How do we show people that snakes aren't what they are often portrayed to be?

[Poseidon]

This has been on my mind for a while now. I've always had an interest in reptiles and I think they are amazing. I haven't always been comfortable around them. I grew up with a mother that put it into me that all snakes were spontaneous and they didn't make good pets. I remember having small red ear slider turtles (2) as a youngin (too young to do any research on the animal myself; I think 3-4 years old) and we found out they needed a special type of lighting. My parents went to a special reptile store to find that out. The lady we talked to (she had gauges which I thought was cool) had a pet snake. I remember her talking about how the snake wasn't that bad to my mom while my mom had a bad reaction to it.

I got really into snakes last year. I was obsessed with snakes. It like sprung out of nowhere. I simply find them amazing. I found out about ball pythons and found this site and all. I got my snake on May 30th, 2012. 80 grams of sweetness (okay, she was a little feisty than that). I had never held a snake before. I had touched them before on the side. But I somehow found myself scared of holding a snake with a snake in a box from the mail in front of me with nobody else in the house that was going to pick it up. (I just ended up putting the entire bag in the cage! LOL!) I created a thread here talking about it and the replies were that I just needed to pick her up. I grabbed my trusty gardening glove, made sure I was alone, and picked her up (after the allotted settle down time of a week.) My hand was shaking THE ENTIRE TIME.

Now I realize my ball python is the sweetest thing ever. I feel confident handling her. I held a small boa recently too. I didn't really know how to deal with its activity at first, but the second time around was much smoother. So I've held two snakes in total. I'd feel okay about handling more/different species now.

What really spurred this post though was something that happened recently. I was on the floor with my ball python (she loves to find cracks and crevices in the couch) and a customer walked by [home business]. She didn't notice the snake but her husband did. I heard later ask him "AND IT WAS REAL?" I overheard and came out to where they could see me and I said, "She's real sweet. Do you want to touch her?" She declined rapidly. I don't think that was the best way to show her that my ball was not a monster. When walking back she walked around the perimeter of the living room.

Additionally, almost every one of my friends/family has been all "Snake! Ekk! Keep it away!" when I even mention her.

tl;dr
How would you suppose would be the best way for a common person to open a dialogue with people that snakes aren't monsters?

[Mr Oni]

An episode of Snakebytes that covers this topic.
Hope it heps, good luck

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXFofP-xcts

[nimblykimbly]

This is a great thread, and a great question! I was raised similarly, only my mom always said that snakes were evil and bad. When she came to visit (she only comes about once every 4 or 5 years) I just declined to even mention I had snakes. Thankfully they are quiet and pretty much 'not there' in their racks. It's disappointing that I have to 'hide' it, but my mom would have freaked and probably not stayed for her visit. I told my sister and best friend growing up. My sister's reaction was passively disapproving, and my friend's reaction was 'EEWWWW!!! Oh my GOD I can't believe you would KEEP something like that in your house!! I'm sorry, but I don't know if I could stay the night in your house, Kim." Gosh, like they're oozing out of the walls or something!! I've found that I either get good acceptance, eager to learn and openness... or total revolt and conclusion-jumping.

If only they knew that snakes aren't slimy........


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[sissysnakes]

I dont force my love of snakes on my friends, though most are very interested and have a lot of questions once they find out just how many i actually own. I don't really think its my job to change someones mind about them, i just respect their boundaries and hope they will respect mine.
For example i have a friend with 15+ spiders.. personally they freak me out, but I am still interested in why she likes them, and want to know more about what she owns.. so I understand where some of my friends are coming from.

[Poseidon]

I dont force my love of snakes on my friends

Absolutely. But someone shouldn't dislike snakes because of lack of understanding and from ten feet away. I'm not trying to battle likes/dislikes, I want to foster understanding and respect.

[Artemille]

Luckily most of my friends that come over like snakes at least a little. Some very enthusiastically want to hold them. I have one friend that doesn't own any pets of his own, but swears he is the ball python whisperer because of his very warm neck that seems to calm any snake down for hours.

My mother was very grossed out by most animals, especially reptiles. I'll never understand why everyone thinks reptiles are slimy. I could only keep a turtle if I did -everything- for it myself, and she regularly tried to claim she could smell it from the opposite end of the house and threatened to drop it in a pond one while I was at school. I've always been into animals, especially fish and reptiles.

It wasn't until November of 2012 that I held my first snake. I had pet them before, but I had no idea what holding them was like. I was amazed at how dense and muscular a four and a half foot bp was, and completely not floppy. I haven't held a baby bp yet. I'm still a bit wary of owning one or handling it. With a 4 pound snake in your lap, at least you can let it chill there and you always know where it is if it wanders a bit. I don't want to drop or lose a runaway baby.

[Evenstar]

When my co-workers found out I had snakes, they all responded negatively. One of them confessed to having an irrational fear of snakes. But then she started asking me questions about them. These started out as very simple, basic questions like "what do you keep them in?" etc. And I would just answer the question. I always answered in a way that opened the door for her to ask more questions, but I didn't force information on her - I just let her ask. I did make it clear that I was always willing to talk about my snakes and that I didn't mind her asking her questions.

Those basic questions led to some very in-depth questions and now we talk about my snakes almost every day. AND she now wants to come to my house to see them! She says she doesn't want to hold anybody, but that will come later, lol. It is very gratifying that she has overcome her general distaste of snake and has developed a genuine curiosity about them.

I am actually confindent now that if she were to come across a snake in her back yard, she wouldn't freak out and want to kill it. She knows that they have value and she can respect them for what they are.

[anwhit]

I always found it interesting that children are much more open minded when it comes to reptiles. Actually, they're usually more open minded about everything.

For halloween this past year, I dressed up while I was handing out candy and I had Athena around me. While the parents didn't want to go near her, the kids absolutely loved her! There wasn't a single kid who didn't want to pet her. (While I also remember this one kid's dad who went all the way back to the sidewalk cause he wanted NOTHING to do with her.

With adults I think it just takes time and slow interactions. My mom was terrified when I first brought my girl home but now she gladly cuddles with her on the couch.

As for me, I was never afraid of snakes but I wasn't in love with them either. It was until I held my friend's mother's old man of a ball python, (29 years old), that I completely fell in love with him because he was just the sweetest thing.

[Poseidon]

I always answered in a way that opened the door for her to ask more questions

How was that accomplished?

[threezero]

I have friends that range from "wwww you have snakes???" to friends that actually own snakes themselves. I have no been able to convince those with irrational fear of snakes to overcome it. however some of my more open minded friends has been brave enough to attempt to hold my bps and the instantly they do my bps generally dispels the monster myths. I find that my calmer bps are more popular with the non snake folks. Especially useful is when ball up and I can explain to my frds handling the snake that they do this because they are scare. This tends to make my frds more interested and less tense.

However I havn't been able to convince my "eww snake" friends to even approach my snakes