I too have been put into this train of thought and situation by two of my own sisters. I put my foot down and told them that if they have issues with my reptiles, it is thier issue and not mine, to try to understand and be respectful of me and my animals if/when they come around, or do not come around at all. For me, it was that simple, take me as I am...or, not at ALL!

One of my sisters involved, still wont come around, and thats fine, I dont need her here being scared, acting stupid and making even more stupid comments regarding my reptile collection... such as "oh, it is scarey, kill it, it deserves to die,it is dangerous to your kids, its just a -insert comment here-".

My other sister, well, thankfully, she has come around on her way of thinking. She will even handle most of my reptiles.

To me it is as simple as this..."get over my reptiles, act like the adult you are suppose to be, grow up" or dont come around.