The same sad comments about my snakes... (vent)

[Vasiliki]

I think when you've been in the hobby long enough, you'll hear it all. And as long as you remember your passion, it's easy to have an answer for most people.

I tend to use humor or 'jokes' as a way to diffuse situations away from the snakes and instead talk about the person who is making those comments.

"If you brought that snake out near me, I would kill it without a second thought" - Father in law
"Wow really? You know, someone who can easily kill animals are usually psychopaths.... I'm a little worried. Who goes around killing other people's pets? That's crazy. You're ridiculous"

"I heard that my friend had a snake blah-blah-blah woke up with it lying beside her, measuring her to see if it could eat her!"
"Oddly enough, that's how I often how I measure my own meals. My mother always said: 'Don't eat anything bigger than your head!' It gets awkward when you're out at a restaurant, though, you know? But seriously, snakes don't actually do that, haha. Do you lay down beside a pizza to see if you can eat it? That's ridiculous. Call me if you ever do that."

"What if your snake eats one of your cats?!"
"Have you met my cat? It's a psycho. I'd never let that thing around my harmless snake, are you kidding? My snake would be like: 'The heck is that thin--AHHHH!'"

"Do you let your snakes roam around the house?"
"Of course? How else is he supposed to get to the fridge and make himself something if he's hungry?"

"Does it bite?"
"You could try to get it to bite, if you really wanted to. You'd have to start by rubbing this dead rat all over your hand first, though... which is weird, but hey if you want to give it a try you're more than welcome."


I always follow-up my humor or comments with educational reasoning behind it, but I've found that the humor quickly dispels any resentment towards the snakes, or anger a person may have. If they are still angry after an explanation, then there was nothing I could've said to change their mind and I don't waste anymore time worrying about it.

Some of my biggest critics have become some of my biggest spokesmen amongst my friends. "You HAVE to come over and see her snakes!! No, they're awesome! I used to be scared but they're actually really cool! You have to check them out"