Snake Phobia

[Venom]

Ok I must admit that before I purchased a Ball Python I had a fear of snakes. I went thru these little phobia classes to get over my fear, it was worth it, now I can pick my pets up like its nothing. Any of you all had a snake phobia at first? Would did you do to get over it?

[JimiSnakes]

My girlfriend has a snake phobia that she just can't get over. What classes did you take? It would be awesome if she could enjoy these fine creatures with me!

[Razaiel]

My husband has a phobia of them - his mother has always hated them and I'm afraid has instilled this fear in him from when he was little. Ugh - horrible smelly slimy things!! Problem is he doesn't even want to get over his phobia ...

[kjc]

my boyfriend did too, trick is to slowly get them used to it, first you get them to handle it being around, then feel them, and so on, it worked for him, now hes got one of his own and he wont leave it alone!

[Venom]

There was a guy in Florida a yr ago that raised pythons, I told him I wanted one soon but I was scared of snakes from childhood memories. He told me him and his wife offered snake/reptile training classes on weekend and it was free. So I took the classes for about 2 months. I remember having this 5ft python crawling over me, I thought I was gonna faint. He just crawled around and seemed to enjoy being handled.

Now when I bought my 2 baby pythons from Petco, the lady who was getting them for me was terrified and she was serioulsy shaking. I told her I could reach down and grab them if she wanted...lol. Although mine are just babies now, I know they will grow bigger, so I try to interact with them as much as I can to build that trust.

[kjc]

oh man, i love these guys, awesome temprement and i find it so calming just to hold them

[reptile-girl]

my grandma has a real phobia of them she'll like faint if she see's one (well almost)

[Ginevive]

That's pretty cool; snake-phobia classes! I think that more places should offer those.
I never had a phobia of them, but friends of mine had. When they visited and merely touched one of my snakes, it was a huge step for them. Seeing how they were harmless and not slimy, most people who I have seen touch one for the first time, go away feeling much less afraid.

[kjc]

i know, isnt it weird how so many people think snakes are slimy? so not true

[frankykeno]

What we do with anyone we know that's afraid of snakes is let them see our kids of varying ages handling our snakes with confidence. Makes a lot of adults feel sorta comforted that a kid can be "safe" with a Ball Python. Also I try to get them to focus not on the whole "big scarey" snake but on something specific like a pretty pattern on the snake or how it's muscles move so beautifully under it's scales or whatever. I always encourage our less snake loving friends to just touch the snake gently down it's body well away from the head (which I make sure is under control) so they can have a small experience of how lovely a snake feels without feeling "threatened" by the worry of getting bitten.

The only thing I wonder about is if snakes can pick up a fear scent from a human much like a dog can. Since I'm not sure, I'm always more careful that the snake is under good control around folks that are scared in case it makes one of our snakes react differently than it usually would.

Amazes me how often people have no basis for their fear of snakes and are quickly fascinated with ours. If someone is really phobic though it's not kind or fair to push them too fast to be around a snake.....real phobia is a tough thing to deal with.


~~Jo~~