Kids and snakes

Here's a story of something that I did today that made me feel accomplished:D

Today, my friend's younger sister (8 y/o) came over with him to my house. He's my neighbor and he comes over to handle my snakes all of the time, and this time he brought his sister with him. His sister is very scared of snakes, so I decided to teach her some things about them. I got out my BP, Candice, to show her how all snakes aren't mean. Candice was the PERFECT example of a nice snake. She's great with people:). Anyways, I was holding Candice's head while my friend's sister was petting the snake (I guess it made her feel more comfortable). After a little bit of petting, she wanted to hold her but she wasn't too sure. So I held half of Candice's body and she held the other half (tail end). After that, she held Candice but was a little frightened because Candice kept wanting to smell her hands, but that's just what snakes do. After I was showing her that Candice wouldn't bite or harm her by me petting her head, my friend's sister started petting Candice's head and then after a while she got used to Candice smelling her. After she handled Candice, she held my Dumeril's boa, my Corn snake, and my other BP. She isn't afraid of snakes anymore, in fact, she LOVES them now.

After this happened today, I feel like I want to teach kids that all snakes aren't bad because many kids just think of snakes as scary, mean monsters. They really aren't, they have just heard of the negative things people say about snakes. I think if more people were informed about the positive side of snakes, there wouldn't be so much fear.:salute:

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Originally Posted by BallPythonLOVER

Here's a story of something that I did today that made me feel accomplished:D

Today, my friend's younger sister (8 y/o) came over with him to my house. He's my neighbor and he comes over to handle my snakes all of the time, and this time he brought his sister with him. His sister is very scared of snakes, so I decided to teach her some things about them. I got out my BP, Candice, to show her how all snakes aren't mean. Candice was the PERFECT example of a nice snake. She's great with people:). Anyways, I was holding Candice's head while my friend's sister was petting the snake (I guess it made her feel more comfortable). After a little bit of petting, she wanted to hold her but she wasn't too sure. So I held half of Candice's body and she held the other half (tail end). After that, she held Candice but was a little frightened because Candice kept wanting to smell her hands, but that's just what snakes do. After I was showing her that Candice wouldn't bite or harm her by me petting her head, my friend's sister started petting Candice's head and then after a while she got used to Candice smelling her. After she handled Candice, she held my Dumeril's boa, my Corn snake, and my other BP. She isn't afraid of snakes anymore, in fact, she LOVES them now.

After this happened today, I feel like I want to teach kids that all snakes aren't bad because many kids just think of snakes as scary, mean monsters. They really aren't, they have just heard of the negative things people say about snakes. I think if more people were informed about the positive side of snakes, there wouldn't be so much fear.:salute:

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very nice!! i live with my sister and her husband and my nephew and the nephew likes to bring his friends over to hold some of my snakes... i just have to sanitize their hands cause they are10 year old kids and they will grab ne thing lol.

A little to go along with this story:
We have a pet store here that has alot of animals. Snakes, hamster, gerbals, lizards, bunnys, rats, birds, fish, and salt water fish. Well with all the animals alot of groups of kids come in and get to see and handle the animals. Well none of the kids ever want to hold the snakes at all. And everytime we go they no that my little one that is 9 wants to hold ALL the snakes. Well today we went in to get a rat for her BP and there was a church group there and as always no one wanted to hold the snakes. So one of the handlers there said her Sara (my little one) come over here. So she went over and was holding a 4ft. red tail and when the kids seen here holding them and walking around with them they wanted to. So with a little help from my 9 yr old they had alot of happy kids that get to tell there parents they got to hold a snake!:)

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Originally Posted by Friday2214

A little to go along with this story:
We have a pet store here that has alot of animals. Snakes, hamster, gerbals, lizards, bunnys, rats, birds, fish, and salt water fish. Well with all the animals alot of groups of kids come in and get to see and handle the animals. Well none of the kids ever want to hold the snakes at all. And everytime we go they no that my little one that is 9 wants to hold ALL the snakes. Well today we went in to get a rat for her BP and there was a church group there and as always no one wanted to hold the snakes. So one of the handlers there said her Sara (my little one) come over here. So she went over and was holding a 4ft. red tail and when the kids seen here holding them and walking around with them they wanted to. So with a little help from my 9 yr old they had alot of happy kids that get to tell there parents they got to hold a snake!:)

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Wow that's exciting! I'm always the one to go hold snakes whenever possible lol. If I'm in a store, and there are snakes around me, I'm holding one in 2 seconds lol. That's a great story by the way(:

I agree, it's fun showing poeple how cool snakes are, and since I work at a reptile store I get to do it all the time :D :D

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Originally Posted by BallPythonLOVER

She isn't afraid of snakes anymore, in fact, she LOVES them now.

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Awww, that's heartwarming. Well done! :gj:

Any time I've seen snakes presented to kids as part of a pet/animal presentation, most kids are eager to touch the snakes. A visit from the local Humane Society to the preschool our kids attended was one such example. I had 5 or 6 willing kids sitting on a bench, with "Mrs. Pretzel" (BP) stretched out on their laps. A Kodak moment! I developed my own love of snakes at the age of 7 or 8, before I had the chance to develop the fear of them that most people have, thank goodness.

So, since you now want to teach more kids about snakes, perhaps you can do something like what the Humane Society lady did here. :)

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Originally Posted by Hulihzack

I agree, it's fun showing poeple how cool snakes are, and since I work at a reptile store I get to do it all the time :D :D

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Lol I seriously want to work where you work one day. I would so enjoy that job since I'm always telling my friends different things about snakes daily and I love seeing all the reptiles at that reptile store lol. They are so awesome:)

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Originally Posted by Patricia

Awww, that's heartwarming. Well done! :gj:

Any time I've seen snakes presented to kids as part of a pet/animal presentation, most kids are eager to touch the snakes. A visit from the local Humane Society to the preschool our kids attended was one such example. I had 5 or 6 willing kids sitting on a bench, with "Mrs. Pretzel" (BP) stretched out on their laps. A Kodak moment! I developed my own love of snakes at the age of 7 or 8, before I had the chance to develop the fear of them that most people have, thank goodness.

So, since you now want to teach more kids about snakes, perhaps you can do something like what the Humane Society lady did here. :)

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I really want to try to go to schools and classes and bring a few of my snakes with me to show the kids. I think that would be so much fun since I love telling people about snakes and I find snakes an interesting to talk about with to anyone because I have so much to say even if I'm a little shy talking to the person I will just go on and on xD

That's great!

I love showing my snakes off. I just introduced a friend's five year old to snakes last week. He went from shy to loving them. In fact, I got him a male ball python ;) I can't wait to give it to him! (of course his mom knows and approves!).

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Originally Posted by TheOtherLeadingBrand

That's great!

I love showing my snakes off. I just introduced a friend's five year old to snakes last week. He went from shy to loving them. In fact, I got him a male ball python ;) I can't wait to give it to him! (of course his mom knows and approves!).

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Wow that's really awesome and really nice! If I were that kid, I would so enjoy that present lol. I bet he would absolutely love it!:)

It all ends well. I bought the female and the enclosure, and the male being a normal I really have no need for another normal male as just a pet... so I figured, hey, perfect! :)

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Originally Posted by TheOtherLeadingBrand

It all ends well. I bought the female and the enclosure, and the male being a normal I really have no need for another normal male as just a pet... so I figured, hey, perfect! :)

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Ya that kid is going to be one lucky kid(: I wish I could've had snakes when I was that age, but I got my first snake at 10 y/o. He was a lil Corn snake, but a really cute one and I've always wanted one since I was like 4 or 5 y/o so it was perfect. Took me a while to get my mom into lettin me have a BP cuz she didn't like them since my sister had one that was mean and not happy but she didn't have the proper setup. If I woulda knew that when she still had it I probably would have fixed that, but at least I have my two BPs now that I plan on breeding(:

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Originally Posted by BallPythonLOVER

I really want to try to go to schools and classes and bring a few of my snakes with me to show the kids.

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As a longtime mom and new paraeducator at our elementary school, I can tell you that if what you want to do ties in with the curriculum, schools will be glad to have you.

The end-of-year reward for our annual reading program is a train trip to a nearby marine biology center that is set up to teach school kids about marine life. The kids happily touch all sorts of weird underwater critters, from spiny to smooth. Even though it's a reward for all ages, it's still educational as it ties in somehow, somewhere, with science. :)

But going back to your OP, gosh, that 8yo girl could grow up to be a snake lover solely because of you. It brings a tear to my eye :::sniff::: because I was once an 8yo girl falling in love with snakes. Have waited nearly 40 years to get my first one. :)

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Originally Posted by Patricia

As a longtime mom and new paraeducator at our elementary school, I can tell you that if what you want to do ties in with the curriculum, schools will be glad to have you.

The end-of-year reward for our annual reading program is a train trip to a nearby marine biology center that is set up to teach school kids about marine life. The kids happily touch all sorts of weird underwater critters, from spiny to smooth. Even though it's a reward for all ages, it's still educational as it ties in somehow, somewhere, with science. :)

But going back to your OP, gosh, that 8yo girl could grow up to be a snake lover solely because of you. It brings a tear to my eye :::sniff::: because I was once an 8yo girl falling in love with snakes. Have waited nearly 40 years to get my first one. :)

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40 yrs? That would seem like FOREVER to me lol. I'm sort of an impatient person, so for example I want to breed my snakes now but I'll have to wait another 6 months-1 year to breed my BPs. Lol. When I was 4 I started to fall in love with snakes and I got my first at 10. Steve Irwin inspired me to love and respect snakes, which I totally do and will for the rest of my life. The little 8 y/o kept walking around my house with my BP. She absolutely loves my BP out of all the snakes and reptiles I own. :)

Funny story actually
My 2 year-old nephew loves snakes!
He holds my 2 foot ball python all the time when he is at my house, he likes petting my 4-5 foot female, and also he got to have a 10 foot burm drape over his shoulders, and he wasn't scared one bit!
He got it from me, I have influenced my little nephew, and I'm proud:)
PS= He is more brave then his grandpa(my dad) when it comes to snakes, my dad threatened to kill mine cuz I made my snake touch him :)Never doing that again, or am I?

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Originally Posted by BallPythonLOVER

Steve Irwin inspired me to love and respect snakes

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We'd been watching his shows for years by the time he died. Like Michael Jackson, I still can't believe he's really gone, after the suddenness of both their deaths.

Nearly 40 years because it was only a few months ago when I discovered that snakes also eat f/t. It was the notion of feeding a live critter (I love all critters, and we've also had rats as much-loved family pets) that kept me from getting a snake of my own. Like others posting in this thread, I'm the one who's always asking to hold whatever snake was around. It's neat to finally have my own. And, yes, both our girls are already unafraid of snakes. With a mother like me, they couldn't possibly grow up to be afraid of any animals, kinda like Steve Irwin's kids, LOL!

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Originally Posted by guambomb832

Funny story actually
My 2 year-old nephew loves snakes!
He holds my 2 foot ball python all the time when he is at my house, he likes petting my 4-5 foot female, and also he got to have a 10 foot burm drape over his shoulders, and he wasn't scared one bit!
He got it from me, I have influenced my little nephew, and I'm proud:)
PS= He is more brave then his grandpa(my dad) when it comes to snakes, my dad threatened to kill mine cuz I made my snake touch him :)Never doing that again, or am I?

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Haha that's really funny. My grandpa (and my grandma) hate all of my snakes. They are terrified, and tell me that they'll kill me. They wont get large enough to hurt me, and I won't stop lovin' em! xD

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Originally Posted by BallPythonLOVER

Haha that's really funny. My grandpa (and my grandma) hate all of my snakes. They are terrified, and tell me that they'll kill me. They wont get large enough to hurt me, and I won't stop lovin' em! xD

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My parents tell me that all the time :)
But they said if it gets out once, its time to get rid of it, but then I could give them to my friend so if that does happen, I can just give it to him and I can check up on it, heck, I can just keep it at his house and just take care of it from there, but yea that ain't happening :)

All in all, good post!

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Originally Posted by guambomb832

All in all, good post!

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Not gonna lie, this post made me feel like going back to work. It feels good to enjoy my job for once. :D

all of my friends are scared to hold my bp, even if its a baby, i said i got bit it doesnt hurt and he is still scared and hes 18 lol all of them are scared of snakes.

today at the pet store, it was really cool to see my girl help alot of other kids to not be so shy. It was smart on the handlers part to do that

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Originally Posted by BallPythonLOVER

. They are terrified, and tell me that they'll kill me. They wont get large enough to hurt me, and I won't stop lovin' em! xD

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hah thats what my mom tells me, cuz i want to make a rack and put it by my bed , she told me if it got out it will kill me, ahah