In the apartment complex where I live, we have a few Brazilian neighbors with young boys (who our dog absolutely ADORES playing with). The boys are pre-teen and young teens who've enjoyed seeing my snakes.

So, yesterday I took out J-Lo so that they could see a baby - they're very gentle with the snakes. One of the boy's dad came over and held her and the first thing he did was smell her. I said "no, they don't smell!" and the boy had to translate. His dad asked how big they get and so I took J-Lo in and brought out Annie, one of my larger two.

The same boy said "I want to show my mom". I warned him not to startle her her with the snake. So, she came out (she knows I have snakes, has taken pictures of her son holding one) and at first went "wooooo!" and backed up a step, but he encouraged her to hold out her arm and draped Annie over it. SHE leaned over and smelled Annie. Again I said "no smell!"

I just thought it was funny that both parents smelled the snakes. Don't know if it's a cultural thing, or if their son has been asking for one of his own and they want to know if it's smelly or not! LOL I was actually quite impressed that both parents were interested in the snakes and not frightened of them.

It's nice exposing the boys to the snakes at an age where they are more curious than afraid and will likely take positive experiences of snakes into their adulthood based on their experiences with my snakes. And the parents are not freaked out. All these kids seem to have a great respect for animals, no matter what kind.