Why do you like snakes?

[Cheesenugget]

Growing up, I always thought snakes were more fascinating than scary (same for rats) while many of my peers feel differently. I would read book after book about animals, especially snakes, at my local library. The thought of keeping them as a pet was based on what others told me ("they will eat you") or that they are all wild and uncontrollable, so it is best to left them be. You know those PETA messages you get about how drinking milk is bad, etc... I was in that camp at the start.

My first encounter with a pet snake was a brief one. My ex's roommate had a corn snake in a glass tank in the living room. I still remembered how pretty the orange and red coloring it had. I thought to myself at the time, wow, a wild snake in the living room! His roommate must be some sort of an expert (lol. He is usually high from smoking pot).

Knowing that snakes can be kept as pets, I always wanted one. Of course, living with your parents who hated snakes immediately prevented that idea from coming to fruition. It is that curiosity, I think, and the beauty, of snakes that caught my attention. I wanted more.

At the same time, I started working in dog and cat rescues. A lot of the dog/cat rescuers would do anything and everything to promote health, mental wellbeing and love for cat and dog companionships. Ironically, many of the same people who claim to "love animals" is the same who would not hesitate to kill a harmless snake at the shelter's yard, or say things like "Lizards and snakes are dangerous and they can never be pets."

About a few years ago, I started to attend reptile expos because my friend is a huge reptile fan. I did not understand it; are these animals not as dangerous as everyone had been saying? I watched a 5 year old child handle a ball python, and another child picked up a bearded dragon. And no one got bit! Then I petted a bearded dragon for the first time. No blood shed, it did not go for the jugular... Whoa, my mind is blown. That is when I started collecting lizards. I was still unsure about snakes at the time. They seem wilder than lizards.. Is it okay to have them as pets?

A year or so later, at a local reptile store, I held a baby piebald for the first time. It was so relaxed, curious about me as I was about it. Yeap. Eff those PETA people. They obviously never held a snake, much less kept one. Moreover, I learned from others that most snakes available in the pet industry are not "wild" per se, they are mostly captive bred (ie corn).