I have 10 snakes, you have WHAT? (peoples reactions!)

[BPelizabeth]

Well I work as a teachers aide at a school. So I tell the kids all the time about the snakes. They are really into it....I try to incorporate them into teaching when I get a chance. ya know....there were 5 snakes ....10 more slithered up....how many do you have....lol. They totally love it. I also bring in snake sheds for them all the time. They are hanging up on the white boards...lol BUTTTTTTTT kids tell their parents ....and the parents are like....ugh. I have heard it all. Mostly the man eating snake crap. I just take that as a chance to educate the parents.

But kids are so open to reptiles....they love that stuff. I am having a reptile expo a week from Wednesday for the 2nd and 3rd grade. I actually hired a company to come in and I am doing a presentation and then the kids get to interact with the animals after learning about them. I am soooo excited to teach them about stuff....hopefully maybe they will teach their parents..lol

I have to add...we have a little boy that is blind in one of our classes....and it is soooooooooo cool to let him touch things like the snake shed. To see his face light up is amazing. When we have him touch the eye caps on the shed....or the shape of the jaw or the belly part of the shed. He is just entraced by it. It is really cool and I am very excited to take him aside at after the reptile show to have him really interact with everything.

[pombikiball]

I have to add...we have a little boy that is blind in one of our classes....and it is soooooooooo cool to let him touch things like the snake shed. To see his face light up is amazing. When we have him touch the eye caps on the shed....or the shape of the jaw or the belly part of the shed. He is just entraced by it. It is really cool and I am very excited to take him aside at after the reptile show to have him really interact with everything.[/QUOTE]

that if awesome i only hope i can do stuff like that in the future

[Freakie_frog]

Well you get different reactions.. I've had more teenage girls interested in the animals than anything. A very good friend of our daughter loves to come over and see the animals.

When you tell people that you have 100+ snakes you get all kind of reactions, from horror, it intrest. Even more so when you tell then that they are in a climate controled room built on to the house..

Over the years you get use to it.. LOL

[AHOOD]

I'm from the city (Newark, NJ) Now I live in NC. I always get the "I didn't know brothas like snakes!" or "You sure don't look like somebody that owns snakes!" I guess a black people don't like reptiles or something. Makes me laugh all the time.

[shescountry89]

I love it too when I am told I have a zoo at home, I never discuss with a person exactly what KIND of snakes I have but just the amount. No one would break into my house with a 160lb Rottweiler Guarding my front door either, haha. These reactions are hilarious, and I do understand that snakes are one of the top phobias on the list but even if they are you shouldn't bash them in front of a person you know has a passion and love for them. That just irritates me, I had a woman a couple weeks ago tell me she'd make purses, boots and what not out of them.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

First question I often get is the "You have 75 snakes?! Are they in cages?"

My response by the way is always the same. "Of course not, they run free. I couldn't even imagine how much time and money it would cost to keep up with 75 cages!!!!" then I change the subject.

[tonkatoyman]

Well you get different reactions.. I've had more teenage girls interested in the animals than anything. A very good friend of our daughter loves to come over and see the animals.

When you tell people that you have 100+ snakes you get all kind of reactions, from horror, it intrest. Even more so when you tell then that they are in a climate controled room built on to the house..

Over the years you get use to it.. LOL

Freakie has the snakes, I house the rats. You really want a reaction tell people you have an entire building full of breeding rats (hundreds)!!!lol Then watch them shiver.

[RockyTop]

Not me - I see no reason to take them in public - it certainly isn't a stress free experience for the snake, and I don't see any benefit for the snake or myself to expose it to who knows what at the pet stores.

Usually when I see someone in public with a snake, it's usually to get attention. And since the general public doesn't understand snakes, they get attention, and you generally can see them enjoying the shock value carrying their snake in public gets them.

I personally prefer the relationship that I have with my snakes in my quiet home environment, without negative attention from the public.

But to each their own, I guess.

I am surprised no one else has commented on this. With so many people advocating proper care of a snake to reduce stress on the animal, no one has commented on this.

There is no reason to take a snake to the pet store with you. They have their own snakes there if you want to hold a snake. Also, with all of the horror stories... why would you want to even risk exposing your snake to anything at the pet store? Say one of their snakes has an illness, mites, etc. Someone holds it. Then you run into that person and they want to hold your snake. Or they just brush up against you. Shake your hand, etc. Then your snake could get infected.

There is a reason people quarantine new arrivals and handle them last. There is a reason people wash their hands, clean up, etc between their collection and new arrivals. Taking your snake into a pet store just for the shock value seems extremely irresponsible and very much an attention-seeking endeavor at the expense of your snakes health potentially. If you are a professional handler/breeder and are providing some kind of info session, etc are follow safe practices it might be okay- but why not just use their snake(s) to handle? By bringing your prized Albino BP, or any other morph, it only encourages people to go out and make the impulse buy for the "cool" factor.

I just see no reason to bring your personal, healthy, well-adjusted collection into a pet store.

And then someone said they take their snake to school... why on earth on you taking your snake to school? Besides the fact school should be for applying yourself and learning and the snake could be a distraction- I highly doubt your snake feels secure being made a public spectacle outside of it's hides, riding around in your hand/pocket/backpack/travel tub/etc.

If you need the attention/shock value of others by displaying your snakes to people in public- maybe you need to reconsider why you are keeping snakes in the first place.

Just my 2 cents, will probably get blasted. So blast away.

[Aeries]

It's hard, I love them so much and would LOVE to talk about them more, but in general public I tend to keep it quiet. That's definently due to experience. I run a nature center during the summer with snakes on display though, so when I get chatting to people about them, sometimes they ask if they're mine and I spill the beans. Usually they're surprised, but since they like snakes enough to be there learning about them, they usually arn't too judgemental.

[Blightedchemist]

As Aeries mentioned, it is difficult to talk openly about keeping snakes, or other exotic reptiles. That's why I'm glad for reptile shows and online communities. The reactions I get are generally of an off put nature though. When I mention my snake or lizards or frogs peoples general reaction is "uh huh" or "why would you have those?" My Grandfather(although I love him to death) always asks me what I will do when my ball python gets 20 feet long. I always respond, nothing becuase he never will get that long.
In my experience people get confused as to why I keep reptiles becuase they think they are not fun at all, or I can't interact with them so what is the point. My answer is usually that keeping reptiles is more complex than that.
As Laura asked in her OP, my reptiles did assist in the loss of a friend(for the better...she was a bit nuts >.>)