Keeping snakes as pets.

@Fido,

Fido, you are very funny...

To all, nice thread, I'm enjoying learning about the different snakes (give me a bunny any day..)

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

ossobuco wrote:

Fido, you are very funny...

To all, nice thread, I'm enjoying learning about the different snakes (give me a bunny any day..)

Give me anything but a snake! LOL! I wish you good snaking hunting Boomerrang.

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We're probably going to get the snake next week so today I went to the snake store without Mo to ask questions. I wanted to know what I was getting into and I wanted to be able to steer Mo in the right direction when it came time to select a pet.

The lady made me hold a snake!

I don't mind petting snakes but I'd never held one before and I insisted that this wasn't going to be my pet and that I wasn't going to have to hold it or anything but Ms. Snake Lady said "I'm not comfortable sending your son home with a pet that you can't pick up if you need to".

So I held it. And it wasn't so bad. It was actually sorta cool. I'm really kind of proud of myself.

Then later I was telling my friend Sue about it and she said "You're a better mom than me" and it was the first time anyone has ever said that to me so that was kinda cool too.

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@boomerang,

You definitely are a brave mom! No way I'd hold a snake. Good for you!

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@boomerang,

Good snake lady, too.

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@Arella Mae,

Thank you, thank you.

I surprised myself by being able to do it.

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@roger,

I totally agree.

I wish all vendors of animals were so strict about where the pets end up.

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@boomerang,

that is definitely a good store if they make the parents hold it first. A lot of reptiles get neglected because they aren't really as interactive as the kind thinks they should be. Reptiles think two things food and safety. The can become habituated to a person but they do not form bonds like dogs cats and birds. Kids are sometimes disappointed by that. So parents often end up taking care of the animal.

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@GoshisDead,

I really, REALLY hope that he doesn't lose interest.

He's still interested in sharks -- after many years -- but I vetoed shark ownership because I've kept many exotic tanks and I know how much work they are.

But a snake actually seems like the perfect first pet for a kid in that they are fairly low mantainance, according to my research.

And, more importantly, according to Ms. Snake Lady.

I take animal ownership very seriously.

The bonding issue that you mention is interesting to me in a different way and might be instructive within our family in a relevent way. I need to give that a major league "Hmmmmm........?" so thanks for that too.

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@boomerang,

Quote:

and she said "You're a better mom than me" and it was the first time anyone has ever said that to me so that was kinda cool too.

From what I've seen exhibited [and there's a POooooooSSIBILITY you could be foolin' us all] you're a pretty exceptional Mom, Boomerang.

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@JTT,

Really JTT, this is not one of the times your life intersects with reality.

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@boomerang,

he very well may bond with the snake, I have bonded with my I love him to death. But he should be under no illusions that the snake has bonded with him, they are incapable. But as far as a pet ownership experience reptiles can fill that emotional niche very well.

1 Reply

@GoshisDead,

GoshisDead wrote:

he very well may bond with the snake, I have bonded with my I love him to death. But he should be under no illusions that the snake has bonded with him, they are incapable. But as far as a pet ownership experience reptiles can fill that emotional niche very well.

Okay, forgive my ignorance here, but how do you bond to something that cannot bond back? I have never owned any reptiles so I don't know a single thing about them. But, for me, I can't imagine bonding to something that is incapable of feelings.

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@Arella Mae,

you may not be able to, some people can. They name their fish, their cars, their boats etc... and sometimes treat them better than their families. Granted if I were to have to choose between my snake and my dog, I'd rehome my snake.

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@Arella Mae,

Kids get attached to all kinds of crazy things -- blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, toys -- that are a lot less interesting than snakes.

I had a cat once that never bonded to anyone, she just kind of lived here, unpleasently, for year after year after year. Nevertheless I took good care of her and cried a little when she died.

I'm usually grief stricken when a pet dies but not so much with Cookie, so I guess I didn't bond with her much either.

I imagine having a snake will be kind of like living with Cookie without the worry of having her scratch the crap out of me for the sin of petting her one fraction of a second beyond the point she wanted to be pet (which would have been 3 seconds, not 3.24 seconds).

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I think I'm going to have to quiz my niece. She has several "normal" pets plus a lizard, a spider, and a scorpion. I recall her saying something about liking the "wildness" of such things. Perhaps it's the fact that they DON'T bond that makes them attractive to some people.

1 Reply

@boomerang,

boomerang wrote:

Kids get attached to all kinds of crazy things -- blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, toys -- that are a lot less interesting than snakes.

I had a cat once that never bonded to anyone, she just kind of lived here, unpleasently, for year after year after year. Nevertheless I took good care of her and cried a little when she died.

I'm usually grief stricken when a pet dies but not so much with Cookie, so I guess I didn't bond with her much either.

I imagine having a snake will be kind of like living with Cookie without the worry of having her scratch the crap out of me for the sin of petting her one fraction of a second beyond the point she wanted to be pet (which would have been 3 seconds, not 3.24 seconds).

That does make sense. I have an aversion to reptiles so it's not something I can easily grasp - bonding with a reptile is really foreign to me. I think it's awesome that you are willing to let your child have this experience!

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@boomerang,

I have a habitat outside in the pond garden that is built to encourage nature as it happens.

snakes and frogs and fish and...

anyways.

I like the snakes ok, just because the are there. it's kinda like an extension of my fish tanks inside.

but they will not be coming in when the fish do for the winter...

1 Reply

@roger,

So are you saying that Boomer is a conniving bitch who beats Mo, Roger the Dodger?

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@Rockhead,

Quote:

I have a habitat outside in the pond garden that is built to encourage nature as it happens.

snakes and frogs and fish and...

Me too. It's called a slough.

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Keeping snakes as pets.

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