Cosmo the cuteness ambassador is teaching them young [emoji2]

[Craiga 01453]

While babysitting my niece and nephew, Riley asked to see the snakes (some of you may remember a thread from April where she touched her first snake, Cosmo).
Well she has been here several times since and has touched all but Juice while I held them. But has not been ready to hold one. Until now!! While Cosmo was out (she always wants Cosmo first) she was petting him and getting "kisses" on her hands (she's so darn cute when his tongue flick "kisses" tickle her) when she put her hands out and asked to hold him!!
I jumped on the chance to teach her a few do's and dont's and once she understood I gently handed Cosmo over to her. Her smile was instant and priceless. She ended up holding him a few times over the weekend and does surprisingly well with him, especially considering she's 3 years old.

Then, after her first handling session with Cosmo, Riley said "I wanna see a big snake now, a big BIG one!" And raised her arms to full wingspan to show me she meant BIG, hahahaha. Well, since I don't have a big BIG snake, Django (52" 800 gram King) and Tyson (<900 gram BP) would have to do. She takes an interest and has touched them, but is definitely a bit apprehensive still. But she always wants to see them and "pet" them. It's so cool to see her smile when she sees them, and the super focused way she watches them makes her eyes light up.
I always like to try to work something educational into her visits with the snakes too, keeping in mind she's 3, so trying to make it fun enough to hold her interest. Well this time I had saved Cosmo's last two sheds so I could show them to her and compare the sizes. I was able to teach her about shedding while explaining that just like she grows and needs new clothes, snakes grow and need new skin, because that's their only clothes. When my brother picked her up, asked if she had fun, etc...he commented on the pictures of Riley holding Cosmo and she said she saw his skins too, because "when snakes grow they need to have new skins". I was so impressed that she retained that and found it interesting enough to share with her Dad. Proud Uncle moment right there!!!

My curious nephew, Sawyer, even "touched" his first snake at less than a year old!!



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