Need help convincing parents! Any ideas.

[kc261]

It really depends on your parents, and what their issues are with the idea of you having a snake. Some parents will give in if you bother them about it long enough, while others will react very negatively to the nagging and that would seal the deal that you'll never be allowed to have one under their roof. You know your parents, so you'll have to consider the advice you are given, and what will work with them.

My advice would to be ask them to set a time when you can have a family meeting about it. This allows them to pick a time when it is good for them to talk, and also gives them time to think about it when they aren't under the immediate pressure of you standing there asking for a snake.

When the time for the meeting comes, resist the urge to make a sales pitch. You've already done that in the 3 page essay you say you wrote. Instead, use the time to listen to them. Write down a list of the reasons they have for not wanting you to have a snake. Some of them may be easily resolved, for example if your mother doesn't want live rodents in the house, you can get a snake that will eat f/t. But others may not be. If one of your parents is afraid of snakes, it may not make any difference to them that BPs are a harmless species. Be accepting of their reasons, and try to see their side of it.

Also bring up the idea of something you can do to earn the right to have a snake. Do not pressure them for an answer right away, but a few ideas would be to bring up your grades to a certain level, mow the lawn all summer, or other things like that.

In the meantime, continue to show your parents that this is not just a whim on your part. Let them see you reading books about snakes, surfing the forum, and other stuff like that. If you can pull it off without seeming like you are nagging, share with them interesting things you learn, so they'll see your enthusiasm, and perhaps get intrigued themselves.

You might be able to find an adult to enlist on your side. If there is a teacher at your school that keeps a snake in the classroom, make friends with that teacher, and offer to help take care of the snake. If your parents are willing to talk to him/her, it might help bring them around. If not, at least you get a snake you can interact with, even if it is not your own.

It is also important that you continue to show them that you remain interested in your leopard geckos and water dragon, and are very responsible in caring for them.