Stubborn Mother

[Andey]

Ok, so ive been pestering my mother for a few months now to get my first snake. She keeps telling me that she couldnt sleep at night know there was a snake it a room in the house. But the room im planning on keeping it in, she never goes in anyway.
She tells me shes scared of them, but if there is one on the TV, she dosnt flinch at all.
Were are planning to go to a local reptile shop when she gets some time of work to see if she will be okay with them, is the best thing to do?
any ideas on what to do?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

HER house HER rules and you should respect her wishes.

If you want a snake bad enough now you still will in 5 or 10 years from now, and once you will have YOUR own place you will be able to make up for it.

I grew up in a household where no reptiles were allowed, I respected my parent wishes.

Now that I am an adult and have settled down I made up for it by having a few snakes

[BPelizabeth]

well take her to the reptile store and handle the snake and see if she comes around. That is about all you can do though!! I think there is a huge mis-conception when it comes to snakes....and sometimes all it takes it seeing how it acts.

[abuja]

I had the same problem. Talk to her. Explain your reasons. Maybe tug on her heart with some heartfelt tears and why you FEEL you should have a snake.

[ScubaDiver007]

As a parent of teen age boys, I never thought I would accept any reptiles in my home. I think you should take her to a reptile show in your area. Maybe have another parent speak to her about the care and responsiblity that you will learn while caring for this creature. IF she gives in.. You better not let anything happen and you better care for it, you'll never hear the end of it.

and oh by the way.. We are up to 6 Ball pythons, one hog nose, 4 leopard geckos. My boys do most of the caring for them and my wife stays clear of all of them unless she likes the pattern.

[Dianna]

My mother was not too pleased with me getting an 5year old BP almost 3 months ago.. I'm an adult who pays rent, so her only true gripe was- "YUCK!"

It took 2 weeks for my BP to win over my mother's heart. Now she tells me how beautiful she is, and asks me to show off the snake when her friends visit.

My best advice, is to bring your mother to expos and pet stores so she can feel more comfortable with them. From there, all you can really do is cross your fingers and hope she likes them, or at least tolerates them

I wish you luck!

[Suzy]

I agree with what everybody else has said. The best way for her to accept snakes is for her to be informed about them. You can even sit with her at the computer and show her the different morphs and show her how beautiful they can be.

I had the same problem with my Mom, and she loves them now. I talked to her about it and explained that they won't get big enough to harm anything in the house. (I have colubrids right now, but i'll be getting my first BP next week.) Not only that, but they're a lot less maintainence than a cat or dog would be, and significantly less messy. I took my Mom to a local pet store (it wa mom & pop) and let her look at them. Then we went to a local herp show, and she looked at them. Eventually she felt comfortable with that, and let me get my first snake.

Whatever you do, don't buy a snake and bring it in without her permission. It will only end badly. Good luck!

[Karbon]

Just make sure you pick out a good tempered snake to hold at the store. Biting would probably not tilt your mother in favor of buying one if that happend.

[Clear]

Education Education Education.

[Moofins07]

This actually makes me smile.

I've been an animal NUT since... well, since ever. First it was rats, hamsters, horses, dogs, birds, and finally, snakes (never really went through a cat phase). The only animals I ever succeeded in getting while under my mom's roof were the rodents and a dog (not a breed of my choice; I've always loved pit bulls). Now, I'm living with my boyfriend and I've got a gorgeous pit bull mix, a sweet-as-pie cockatiel that literally landed on my doorstep, and a cute-as-can-be baby female ball python. The horse is yet to come, I can promise you that.

Just wait a little while and things will work themselves out.