Snake reactions from your family and friends

[MissterDog]

If my friends and family are allowed to spam their facebook with kids and baby pictures then I'm allowed to do the same. Mine just don't have legs :p

[55fingers]

I believe the majority of my friends and family dislike snakes, but I can tell that they care enough about me and my interests to comment on how pretty the snake is or to listen to me rambling on about snakes. I do get SOME negative comments, but nothing impolite, mostly just playful.

I don't understand it really. If you posted a picture of you hugging your dog, you wouldn't expect someone who dislikes dogs to comment "Ewww" or anything.

[Kira]

I believe the majority of my friends and family dislike snakes, but I can tell that they care enough about me and my interests to comment on how pretty the snake is or to listen to me rambling on about snakes. I do get SOME negative comments, but nothing impolite, mostly just playful.

I don't understand it really. If you posted a picture of you hugging your dog, you wouldn't expect someone who dislikes dogs to comment "Ewww" or anything.

Exactly. I love dogs but there are certain breeds that I dislike with a passion. But I would never ever dream of saying "Ewww you have a [breed]?" either in person or on the internet. Because that's someone's pet so obviously they love it very much. I don't like how that would be considered so rude but it seems socially acceptable to say rude things about reptiles- especially snakes.

I don't expect people in my life to love snakes just because I have one. What I do expect is respect for all of my pets regardless if they have fur or not.

[Zincubus]

I believe the majority of my friends and family dislike snakes, but I can tell that they care enough about me and my interests to comment on how pretty the snake is or to listen to me rambling on about snakes. I do get SOME negative comments, but nothing impolite, mostly just playful.

I don't understand it really. If you posted a picture of you hugging your dog, you wouldn't expect someone who dislikes dogs to comment "Ewww" or anything.

You took ALL the words out of my mouth (saved me a job ).

I'm wondering, as regards specifically snakes , if it's just the way we are all kinda programmed by our families to protect us and by the media in general ??

Going back 50 years or so when I was a kid ( I'm 60 now ) the only time I saw a snake was on the telly and it was likely to be a scary looking Cobra striking at someone or if we went to the local Zoo there'd only be a few snakes ... usually huge dirty brown Boas or Burms lying motionless in the corner about 8' away .. I don't even recall seeing a real snake's head or face ..

So those images stuck with me for decades .. scary or just boring .

Thankfully being an animal lover they always intrigued me but it was only when I saw and held a beautiful yellow Butter Corn snake that it dawned on me that were beautiful, colourful and friendly snakes in the world ..

That's when my addiction kicked in !


To answer the question ...

I used to tell anyone and everyone as I was so proud of my beautiful snakes and wanted people to know that they didn't have to be scary or bland looking ... sadly the general reactions were negative..... from scowls to disgust with a just a few intrigued ones ..

I now 'play the percentages' and rarely mention it nowadays

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[Craiga 01453]

I never thought about this until recently but I just recently got my first BP whom I absolutely adore. I have posted a couple pictures of her on facebook and Instagram and have received some snake hate from folks who don't usually comment at all on anything and the rest of my friends have stayed silent. I usually pretty positive reactions from friends and family on my pics and comments but when I post snake stuff I get like to 2 likes, 2 negative comments and crickets.

Makes me wonder if I just shouldn't bother posting my snake pics.

Do you have reactions like this? Do you just not post snake stuff on facebook?

As an extension I have also had pretty negative reactions from friends and family that I have told about my snakes in person. A real close friend declared that he would never come to my house again.

Not sure how to react to this kind of stuff. As I said I am really new to reptile keeping in general.

Thanks,

Phily D

I'm going to try to make this simple: YOU DO YOU.


Don't let other people's opinions rent space in your head. If you enjoy posting pics, post pics.

I got rid of my FB years ago. My life is better without the drama and all the BS. If I want to know what Tony had for lunch, I'll ask him. I already know who is vegan or does cross fit, don't need to hear about it 13x a day. Nor do I need people offering their two cents at 2am written in what can only be described as Drunkanese.
...but that's ME!!! More power to those who care to share that stuff. I simply choose not to follow it.

Bottom line, do what makes YOU happy. I leave you with a Ben Harper lyric:

"My choice is what I choose to do
and if I'm causing no harm it shouldn't bother you.
Your choice is who who choose to be
and if you're causing no harm then you're alright with me."

[Dianne]

I’ve only recently shared some photos of my critters on FB, mostly the newest 4 BP’s because I was so excited to get them. I don’t have a huge FB friend list, maybe 20-25, predominantly family and close friends, so the majority already know I’m a snake nut. There’s only one friend, his wife, and one of my sisters that are into reptiles, so they are always positive. A couple of cousins will remark on their beauty, even if they wouldn’t get near them with a ten foot pole.

I’ve only had one person make a really negative comment (kill it, run over it with my Suburban), which was easy enough to delete from my thread. I understand his post, he is terrified of snakes...truly phobic. He most likely was quite unhappy when a large picture of a snake popped up on his feed. He has been to my house, and does okay because the snakes are in a separate room in locking cages. There is no chance of a slithering surprise in the living room and he can’t seem them, so they aren’t there. lol

So with that long winded reply, enjoy posting your babies. As others have said, you could be the catalyst that changes someone’s perspective or makes them take a step towards getting one of these incredible animals. And you can always post here for the positive feedback.

[PhilyD]

What I would really love to do is inspire people to look at these creatures with an open mind. My mind was changed drastically the first time I held a BP and a corn snake on the same day. Monday I hated snakes and feared them, Tuesday I held snakes and Wednesday I started researching how to keep them (figuratively of course). I would like to help change peoples minds so that the fear can die. I love my snakes like I love my dog and I think if I just keep sharing positive snake pics I might just dull down some of the fear and hate. If not at least I'll bring a little joy to those that appreciate them.

[purpleroan]

I know I'm totally playing off of stereotypes here, which I know oftentimes aren't even true, but I find it hilarious that since I got my snake, the majority of people who are afraid of her/disgusted are actually "tough" men! Lol...my aspiring-forest-ranger brother can't stand them and I've gotten far more "eww"s from my male friends and acquaintances than I would've imagined. My boyfriend really loves her though, which I'm happy about since he was pretty ambivalent when I first pitched the idea to him (he wants a bull snake now, he saw one and thought it was adorable). By and large though, it's all my female friends, even the "girlier" ones that think she's the coolest thing! I send my mom pictures and she posts them on Facebook talking about her "granddaughter", ahaha.

It's kind of upsetting though, when my mom or I share images of her how many people openly voice their disgust with my much-loved pet and feel it's totally ok to be mean because she's a snake...I've never been a fan of small dogs, but god forbid I wrote how I really felt about them on somebody's random picture of Fluffy! all hell would break loose in those comments

[Bogertophis]

I hate to generalize, purpleroan, but like you, I find more gals (like myself) that are open-minded about snakes (or really love them) than men also.
But it won't stop me from trying to show people how cool snakes really are...and we DO change some minds.

[EL-Ziggy]

I usually only post snake pics in some of the FB groups I'm in but after reading this thread again. I think I'll start posting more. I could care less about the haters, and like Philly D said, maybe I can even ignite an interest in someone else.