what got you into snakes/why do you like them?

[J.Coils]

as far back as i can remember i've liked snakes..i got my first snake at like 4 or 5 years old.
they're beautiful..quiet..and their movements are very deliberate and calculated
they dont need "affection" like some other pets do although i've kept warm blooded animals sometimes i just wasnt in the mood ya know what i mean?im not always the most "loving"kind of guy.

snakes are pretty clean and odor free
they have enough personality for a person like me
alot of people dont like them and i guess that kind of attracts me too.

[Haldthin]

I've liked snakes since I was 6 years old I believe, that's when I really started to like all reptiles. I like them because they are just so variable. I mean they come in almost every color and size and they are just plain cool.

[RetiredJedi]

I like them because not a lot of people have them and it takes a special kind of person to love and take care of a snake. It's funny to see people's expression when you tell them you have a snake (or 2 or how ever many). Some of them just want to see it, some want to touch it, some want to hold it, and then some want nothing to do with it. It's really cool.

[Kinra]

For the longest time I wasn't really afraid of snakes more I was afraid of getting bitten. Then when I went to college I ended up in an apartment that would not let me have any pets. So I started researching snakes and came across BPs. I had hoped after doing enough research I could convince my landlord to let me have one. It didn't work out, I still really wanted one but I let it go. Then about 2 years ago my brother got a baby RTB and I finally got to hold a snake. I thought his boa was just the coolest thing on the planet. Last October I finally got my first BP. I got Lily from a pet store down the street from my apartment. I went in for dog food and left with a snake.

As much as I love Lily, if I could go back and do it over I would have re-done my research before bringing her home. I am sad to say that I under fed her for about 3-4 months before I realized I was doing something seriously wrong. I was feeding her 1 live mouse about every 1-2 weeks. I never attempted to switch her from live to f/t or from mice to rats until I brought home my spider. He ate f/t, so I decided to try it with her. I fixed her feeding, she now eats one medium f/t rat every 6 days (she was 700g even feeding her as poorly as I was), and really started to look into morphs and breeding and my collection has exploded since February of this year.

[TheWinWizard]

They're the underdog, always like underdogs. No arms, legs, ears, eyelids, yet they manage just fine,

[Amon Ra Reptiles]

Well this is kinda a long story but when I was younger I was a tattoo artist. Well I was working one night and a guy walks in and asks for a quote on some ink. I give him a quote and he proceeds to tell me has no money. I proceed to show him that the door he came in doubles as an exit. He stops me and states that he has a snake he would give me for the tattoo. I had zero interest in this snake, I wasn't necessarily afraid of it just no interest and a healthy respect for snakes. After all snakes bite right? I mean, it's what they do. Anyway, I told him thanks anyway and he left. Well every day for the next two weeks he comes in with the same offer. After two weeks I got tired of saying no and accepted the trade to get rid of him. So I do the tat and the next day he walks in with a 6' Burm in a 20 long! The best part is at the time I didnt realize that was a problem! Luckily there was a guy in there had some degree of reptile knowledge who said I needed something bigger for it to be kept in. So I go get it a larger enclosure and something that locked. so for the next month I limit my snake exposure to opening the enclosure a crack once a week to throw in a mouse. Yep, that's right I said one mouse a week. Good grief, how did that thing survive my stupidity. Anyway, a couple months later someone suggested I attend the all Ohio reptile show, so I did. There I ran into a guy who lived literally a mile from me and he agreed to check out my set up and help me out.
That evening this guy shows up to my house nonchalantly throws open the enclosure, yanks the snake out and holds her!!!!! I was appalled! I was certain that at any moment this guy was going to be eaten! Lmao. Needless to say he educated me to a lot of things I was doing wrong or not doing at all and that began a long term friendship/education from him. It all went down hill from there . Now were up to 62 snake a few lizards and inevitably more on the way. Over the years I suppose I have owned several hundred different reptiles and I'm not sure what snakes will be in our future but since I now have Becky who is just as passionate about them as I am I can be sure that snakes will always be a part of our life.

[Kinra]

Well this is kinda a long story but when I was younger I was a tattoo artist. Well I was working one night and a guy walks in and asks for a quote on some ink. I give him a quote and he proceeds to tell me has no money. I proceed to show him that the door he came in doubles as an exit. He stops me and states that he has a snake he would give me for the tattoo. I had zero interest in this snake, I wasn't necessarily afraid of it just no interest and a healthy respect for snakes. After all snakes bite right? I mean, it's what they do. Anyway, I told him thanks anyway and he left. Well every day for the next two weeks he comes in with the same offer. After two weeks I got tired of saying no and accepted the trade to get rid of him. So I do the tat and the next day he walks in with a 6' Burm in a 20 long! The best part is at the time I didnt realize that was a problem! Luckily there was a guy in there had some degree of reptile knowledge who said I needed something bigger for it to be kept in. So I go get it a larger enclosure and something that locked. so for the next month I limit my snake exposure to opening the enclosure a crack once a week to throw in a mouse. Yep, that's right I said one mouse a week. Good grief, how did that thing survive my stupidity. Anyway, a couple months later someone suggested I attend the all Ohio reptile show, so I did. There I ran into a guy who lived literally a mile from me and he agreed to check out my set up and help me out.
That evening this guy shows up to my house nonchalantly throws open the enclosure, yanks the snake out and holds her!!!!! I was appalled! I was certain that at any moment this guy was going to be eaten! Lmao. Needless to say he educated me to a lot of things I was doing wrong or not doing at all and that began a long term friendship/education from him. It all went down hill from there . Now were up to 62 snake a few lizards and inevitably more on the way. Over the years I suppose I have owned several hundred different reptiles and I'm not sure what snakes will be in our future but since I now have Becky who is just as passionate about them as I am I can be sure that snakes will always be a part of our life.

This is an awesome story! Thank you for sharing it.

[Inknsteel]

I can remember when I was in second or third grade and I saw a garter snake slithering through the grass beside my house. I remember not being afraid at all, and I just ran up to it and grabbed it up. I set it up in a cardboard box with some grass in the bottom and sat outside with it for at least an hour, just staring at it and touching it and whatnot... Then my mom called me in for dinner and when I came out, it was gone. I remember being really sad because even if it had still been there, my mom had told me I couldn't keep it anyway.

After that, I always had an interest in animals and reptiles. Around the same time, our class went to one of the high schools in our district for a tour of the biology wing, where the high school kids did presentations and hands on demonstrations with all of the animals. I remember my favorite being the "giant" burm that was about 12 feet long. They lined us up sitting against the wall with our legs stretched straight out, then they laid this snake on top of our legs and let it slither across. It was the COOLEST experience of my life to that point. I remember looking forward to being in high school just so I could be the one working with the animals and giving the demonstrations. When high school enrollment came, I asked the counselor what class it was that you got to handle the animals and do demonstrations for kids. I was told it was Environmental Education, which you couldn't take until junior year. Ugh... So, I set my academic course and make sure I took all the prerequisites to get into that class, which I ultimately did... That's when I found bps. We had one named Billy and he was the coolest snake. I used to go over to the rack and pull him out at the beginning of every class and I would have him around my neck or just hanging out with me every day until the end of class. After that, I wanted one of my own, but still, my mom wouldn't let me. I didn't ultimately get my first snake until I was 29, but I don't plan on ever being without snakes again...

[BallsUnlimited]

I grew up catching snakes at my upstate new york summer house. By the age of 12 I started keeping ball pythons,burms you name it i have owned it. I love everything about them and love to teach people about snakes. I would love to move down to FL and work for the venom response team. thats my dream right there

[thedarkwolf25]

I have always been fascinated by snakes but until recently I wasn't able to keep one due to various reasons. But now that I have some (and the number is growing) I am hooked solid and am hoping to produce a clutch of balls this year (if I get a spider of sufficient weight and Hera gets big enough).

It really is an addiction.