Quote Originally Posted by MMReptiles View Post
I'm not saying reptiles = bad parent. I fully intend to keep my nile monitor, and my retics when I have children. The difference is, the OP is worried about certain species of snakes harming the kid. The only way the kid should ever be around the snakes, is if the snakes get loose, or if the kid gets into the caging. Either way- that's going to come down to the caging element of the reptiles being kept.
Maybe the OP wishes to share their love and interest in herps with the kiddos, including hands on interaction. The bad reputation for many species comes from lack of captive breeding back in the day, changing such deep seeded notions generally takes time. Go back 20 years and 99% of the retics and bloods in the industry were wild caught, pissed off animals that were hard enough to acclimate - let alone calming to a handleable state. Sure, things are different nowadays and their bad reputations are largely unwarranted but I entirely understand someone wanting to work with "safer" animals for the sake of being prudent in regards to their family's welfare. If you don't get that MMreptiles, maybe it's time to just throw in the towel on this thread.

I'll offer the following pictures for you consideration, MMReptiles. Do you honestly think that one isn't safer than the other - regardless of my experience level and confidence in handling the situation should things turn sour?

It's been a while but I believe my niece was 3 and my nephew 5 in the first picture. The second one may have been a year earlier putting my nephew around 4 years of age.