a depression" and its the snake's fault so many people are out of work, its the snake that is the root of all evil.:mad::taz:
I look at them and say, I love my python, I don't care what you think I'm keeping it!!!!!!
I was chatting a couple days ago and was told how totaly gross snakes were, I didn't know they were gross, I think they are cool. The stupid chick that said that even iggyd me because I have a snake.

I'm sad to know that my 5yo daughter is smarter than all those people in charge of this state.

To ALL of those people I say just wait, one day I will have more than one little BP.

Don't worry too much about ignorant people. Just try to educate the ones that seem open to listening to actual information rather than the old myths.
There's nothing wrong with having a pet, and the idea that a snake would be the reason for needing finiancial assistance is laughable.
Spend a little more time here with the cool herpers, and ignore the losers.

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Originally Posted by JamieC

Ok I'm tire of hearing every one I meet say "oh my god you have a python, the state is gonna come and take your kids away"

I spend a good portion of my day trying to educate all the people around me that snakes make great pets. I feel like I should start hitting these stupid people! I had to ask for some help lately to cover some of my bills, and everyone I asked just said "well get rid of the snake"
Like they think the snake caused the "its not a depression" and its the snake's fault so many people are out of work, its the snake that is the root of all evil.:mad::taz:
I look at them and say, I love my python, I don't care what you think I'm keeping it!!!!!!
I was chatting a couple days ago and was told how totaly gross snakes were, I didn't know they were gross, I think they are cool. The stupid chick that said that even iggyd me because I have a snake.

I'm sad to know that my 5yo daughter is smarter than all those people in charge of this state.

To ALL of those people I say just wait, one day I will have more than one little BP.

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i got 8 b0as but ive never had this problem most people i meet like them

In my experience, it takes a lot of time & patience to educate people about snakes. And some will never come around. Pretty much everyone I work with now asks me how they are doing, do I have babies yet, have I added any more to my collection, etc. Not many of them want me to bring one in for show and tell...lol...but they are all polite about it (I manage a law firm). As for the family, they are all still somewhat afraid of them, but send me snake pics, weather updates (so they don't get sick...haha), and things like that. Same with my friends. A handful have volunteered to care for them while I am away, but most just ask polite questions about them.

But I got the looks of disgust, you-must-be crazy looks/comments, and my dad flipped out when I brought a snake over during a visit (my mom said it was ok...uh huh). So it really has taken a lot of tolerance on my part.

Hang in there & you will come across a few people that you will manage to educate (at least to a degree), and it'll seem worth it to put up with the others.

yeah i know how it is. why is it that whenever i tell someone i have snakes they instantly tell me about that one time they ran one over with the lawn mower, or chopped one up with a shovel. i know how aggrivating it is.

I find some of it funny, there are those who say my snake is gonna eat me/my kids. And then I tell a person who knows about snakes (when they ask what kind I have) oh I just have a BP, and hear the sound of them hitting the floor laughing.
My little girl bp can't even eat a full grown rat, let alone a 50-60lb child

People who meet me as the girl with reptiles from my mom, already know that me and my mom are pretty smart people and are not judgemental.
When I say 16 reptiles (going on 18 :D) and 13 of them are snakes.. people tend to wonder though. :rolleyes:

ignorance != intelligence.

Either way, yes it sucks but unfortunately ignorance is a part of life. You can't convince everyone.

Most of my family is that way. My friends are more open to it though. I just don't get some of my family to my house as much since my 2 BP might try and eat them:banana:

I have a general distaste for peoples opinions. I meet people who have kept snakes for a long time I would love to hit with a 2x4. There's a guy I met trying to convenes me his red tail will only get 4 foot because he's keeping it in a small tank. I don't want to lead to a topic about snakes growing to enclosure size though. I think people who should be experienced and aren't are the worst. If a person could care less about snakes then their lives are lived contently. To torture an animal so you get some kind of gain from it is way beyond me.

small minds

Sadly, there are more of THEM out there than there are of US. :D

I get very mixed reactions when I tell people about my animals, and I've started scrutinizing closely before mentioning the snakes to avoid some of the really heated comments. Still, whenever I say that I have 15 snakes I get some really wide-eyed looks...even from the folks that like reptiles.

The basic fact is that snakes have a very bad reputation that has been created over hundreds of years. Yes, it's inaccurate and incorrect, but that doesn't matter to the truly close-minded. The main thing to do is educate those who are still open to information and laugh off the idiots who are too stubborn to hear a word of truth. People like that really hate it when you laugh at them. :D And it's a lot more rewarding than wasting your breath trying to explain.

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Originally Posted by nobody

yeah i know how it is. why is it that whenever i tell someone i have snakes they instantly tell me about that one time they ran one over with the lawn mower, or chopped one up with a shovel. i know how aggrivating it is.

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I have in-laws in South Dakota that do the same exact thing, Aaron! When I went out there to visit, the Grandma was delighted that I wasn't having any luck finding snakes around their place. She was stoked, and bragged that just a few years ago, you'd find garter snakes under just about everything in their backyard, but she's since chopped off all their heads with the shovel.

I told them how I like snakes, and own a couple of garter snakes.

"You should have seen Uncle Stupid last year, he seen this big ol snake crawling away, so he chased it down and grabbed it by the tail and started swinging it above his head like a rope!"

Yes, people suck.
I feel lucky they're only in-laws... and they're halfway across the country.

The hardest part of this, the part that I don't get, is why so many people want to hurt/maim/kill an animal that is so beneficial to us. I can't even find it in me to kill a wild mouse in the house, I trap them and set them free outside.
I argued once with a local hunter, telling him what he was doing was wrong, not because he shot and killed an animal, because he only wanted its head for a trophy, and at the butcher shop he was asked if he wanted to donate the rest of the meat, and he said NO.


People should not kill for fun:colbert:! If it is for food, ok. If it is for survival, ok.

If a wild snake bites you it is your own fault!

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Originally Posted by scutechute

I have in-laws in South Dakota ....
I feel lucky they're only in-laws... and they're halfway across the country.

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I wish mine where that far away.....can we come live with you.:tears:

I've really never gotten terribly adverse reactions. People laugh and shake their head and things of that nature. Thats about all. :D

Most people I've told have been quite interested. One girl at school said it was cool. :D
But I understand that not all are accepting of snakes..and than again, I dislike most of humanity.

I totally understand your feelings. People are idiots some times. I try really hard to be nice but sometimes you just get the most ridiculus things said to you. Like how so and so's uncle had a 15 foot ball python that ate his cat. I tried to "educate" the guy that balls don't get that big but he argued until he walked away. I have also heard that all snakes should be banned as pets because of all those giant snakes in the everglades. I asked that guy if he had a cat and when he responded that he did I told him that pet cats do more damage to native fauna than any other pet animal I knew of he just huffed and stormed away.

The fact is reptiles in general have not had good PR people from the beginning. All we can do is keep trying and ignore the idiots.

Good luck!