Fun Day of Sharing Our Passion!

[purplemuffin]

We got to have the fun opportunity to teach my mom's friend and her kids about reptiles! It was a blast and everyone was well behaved. They got to watch us feed guacamole earthworms and the older son got to hold one of the earthworms for him to grab out of his hand(which he loved)

Then we held the snakes. Only got pictures of them holding Nagini though. Even my mom held her!

I know these kids and their mom, they are already obsessed with reptiles(they have a crested gecko and two anoles) and are really begging their mom for a snake of some kind. Hehe.. I might have made them want a snake even more after this, this was their first time getting to hold and pet snakes.







We were right there off camera of course, ready to take the snake if we felt uncomfortable and could see the snakes were stressing out, and at first just had the kids holding/petting the back end of the snake, but they were brave little boys and did a really good job! They held them for the pictures and then we put the snakes back up and went back to talking.

We started telling them all the basic little facts about snakes, but they already knew a lot of it already. If they were old enough, I bet they'd join this forum They have been a little TOO brave with wild snakes lately, trying to pick up ones they didn't know of, so we mainly were there to help reinforce that they shouldn't ever play with snakes out in the wild because we don't know what they are and they want to be left alone. It was fun though, I loved telling them about the types of snakes and showing nagini's cool orange/red tail and her pretty little 'mustache' and how all the snakes have different patterns. It's so funny to hear reptile knowledge come out of these kid's mouths. The older one is already upset that reptile toys never quite look like they should. He had a 'black mamba' rubber snake but was sad because it clearly had a python head shape and garter snake markings. So funny, cause it's true. Like all the iguana toys that have chameleon eyes.

Their mom and my mom were learning the most and they asked their own questions later and we talked about politics, snake sizes and dangers compared to other animals, what makes them constrict, and later their mom even asked me a little about rattlesnake roundups and if her kids would want to go to one, so I got to educate her on those things as well.

It was fun!

[Evenstar]

That's so awesome! Its really wonderful to hear about people who WANT to learn and know the truth about these amazing animals. And education of our youth is so important for the future of our hobby. Good for you! And I'm really glad you had a great time doing it!

[Cendalla]

Alright! Get them hooked young.

[John1982]

Great stuff, thanks for sharing some love and knowledge!

[purplemuffin]

It was awesome...

And man, I just about cried earlier. My mom posted up these pictures on her facebook talking about what I was doing. This woman commented how disgusting I was for even having these and blah blah blah (the usual, snakes are gross and dangerous and a menace that are all better off dead) whatever. We've all heard it before. She asked at the end why I wanted these pets, so I just kindly explained myself nicely...You know, I don't need to see a wagging tail to know I have given these animals a better life than they might have had, and how I am fascinated by their beauty and all the positives they bring to my life. I said they aren't a pet for everyone, but they are meaningful to me and I love them just as much as my cats and other pets.

She responded to this VERY negatively and well.. It really pissed my parents off. It was..sort of amazing. They defended me and just about tore right through her every argument. By the end she got offended telling us "well when you post something disgusting online for everyone to see you shouldn't be surprised when someone just has an OPINION!" To which my father responded back "yes, you're right. And when you comment rudely on someone's facebook you shouldn't be surprised that people will point out that your opinion is idiotic"

There was a lot more, but it was kind of epic. My parents do not like snakes, and it was really cool watching them stand up for me like that. I have just gotten so used to taking that kind of abuse and trying to educate through the ignorance and fear, and they were just in awe that people treat snake owners like that at all. It was so cool. I dunno, I guess I'm so used to only the snake lovers being able to defend ourselves, it was really nice to see people actually stand up against people actually being rude and cruel. After the fight was over a lot of people showed support for my life and my choices (people who I didn't expect at all. ) and that it was inspiring to see someone have a passion, no matter what it's for.

Cool cool cool day. I'm just giddy over this. I love my parents.

[BFT12890]

My one friends mom told me that I either need to stop posting pictures of my snake on facebook because "she doesnt want to see the snake, she hates them" or to block her from all the photos, I made it really easy, I deleted her.

hahaha sorry had to share, your epic facebook battle reminded me of it.

Glad to see you parents standing up for it! Im proud to say my mom would do the same.

[purplemuffin]

Hahah! That's awesome! The only person who says anything to me on facebook is my grandma, but now she's hidden from all my reptile posts anyway, so that's okay!

[BFT12890]

Thankfully my mommom doesnt have a facebook because shed probably have a heart attack if she saw the pictures. she has like a phobia of snakes soooo needless to say i dont bring lily and mommom around together but everyone else can deal with it. hahahaha