Narrow minded or am I asking too much?

[PsychD_Student]

So I called a herp hobby shop a bit ago and explained my snake saliva project and asked if he would be willing to let me come swab the mouth of some of his BP's to determine what bacteria are present in the saliva. I explained I've already done this to one of mine and the swab is harmless to the snake, and that mine had E. coli in its saliva. He kinda freaked out saying I need to contact the CDC because of that and thought it was contagious. He first said no to it cause he didn't want to hurt his snakes by breaking a tooth or infecting their mouths, or get them sick because mine "has E. coli". I tried to explain they won't get an infection because it's a sterile swab, it won't pull any teeth, and not all E. coli is pathogenic. He told me he wasn't comfortable with me doing it and to contact a vet or go to Busch Gardens (Tampa), so I apologized that he wasn't willing to help increase the knowledge of BP's. He did invite me to come talk in person and try to explain more, so I may be able to after all.
What do you all think, am I asking too much?

-Rich

Hey man, as a researcher myself, people are so often paranoid about the most trivial things to us. Its important to explain to people in layman's terms and try to relay the important implications your study has on him and or society. I do HIV research, and it can be DIFFICULT to get people to understand it's importance due to the fears associated with simply being inexperienced and unknowledgable about the research process. It is what it is...