Do you let your family hold your snakes?

[fluffpuffgerbil]

I personally don't have one yet, but when I catch snakes outside, I don't let my sister or anyone else who asks hold them. At first I wasn't sure why but yesterday I found out when I caught a garter about 8 inches and I let my sis hold her while I washed my hands real quick and when I come back I found that she dropped her and then I see the snake making a quick escape through a crack in our deck. I grabbed the snake who was halfway down the deck and gently pulled her out. Let's just say I don't trust her to hold anymore fast and skittish garter babies.
On another note, I found it adorable and funny at the same time that the 8 inch garter decided to start chewing on my finger. XD I snapped a pic of her doing it.
http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...bitten.png(pic should show...)
But when I get a BP, I don't think I'll be letting many people hold it until I completely gain their trust or I'm /right there/ watching them. Not that many people in the family besides me will probably want to hold it. XD

So, do you let your family hold your pet snakes?

[R_lopez]

There all :cens0r: scared of them

[Redneck_Crow]

I don't let people handle my snakes if they're being jerks about it. But if they're curious about snakes and show a respect for the animal, I allow it.

I'm there to watch and make sure that both the snake and the handler are safe. I've had many people who were afraid of snakes hold my snakes over the years and it's often the first snake that they have ever touched. It happened again yesterday and I never get tired of watching their expressions change as they find out that snakes aren't slimy or nasty or mean.

Usually I start them out with the snake on a table in front of them and letting them touch the snake's back and tail. Within a few minutes I place the snake in their hands and explain how to support a snake so that it is not afraid. If I approach them by letting them just touch the snake first and work up to holding it, I find that a whole lot of people who are "afraid" of snakes end up liking them.

[fluffpuffgerbil]

XD My fam isn't scared of them, I just don't' trust them with the snakes I catch. XD Plus I bring garters in all the time for pictures before I let them go.

[Redneck_Crow]

I've let my brother handle my snakes plenty of times. He's good with animals and he reads them well. He handles them with no jerking or sudden moves and animals do fine with him. He's been bitten by a whole lot worse than snakes, he's not afraid of a ball python bite and the snakes seem to know so they react well to him.

His son is a different story. He's not mean to animals but he is exuberant. I have't let him handle my snakes yet but will in the near future as long as I am right there to make sure that he pays attention and doesn't startle the snake.

[Maixx]

My bp's yes, my rat, no (not yet) she is lightning fast and extremely active.

My wife, who was scared of snakes a year ago has started to pet them, and now is willing to hold them. She has even adopted my little normal female as "her girl".
My boys (11,12) are very good with them, I'm even considering letting my 11 year old get one of his own, supervised. My 12 year old is only home 1/2 the year.

With a few minutes of do's and don't I will even let some of the neighborhood kids hold them. I think its helps to educate others on snakes, and undo some of the damage from crap shows like "Man eating super snake"

[llovelace]

My grandson is allowed to go into the hatchling rack, and hold the snakes. Come to think of it, he's the only person I let go into the snake room unsupervised. Yes I do let my family handle the animals, I only wish they'd show up on cleaning days lol

[fluffpuffgerbil]

It's mainly my younger sister... She's 12, but with the garters I just don't trust her not to lose the little ones when I give them to her to hold.
So when I get a python, I think I'll let her and my sisters when they're sitting down.
My neighbors, if they wanted to pet him, they'd have to sit also. They are both younger girls(8 and 6) and there's nothing I can fully trust them with. XD(I'm just not a terribly trusting person when iti comes to reptiles)

[ODoyle90]

My brothers aren't too fond of mine, but have held them no problem. I even got my mom to hold my BP for a minute when she came to visit. That was a huge barrier to overcome with her. I'll also let friends hold him if they are interested. However, if the person doesn't want to, I don't urge any further. And everyone gets the rundown of the basic do's and dont's. That way there are no surprises on our end, or my snake's!

[python_addict]

i have reasons not to trust my family anymore i left for 2 weeks with my snakes in their care and i came to check on them and my caramel albino female was dead thats why I want to get them a corn snake or something inexpensive unlike my caramel.....