furthest thing form disgusting

[RoseyReps]

Around 10 years ago or so when I had a JCP and worked in the mall I would bring him in on some Saturdays. He traveled in a sack to and from, and all I did was sit on a bench in front of my store (pet store) and let people approach me. I had many people come close to talk, some wanted to touch, but I never had anyone scream and run. This might be because I was sitting in full view, and if people wanted to steer clear they easily could. I wasn't walking towards them, or moving at all. I turned many people's minds around about snakes in general, and I believe that to be a good thing. Sometimes parents would let their kids come and they would stay 20ft back, then I would joking say oh come on, your little one isn't scared, be brave and come see what he feels like. My JCP would let me know when the show was over by crawling back into his bag next to me. I was always aware of his breathing patterns, etc. Everyone had to sanitize before and after, and stand in line to pet (never let anyone hold anything but his tail end, with his head and upper body being around my neck / head being away from strangers).

Now..would I do that today? Probably not. Seems to me a lot has changed in the past 10 years, and more and more people seem to have preconceived issues with snakes than ever before. I live in Florida, and the general consensus that we are being over-run with pythons (you know, because all pythons are the same ) is inescapable. The fear mongering media takes non-issue stories (like a bp being found in someones grass) and turns it into a horror story about how they are lurking around every corner eyeing up our kids and furry pets. I don't know if my JCP "liked" the experience, but do any of us know what our snakes like really? I know he never missed a meal, never tried flight or fight, and was never cage aggressive. I probably wouldn't recommend taking your baby out to public places any more. If you are interested in expanding people knowledge about snakes, you might talk to some local pet shops about doing a meet and greet style. Where people know what's coming, rather than shopping for clothes and looking up to see their biggest fear about to viciously attack their face *perception, obviously*.

You're not stupid, we all want to show off our awesome babies, and just because you made a mistake doesn't mean you should be lynched for it. Learn from it, move on, and try not to repeat mistakes made in the past