my son is officially scared of my bp

[DooLittle]

Well...imo you need to put your son in a tub and leave him there for a good long time. Only keeping his water dish full and feeding him once a week. In the meantime, you need to take your BP to baseball games and out for ice cream and always tell your BP things like "hey buddy, good job on your math test last week, I'm so proud of you"

Then after a month or so, do something really big, throw your BP a birthday party, invite over a bunch of other BP's and play pin the tail on the rat and have cake. Spend numerous nights reading your BP stories as you tuck him into your previous son's bed. (make sure you fluff his pillow!) Other than that, do other father son things together, as it definitely appears that your BP has fought his way to the top slot to be your favorite child.

Halloween will be epic, as you share your BP's collected candy between the two of you...

Then, at Christmas time, help your BP write a letter to Santa, hang lights on the tree and go Caroling. Christmas morning of course...should be HUGE.

Maybe after all these things are completed, your human son will realize that living in a tub sucks and be more participative.

^^^Really???

Op, hopefully he will come back around. Maybe just don't try to push it for awhile. Good luck.


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[PyramidPythons]

Wow, I thought this was a FRIENDLY community of people who were here to help each other out, not play the ja****s card. Did it ever occur to you that maybe Melody was hoping that someone could give her some good pointers on how to ease her son back into not being so frightened? You automatically assumed that she was complaining because her son was scared, instead of realizing that she actually came here in hopes of making the situation better. Get off your high horse, please. Sorry for the rant, but nothing makes me more angry than a smart alec.

Now then, Melody. My suggestion would be to let your son ease back into it at his own pace. Don't force him to hold the snake or even come near it if he doesn't want to. In doing that, you will only traumatize him further than he currently is. However, I do think that maybe you should do some research and maybe pull up a few videos on YouTube of people getting bitten. Watch them with your son and explain to him what is happening and that the snake is only striking out of fear or hunger. Remind him that your BP was hungry and maybe thought your son's hand/arm was a tasty mouse! Be sure to tell him how BPs don't see very well at all and have to rely upon their sense of taste and smell to find food. Show him that your BP isn't the evil villain that he thinks it is by handling your BP often and maybe go over the specifics of what happened the day that the snake struck at him. Ask specific questions: Did you try to touch the snake's face? Did you maybe almost drop the snake? Reaffirm your son's questions and answer them fully to your abilities (even doing lots of research with him on the computer about it). Then.....just give him time. I do think that if you let him come back to the snake on his own, he will feel more confident about it. I really do hope that he will get over his fear quickly and will be back to handling them in no time. Best of luck to you!

[Skittles1101]

Wow, I thought this was a FRIENDLY community of people who were here to help each other out, not play the ja****s card. Did it ever occur to you that maybe Melody was hoping that someone could give her some good pointers on how to ease her son back into not being so frightened? You automatically assumed that she was complaining because her son was scared, instead of realizing that she actually came here in hopes of making the situation better. Get off your high horse, please. Sorry for the rant, but nothing makes me more angry than a smart alec.

Where was anyone unfriendly and on a "high horse"??? Who said she was complaining?

[Ogre]

Where was anyone unfriendly and on a "high horse"??? Who said she was complaining?

x2

[PyramidPythons]

Where was anyone unfriendly and on a "high horse"??? Who said she was complaining?

x2

Well...imo you need to put your son in a tub and leave him there for a good long time. Only keeping his water dish full and feeding him once a week. In the meantime, you need to take your BP to baseball games and out for ice cream and always tell your BP things like "hey buddy, good job on your math test last week, I'm so proud of you"

Then after a month or so, do something really big, throw your BP a birthday party, invite over a bunch of other BP's and play pin the tail on the rat and have cake. Spend numerous nights reading your BP stories as you tuck him into your previous son's bed. (make sure you fluff his pillow!) Other than that, do other father son things together, as it definitely appears that your BP has fought his way to the top slot to be your favorite child.

Halloween will be epic, as you share your BP's collected candy between the two of you...

Then, at Christmas time, help your BP write a letter to Santa, hang lights on the tree and go Caroling. Christmas morning of course...should be HUGE.

Maybe after all these things are completed, your human son will realize that living in a tub sucks and be more participative.

Dunno how you two missed THAT post.

[Skittles1101]

Dunno how you two missed THAT post.

Ahhhhh well your post came off as if everyone was coming off that way. You should be more specific next time to avoid the confusion I also responded to that same post...in less words.

[PyramidPythons]

Yeah, sorry. I was just a bit miffed over that particular post and didn't think about what I'd written.

[Ogre]

I read it and didnt particularly agree but that person was a minority most everyone else was quite helpful. I personally dont take offense what people on the internet might say. There are millions of people on the internet and just like everywhere else there are people you might find rude, and also their is a reason that you can simply ignore other users

[JLC]

With almost 27,000 members, we're bound to get a handful that don't communicate very well, and a few that are downright mean or jerky. One person, or even two or three, behaving less than stellar doesn't suddenly make BP.net become an "unfriendly" place. When it seems that way, try to remember that for every jerk you see here, there are about 5000 really great people who love to help. Pretty good odds, I'd say.

To the OP...that adrenaline rush that can come from a frightening startle like seeing a snake strike at you when you were NOT expecting it can be very unpleasant. Especially when you're so young and can't really understand how/why it felt that way....all you know is that it was scary as hell. How long ago did it happen? I imagine just giving it time will help a LOT. As mentioned by someone else, don't force anything...let him come back to it at his own pace.

But I will disagree with other advice given. I wouldn't bring up youtube videos of folks getting bit and deliberately show him those. That might work for YOU trying to mentally train yourself to accept the inevitable, but for a young kid who is already scared, such things could very likely just reinforce the fear and build its foundation a lot more deeply into his psyche.

Don't let one negative experience suddenly make you feel like he'll never like snakes again. It's just a blip in the road, is all.

[VooDooDoc]

Bottom line, just do the same thing you would do if this was any other irrational fear. I've got one afraid of space volcanoes (damn TV), point is, kids develop fears of all kinds of things, sometimes logic and simple reasoning just won't work. You know if he gets bit it won't hurt bad, I know a space volcano isn't going to spew lava on my house, no matter how many times I tell my son that, it doesn't help.

Eventually I think your son will come around, just give him time.