Squeezing doesn't mean affection?

[redshepherd]

Oddly the anthropomorphism doesn't bother me much any more - it makes them feel closer and more attuned to the animal which possibly means better care standards.

I still disagree with most of their assumptions but if they get the snake to the right place I'm happy to ignore the journey.

That's good if it goes that way!

The other possibility is it makes them believe their snakes are like dogs, and they bring the snake everywhere with them until it gets sick and dies. Their prideful belief of how happy and loved their animal obviously feels makes them ignore good husbandry practice for the species, because their snake is "happy, loves me, and perfectly fine". Yay