Negative comments

[Dianne]

Remember when PETA was all about trying to convert snakes to eating Sausages over Rodents? LOL.

Paul

Oh yeah, I remember. I think some places still sell them. As if ground up processed mice are any different than whole mice. In all fairness, Duncan (Bci) would have probably eaten them and I think Piper (pied bp) would probably try it. Both of them are total garbage disposals. lol

[Bogertophis]

As someone who shows them publicly to people for education, Yes, I have herd it all. I simply tell people, "Spend 10 minuets with some of my animals. You might find what you think about them is wrong?" Cant change everyone's mind but I now have a few people who have done a 180 and now respect them for what they are. Some tell me they will only hold my animals. Some will never change their minds. Short answer. As long as they don't take away my right and ability to love them and have them, they can feel how they so choose.

Seeing IS believing! It really changes many minds when we can demonstrate our docile & beautiful snakes to people...doesn't have to be a formal talk, just a "meet &
greet"...10 minutes is about right...it changes minds. I've met many who say they always hated snakes but never saw one up close, much less EVER actually touched
one...and once they do, many can't get enough & end up HOLDING them with a smile.

There's always some pathetic jerk that walks by & says "that looks just like the one I chopped up last week" & about all you can do is ignore them. You can win over
many, even most, but not all. It's still worth the effort.

[distaff]

Let's just say that the town I live in has MORE than it's share of churches & church-goers, and when someone says something nasty about snakes I respond with "if God
created the world & made all the creatures then didn't he (or 'she' ) make snakes too?" That has actually sunk in... (sigh)

But on the plus side, one of the churches here has a yearly "Blessing of the Animals" and whenever the weather is good (it's outside)
I've attended with a snake, and got surprisingly open & friendly interest...so there's hope!

Our neighbor, who is a devout Christian (usually in a t-shirt with something like, "Got Jesus?"), and teaches science at a Christian school (not sure how they handle evolution there) keeps a BP and other critters in his class room. My breeder rats came from him. Since no one around here who I know of keeps snakes, he is the only person in real life with whom I can chat about the hobby.

On another note, I always wonder how that blessing assembly works when people carrying parrots or pet rats on their shoulders are standing in line with the big boa and python keepers.

[Bogertophis]

Oh yeah, I remember. I think some places still sell them. As if ground up processed mice are any different than whole mice. In all fairness, Duncan (Bci) would have probably eaten them and I think Piper (pied bp) would probably try it. Both of them are total garbage disposals. lol

I remember when those first came out...I read the ingredients & they were like hot dogs...lots of beef parts etc.-not even their natural prey!

I don't recall the company name but there are some now that at least have the proper ingredients...they're pricey though.

Funny that many of the ones who object to snakes eating rodents are NOT vegetarians themselves. -Always fun to ask! Nor are they aware of the cruelty involved
in the commercial livestock trade, whether cows, pigs, chickens, etc.

[pbenner]

Oh yeah, I remember. I think some places still sell them. As if ground up processed mice are any different than whole mice. In all fairness, Duncan (Bci) would have probably eaten them and I think Piper (pied bp) would probably try it. Both of them are total garbage disposals. lol

I've had snakes that would probably eat them, but no desire to actually try. I'll stick with my cheap dead rodents. lol.

[Skyrivers]

Seeing IS believing! It really changes many minds when we can demonstrate our docile & beautiful snakes to people...doesn't have to be a formal talk, just a "meet &
greet"...10 minutes is about right...it changes minds. I've met many who say they always hated snakes but never saw one up close, much less EVER actually touched
one...and once they do, many can't get enough & end up HOLDING them with a smile.

There's always some pathetic jerk that walks by & says "that looks just like the one I chopped up last week" & about all you can do is ignore them. You can win over
many, even most, but not all. It's still worth the effort.

Just let the photos do the talking.

Sent from my N9560 using Tapatalk

[Bogertophis]

...On another note, I always wonder how that blessing assembly works when people carrying parrots or pet rats on their shoulders are
standing in line with the big boa and python keepers.

I can't speak for others, but here the blessing is outside on the large church lawn, & everyone just spreads out & stays out of range from any incompatible pets.

There have been horses & cats+ here, but I've been the only one with a snake. (*ever since my first time, their church bulletin makes a point of welcoming "ALL pets,
even snakes" and brags a little afterwards..."we even blessed a snake" LOL.) Instead of a line, the minister makes rounds through the gathering...it's lots of fun, many
ppl visit with each other's animals...it's mostly dogs & even the local Humane Society brings a few adoptable dogs. So far I haven't seen any rats, & few birds, rabbits.

The first time I went (with my sil who attended there) I did get there early to ask the minister beforehand if he was OK with a snake...it was NOT my intention to
frighten anyone, certainly not him. He actually got a kick out of it...especially after the first year, when my snake laid his head peacefully on his arm. He'd never met
a snake before & I'd call it a successful "conversion". (his, not mine)

[Helonwheelz383]

I think what most people ask about (negatively) are bites from our snakes, & that's one of the easiest things to deflect. Remind them that a bite from a pet snake
does VERY LITTLE damage (not counting giant or venomous snakes) & usually doesn't even get infected (because snakes don't eat sugary foods that bacteria thrives
on), whereas birds (not only parrots but even little parakeets) can take a chunk out of you, dog bites can do a lot of damage as can the bites & scratches from cats
(& cats especially carry LOTS of germs), & even those cute little rodents have bites that hurt much more & can get infected. And as much as I love horses (& used
to ride), even a well-meaning horse can kill you....statistically you're better off with snake pets.

Also, once you understand why snakes bite, most bites are preventable. I wish I had a dollar for every time someone said "aren't you worried about snake bites?"

That's exactly right. We have an Amazon Parrot and let me tell you. She could take your finger off if she decided she wanted to. We had a cat that felt like testing her and when I ran in to see what the commotion was the poor cat was literally hanging from her beak by her paw. Not to mention our German Shepherd. I hate to imagine what one of those would do under the wrong circumstances.

[Dianne]

I remember when those first came out...I read the ingredients & they were like hot dogs...lots of beef parts etc.-not even their natural prey!

I don't recall the company name but there are some now that at least have the proper ingredients...they're pricey though.

Funny that many of the ones who object to snakes eating rodents are NOT vegetarians themselves. -Always fun to ask! Nor are they aware of the cruelty involved
in the commercial livestock trade, whether cows, pigs, chickens, etc.

Hmmm, I hadn’t seen the hotdog version. The ones I saw were ground whole rodents...and they were not cheap.

I've had snakes that would probably eat them, but no desire to actually try. I'll stick with my cheap dead rodents. lol.

I agree, I’ll be sticking with the real deal as well. Can you imagine trying to switch a fussy bp to a sausage? Shoot, I’m still trying to get Artemis switched to f/t.

[pbenner]

Hard enough to go from Mice to Rats or Live to Frozen. Screw the idea of trying to make a snake thing that Beef is an acceptable food smell. LOL.

Maple eats whatever I put in front of her that smells close to food. This includes my hand if I've been doing feeders, silly girl.

Paul