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

[SquamishSerpents]

oh i've gotten lots of reactions...mostly typical. the "WHAT!!!! 23!?!? and you breed WHAT!!? RATS!?! that's DISGUSTING!"

and some "wow..." *walks away pondering where i keep them all*

but by far the BEST reaction i've EVER had, after my boyfriend built our 27-slot rack, we had pretty much our whole family over for some birthday festivities. they all knew we had snakes, but none of them really knew HOW MANY. so i take one of my aunts into our room to show her, and she was just so fascinated by the rack system. so she turns to us and says "well, at least when you guys have children you can just store them in drawers like your snakes!"

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

oh i've gotten lots of reactions...mostly typical. the "WHAT!!!! 23!?!? and you breed WHAT!!? RATS!?! that's DISGUSTING!"

and some "wow..." *walks away pondering where i keep them all*

but by far the BEST reaction i've EVER had, after my boyfriend built our 27-slot rack, we had pretty much our whole family over for some birthday festivities. they all knew we had snakes, but none of them really knew HOW MANY. so i take one of my aunts into our room to show her, and she was just so fascinated by the rack system. so she turns to us and says "well, at least when you guys have children you can just store them in drawers like your snakes!"

LMAO!!! Im reading this at 1:30 am trying to be quiet so I dont wake my son and this made me laugh out loud

[BPelizabeth]

I wasn't referring to you. I was referring to the the 4th post in the thread.

And to the other person who bring's them to their cousins school, once again, I was referring to people taking them to school. I did point out in my post that if it was some kind of info session being conducted by a professional handler/breeder, that is totally different than someone just bringing in a snake to show people to get their reaction. Which was stated once again, in the 4th post in this thread.

Oh ok...sorry i took that wrong...lol. I am just very proud to be able to do this for the kids. Ok....need to take my sensitivity pill now...lol...

[Lucas339]

try telling people that you have 108 scorpions....see what reaction that gets.

[musicalKeyes]

I wasn't referring to you. I was referring to the the 4th post in the thread.

And to the other person who bring's them to their cousins school, once again, I was referring to people taking them to school. I did point out in my post that if it was some kind of info session being conducted by a professional handler/breeder, that is totally different than someone just bringing in a snake to show people to get their reaction. Which was stated once again, in the 4th post in this thread.

Sorry, didn't mean to come off, you know, offended or anything. Since that's the case, I agree with you completely; bringing your snake with you for the wow factor, especially to somewhere they can catch something, is at least bordering on irresponsible. And God forbid it should bite anyone, all we need is more negative press

[shescountry89]

try telling people that you have 108 scorpions....see what reaction that gets.

Yeah, I am sure that is always interesting. Scorpians are pretty sweet, haha.

As for storing kids in snake tubs, lol that made me laugh out loud as well. My snakes are my kids =P

[RockyTop]

Sorry, didn't mean to come off, you know, offended or anything. Since that's the case, I agree with you completely; bringing your snake with you for the wow factor, especially to somewhere they can catch something, is at least bordering on irresponsible. And God forbid it should bite anyone, all we need is more negative press

No problems I can understand your defensiveness about it. Snakes can be a touchy subject. The more people who we have responsibly educating people the better.

There is a difference in professionally handling snakes for informational/educational purposes and toting along your snake places to get reactions from people

[Lolo76]

I love slipping it into a conversation, but will only do so if the "attitude" seems right... usually I say I keep snakes, they ask how many and what kind, so I answer 15 (or whatever the current number) pythons and corns." And then their eyes get wide, and the facial expression is more priceless than words!

Sometimes just for kicks I'll refrain from saying what kind of python, since it's funny to see what people assume - usually it's that I have a house full of Burmese pythons, who will eat my cats, dog & any small child who enters. But then if I get a chance to show them my setup, and introduce them to a few of the snakes, they're much more amenable to the idea... in fact, I've pre-sold a few of my (future) babies that way, LOL.

But yeah, I get the usual reactions and questions - either they're horrified or fascinated, and I have been asked if they'll eat me in my sleep. Oy vey.

[Eventide]

I've had all kinds of reactions, and while most of them are negative, the positive responses make it all worthwhile.

Most people are disgusted by one snake, let alone many. Sadly, I get the same stereotypical questions from both ignorant people and intelligent people:

"Do they bite?"
"Aren't they poisonous?"
"Isn't it illegal to have those?"
"Aren't you afraid they'll get out in the middle of the night and strangle you in your sleep?"
"Don't they get huge?"
"Wait, they don't have fangs?" or "I thought they had huge fangs!"
"Why don't you have normal pets?"
"What's wrong with a cat or dog?"
"People shouldn't be allowed to have dangerous/exotic pets like that...."

And ever since the two-year-old's death in Florida by a Burm, almost everyone brings it up when I mention snakes. Then I get to try to patiently explain why that was an unusual case, that the owner was negligent and violating the law, that Burms aren't baby-killers by nature, etc.

However, the good reactions (or at least, open-minded reactions) are totally worth it. I've had several friends, family members, and friends' family members who weren't sure they wanted to be in the same room with a snake get to the point where they'll at least touch them, and most get to the point where they'll handle them without a problem. I even have one friend who was nervous around them at first, but now she prefers to hold a snake rather than a lizard!

The best story, though, was when I was picking up my Axanthic/het pair at a FedEx Office. One of the ladies was ringing me up and the other brought my box over. Before she got to the counter, one asked if the shipment was frozen rodents. When I said it was two snakes, the person holding the box froze. The second lady said, "Maybe I should take that...." Neither liked snakes, but they were curious and wanted to see them. So I showed them the pair, and they were impressed at how gentle, friendly, and kind of cute they were. They always like to see the snakes when I get a new one, now, and the last time I went there to pick up a rodent order, one of the ladies says she'd like to get one as a pet!!!

[Mike Schultz]

No, my snakes are not "poisonous"