How To Get Someone That Does Not Like Snakes To Like Them?

[Siarah]

Ok so say that you are dating some one that is not particularly fond of snakes. . . But you have one. You are not living with this person yet but you 'plan' on living with this person once you are done school. This person has already basically told you that there is no way they are going to live with the snake in the house and has told you that you can build a little house outside of the house that they are in to keep the snake. (Which is totally crazy and a waste of money) Hell they even told you that you could own just 1 animal just 1 and it cannot be a snake, and you are an absolute animal lover who one day would like a couple dogs, 2 ferrets, some snakes, and many more animals. What do you do? Lol I know stupid post but I want to get peoples ideas.

[Thor26]

well its sounds like either way ur going to be unhappy you is the person afraid of snakes or just doesnt like animals.

[boafa]

Time to find some new dating material......

[Siarah]

Haha well see Boafa it may seem that simple but when you have been dating the person for a long time it is a little harder then "Finding new dating material." He does like animals he just doesn't want to have a million of them he says. But I want to convince him! I must convince him!

[redpython]

man, i had a similar situation once. this girl was college to be a lawyer, she already worked for one of louisville's top dogs and once she graduated she was going to be making the big bucks.

But this was beside the point. Her father was sick w/ a condition, so i heard everyday about salmonella and her dad dying for indirect contact w/ my snakes (he didn't die, she was just pessimistic).

Then she was scared of the snakes as well, but one day she started to warm up to them. So then she says, "how many of these snakes eat prekilled animals?" i say, "all but two." she says, well those two will not be living in my house. now mind you, we were far from married and she didn't even own a house.

So my reply was this, "The snakes were here before you, and they'll be here after you." needless to say, the relationship didn't last.

But here is the deal, if snakes are your passion, she should RESPECT your passion. if she doesn't, then she probably doesn't respect you.

[Siarah]

Hehe redpython it is a he and I am the she anyways I do not how shall I put this "Have the balls" to say this to him. Although I have told him how much they both mean to me. I am hoping that things will turn around

[Schlyne]

One of my close friends did quite a bit of collection downsizing to help "save" her marriage several years ago. It didn't work...and she regrets getting rid of every one of those animals.

It sounds like there may be potential for a lot of conflict in the future...but that's just my pessimistic opinion.

For the record, I would never get rid of my reptiles and/or inverts for somebody else. Willing to cut back on sheer numbers? Yes. (Acutally, most of the inverts would leave before the reptiles would..and the reptiles are far more work intensive.) Get rid of them all or only have a select few? No. This is a part of who I am.

[azak323]

Did you get the snake before you started dating him or after? Because if you had it before you were even in a relationship with him then he already made the decision to be with someone who owned a snake and, in my opinion, doesn't really have the right to tell you to get rid of it all of the sudden. The snake came first!

But, on another note, I do agree with some previous posters on here that this sounds like it's laying the foundation for some serious conflicts later on. Hope it all works out for ya.

[dsirkle]

Some people may either instinctively or by social conditioning have a dislike for snakes or a lack of compassion for animals in general. However, if he expects you to compromise with him to accept things about him that you aren't thrilled about, then he to will have to be willing to compromise with you (even if you may have to fabricate some dislike of something about his lifestyle in order to have some bargaining chips).

[.:LRG:.VinTaGe1947]

My gf and I are going through the same thing right now. When I got my first snake she would not even go in my room. She has gotten better; it takes a long time and baby steps for them to trust the snakes. She is still scared to sleep in a room with a snake, and she is still unsure about living in a house with them. But when you have two loves you have to get them work together.