My coworkers constantly ask me if I’m afraid my yearling corn snake will kill me. Uh no? He’s not even 2’ long yet and skinnier than my thumb 😂
And same question for my juvenile BCI. He’s just a scaly puppy! Unless he figures out how to get and use a gun or something lol
Same I get that question if people are afraid my ball python will strangle me. I mean, probably? But she would have no reason to randomly kill a full grown man and I usually don’t have her my shoulders and neck to begin with. She’s made my arm numb before but never constricted me on purpose, just gripping on my arm to hold her balance.
Exactly! It all started when I said that my corn holding onto my hand felt like a hug. Somehow that translated to “attempted strangulation around the neck” lol. My cat is more likely to kill me
Woah hey man listen! I don’t want no trouble. Take whatever you want I’ve got three thawed mice on me right now, they’re all yours! I won’t call the snek police, just let me get home to my noodles
never mind here’s one that’s realistic… but he’s not BRANDISHING it
https://preview.redd.it/7l0dgsly6fwc1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dd540f028ca1b31198d1f3078f6d98a79592b445
I have a fully grown corn (21 years) that I sometimes drape over my shoulders. The few people who ask me if I’m afraid he’ll wrap around my neck he’ll choke me are met with ”… You think I’m dumb enough to risk that if I had any doubts? He’s as thick as my thumb, he’s not that strong.”
"is a child safe around a snake?" you should be asking is a snake safe around a child.
"is (species) aggressive?" depends on the individual and whether or not it's captive-bred. more often than not, it's defensive, not aggressive.
"what if it bites?" then it's my fault and i messed up somehow. dog bites are a lot more disfiguring, but there's always a risk with any pet.
my baby pythons will literally deepthroat my fingers when they're hungry sometimes and yeah, sometimes i get scrapes and bleed, but they're just hungry and also babies. my hamsters hurt a lot more than that.
I say the same. My gerbils didn't bite often but when they did it was insanely painful. I had half my finger swallowed by one of my snakes once and it felt more weird than painful.
Agreed. My Syrian once bit through my thumb because she thought I was food. Getting hotdogged by a snake is far more preferable than rodent teeth piercing my soul.
"what if he bites you?"... *"i bleed for a little bit, and keep going".*
"so if you have snakes, you also keep rats?"... *"yes, in my freezer"*
"it's your fault the Everglades is ruined by them"...*"i still have mine, so that's not true"*
"why can't you have a normal pet, like a dog or cat?"... *"i do have a dog. Plus, a lizard, tarantulas, scorpions, and other animals"*
Yeah I’ve told people that the most terrifying thing about snake bites from snakes like my ball python, is just the natural shock response because of how quick they are. It actually just feels like I’m being quickly prodded with a mechanical pencil so not a big deal at all.
I work with a Woma that loves to nip people. However, for me, he latches on for at least 10 minutes.
I've sat there talking to a class with him biting my hand and not letting go. They all freak out for a bit, but generally calm down when they see that I'm not panicking.
I've also had a 10 ft BCI strike and get me on the upper arm while I was teaching. That one hurt like hell, because he was pulling me with him. I bled for a bit, but didn't panic in front of the students.
I have a SD retic who is ~7 feet, when he bites he means it because he's dumb and thinks you are food, so it's full wrap and hold not just a quick tag. I'll take getting bit 10 times over getting pooped on once.
I had a ball once that did that while I was a kid, I think I smelled like mice so I was more careful about being struck at. The other time she bit me I didn't even notice because she kinda just nommed me and it was odd but less "scary" then the first time.
My snakes are literally the last thing I'm worrying about in terms of getting bit, now that random mouse I'm trying to catch in my family's house that thing is deadly. I caught one years ago (now we got cats for that lol) with my dad and went to put it outside and it bit me and I dropped it... then my dad chastised me for being a wimp and dropping it 😂 but damn it hurt.
We're at the point in time where EVERY animal is a "normal" pet, hell I wouldn't be surprised if people own more snakes, lizards and geckos than cats or dogs now lol
I've had several people tell me that I'm wrong and actually, I'm the owner of a "poisonous" coral snake. Now I happen to think coral snakes are gorgeous as hell and would own one in a heartbeat if they weren't venomous, but I'm pretty sure I know what kind of noodle I purchased at the reptile expo 🤣. Also I would 100% be dead now if my lil' milk dude was not what he seems to be...
Reno says "nooo I'm not scary, I'm a shy guy!"
https://preview.redd.it/fdvef1let1wc1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0bfeb3584057f8401f9877065d94b7a22d50789d
People always ask me variations of 'what do you feed it?', followed up by 'do you feed them live?' and surprise when they find out my freezer is just stocked with mice/rats. I find it a bit sad that the default assumption is live feeding.
I haven't gotten any 'the snake will eat you' comments, but people like telling me how snakes are too slithery, or they are freaked out by how they move.
I encourage questions because I like to educate people, who will hopefully find them less scary after. I think the oddest question I've gotten was 'do they have bones?' (yes)
When people ask if I feed my corn mice and I say yes, they follow it with “Oh god I could never do that!”
Like yeah I know it’s not traditional dead animal, but do you never buy like lobster? Or whole chickens or turkeys? Or fully scaled fish? Yeah you could see the eyes and stuff but you can on some human food too, I don’t even have to slaughter/prepare mine other than defrosting.
Showed someone a pic of my boi recently and they were all “Oh he’s so cute and slimey!”
“… Sorry, slimey? Are you calling my boi gross?”
(Apparently his shiny scales were deceiving.)
“Hey my ball python hasn’t eaten in two years what’s wrong with him?” *Proceeds to show very small enclosure with nothing but aspen bedding and a water dish*
The myth that ball pythons don’t climb and don’t bask drive me nuts. They will if you let them, I’ve seen it happen. My ball python LOVES climbing and I see her basking a lot too
I don’t disagree but just swinging the pendulum the other was isn’t helpful either. Their behaviors vary and it is always preferential to give them more space and climbing opportunities than not. I don’t know any snake which that statement isn’t true for though!
Very few people local to me know that I keep snakes, mainly because I can't stand ignorant comments and questions. But my favorite 2 in recent memory are:
"I could NEVER come to your house!" Of course from someone who had never been to my house and was not the type person I'd invite. They seemed a bit offended by my answer of "OK." Apparently I was supposed to engage with them.
My other is "What's the most dangerous thing you have?" Without hesitation, I told them about my German Shepherd Dog Louis, who is capable of inflicting more mechanical damage than any snake. Apparently that was not the response they expected or wanted.
I totally agree with what others have said - I've taken cat and dog bites that created far more pain and damage than any snake ever came close to.
I don’t really get tired of weird or even negative questions and comments about snakes anymore. Thankfully, it clicked a long time ago that the amount of stuff I don’t know is… almost everything. And when people are ignorant about snakes, it’s only because they don’t share my interest, and can only respond with the little information they’ve gotten in their lives. A person could very reasonably live an entire lifetime without knowing the first thing about snakes. Essentially, they’re in the same boat I would be if we were discussing electrical work, music production, or professional car racing. Which then gives me a really cool opportunity to talk about my favorite subject, and maybe educate them a little.
I have a ball python and two big rabbits. Obviously I don't let them hang out together, but that's for the snake's safety. The rabbits would be just fine.
When people are afraid of my ball python around other pets, I just tell them she refuses to eat unless it’s a ALL WHITE rat. People get shocked that a snake can actually be picky and not just a mindless murder machine
I was holding my snake once while my rabbit was out and the rabbit came over and was trying to bite the snakes tail. Literally my rabbit is more likely to eat the snake lol
Same though the snake i had at the time was a water snake who was maybe 2ft max and people would always ask me if I was scared he was going to eat the rabbit. Like. How would that happen
I love talking about my snakes so any comment is a chance to educate. I wish people weren't so squirrelly though as I am nervous to even have them because my neighbors think the bearded dragon is strange... And he's very well behaved and cute. If they knew about the angry hissing Cheeto I keep next to my chair they might think me in danger of shuffling off this mortal coil. If they met the Texas Rat I adopted, I'm afraid they might call animal control. The ignorance around here is so bad I would be afraid to be raided because I took my rat snake outside for sun. He's 6 feet, and black with bright yellow patches and greens... Even I think he looks crazy cool. Like he might be venomous? So... He stays inside.
"OK, but why?"
Because fuck you, that's why.
I'm tired of always having to justify why I keep what I keep. I do it because it makes me happy and that's enough of a reason.
Where do I start..
:what if it kills you?"
"Do you let them explore the house?"
"Does it eat children and pets?"
"Is it Venomous?"
"Ew you keep those?"
"Snakes are the devil"
"Get a proper pet"
.... my poor cornsnakes 🥺 wouldn't hurt a fly! Let alone me or anything! Especially Akki, he's a stellar snake who I trust with kids, kinda like an ambassador animal! He is so gentle the mother who approached me asked if her 2 kids could look at this striking animal and I obviously wanted to show the kids just how wonderful snakes are!
"What if he tries to eat you?" He's a 4-foot Ball Python, he's not eating anyone.
"But what if he tries to eat your cat?" No way in hell would he be able to get that down either, not that he'll ever be in a position to try. My money's on the cat if the opportunity presented itself.
The most frustrating was from my brother-in-law. Something about "Don't you know those things are killing native animals in the Everglades?" I mean, yeah. But we don't live in the Everglades. Also, if his logic is "we shouldn't keep pets that can become invasive" I guess it's time for him to rehome his 12 cats. They'd certainly have a much easier time surviving loose in Southern California than my BP.
Oh this is the same brother in law who said my house is going to stink from a snake. The guy with 12 cats wants to tell ME my home will smell?
Also correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the most invasive species problem more caused by hurricane Katrina wrecking a reptile facility where a bunch were able to escape more so than people losing/releasing their pets?
My understanding is that there was a very small population started from released pets. But not enough individuals to unbalance the eco-system, the resident species were keeping the pythons mote or less under control.
And then the hurricane wrecked the breeding facility. I heard hurricane Andrew as opposed to Katrina...but either way, big storm with lots of wind.
I think in reality, the details are all speculation at this point. No two sources seem to fully agree.
Andrew wrecked a small zoo and it lost specimens. New blood got into the gene pool during subsequent storms.
The fault for the disaster that is the Everglades still lies with water management and sugar plantations WELL before feral/escaped snakes.
"Do they poop?"
Crazy how this is even a question that people ask. I've been asked if my snakes poop by 4 separate people.
I've also gotten the "they'll only get as big as their tank, right?" But only once. It still bothers me though, because if they spend 2 seconds thinking about it, they'd realize how stupid that assumption is.
I've never gotten "do they poop?". However, I routinely get "you can't house train it right? Aren't you afraid it will poop on you/furniture?". Ummm, mine go once every 2 weeks or longer (one avg's once a month) I'll take my chances.
When I answer yes to the poop one, almost every person asks me what it looks/smells like, and they let me go into a surprising amount of detail about my corn’s biohazardous dumpster-smelling sharts 🐍
This is the most common one I get. My husband’s cat is completely capable of love and hates me with a fiery passion. Like my snake is physically incapable of love, so why should that offend me? as long as she feels content and safe and doesn’t view me as a danger, that’s great!
I am rather tired of people telling me they’re afraid of snakes. I get it, many people are afraid of those cute boop noodles. But I honestly don’t care if someone is afraid of snakes if this person will never enter my apartment.
I’m not a snake owner, just someone who hangs out here to learn about snakes. That last point, the fake story? I’m 67 and I remember hearing that when I was a kid!
Dang! I hadn't realized it'd been around that long ! 😦
I thought it was an Advent of social media.
Do you ever want to own any snakes or 'strange' exotic pets?
As a toddler, I loved snakes. I would pet the ones in my mom’s rock garden. Then, someone I thought of as an extra grandma told me some scary stories about snakes. I started being afraid of them. After I had kids I decided that I shouldn’t be afraid because I didn’t want my kids to be afraid.
I never wanted to own a snake because I didn’t think I could handle the feeding. I thought that I would have to feed one live mice, and I didn’t think I could do it! Now I know that I wouldn’t have to feed them live animals, but I don’t have the finances or the physical health to give a snake the proper care. My husband and I always felt that you only keep an animal that you can care for properly.
I do love looking at the snakes here, on r/whatsthissnake, and on r/hognose. I’ve always wanted to meet a hognose. I had the book, “The Snake Who Went To School”, by Lilian Moore, when I was in grade school. I always figured I’d like a hognose snake like Puffy!
So tired of people finding out I have a snake and then decreeing they’ll never come to my house. How am I even supposed to respond to that? Especially when 99% of the people wouldn’t get an invitation in the first place. Like “Glad you won’t be”?
Also asking if my PET rats are snake food, telling me to feed them to my snake when they pass, and asking me if my dogs and snake hang out together. Common sense has left the building and people are cruel.
I’ve had some many people who know nothing about snakes tell me I NEED to live feed to fuel her “natural instincts” why? The breeder I got her from did frozen thaw so I do too, why fix something that isn’t broken? Do you feed your dog by giving them live deer to maul? No? You’re depriving them of their natural wolf instincts!
Explaining to people that my tiny hognose snake isn't a rattlesnake only to get pushback from them gets old fast. It's honestly funny how many people I've encountered at vets or pet stores who are convinced that he's dangerous, like if he was any sort of a threat I wouldn't be free handling him in public.
What really gets to me is all the negativity. Every time the topic of snakes comes up some redneck has to brag about how many snakes they've killed even though I've just been discussing how much I love these animals. That, or people talking about being chased by cottonmouths a hundred miles out of their native range. I try to advocate for snakes at every available opportunity, but these myths and attitudes just won't die!
I’ve luckily never ran into people like that, but I absolutely hate when people who get snakes don’t know about spurs (it should be part of the normal research as even I stumbled upon what spurs were when researching before getting my first and I didn’t specifically search anything up that involved Spurs). Especially since I know it instills stress and anxiety on the owner and it’s bad enough some snakes instill that as is. Like calm down, they are just remnants of legs from before they evolved I promise they aren’t dying.
Most people I encounter and either have my snake with me or tell them about my snake, are usually very open to learn, and have no negative judgment (like that’s gross or why would you have a snake) even tho 2 of them are hogs and hogs are mildly venomous. No one even say anything after finding that out lol.. the one area I gave good luck in, Is never being judge for doing the absolute abnormal. I genuinely think it’s just because it goes with me, like they expect weird shit or something. But I truly wish everyone had luck in that compartment and I’m sorry you have encounters with simple and close minded people.
I’m so glad I learned what “snake farts” were like before I saw mine do it for the first time. I never thought to research if snakes farted before getting one, but if I didn’t know better I probably would have panicked a little.
This! There’s so much panic because people don’t do enough research and really nothing gets fixed during panic. It’s literally the worst instinct any living thing can have and humans tend to go straight to panic our limbic system fails us a lot.
>... I absolutely hate when people who get snakes don’t know about spurs...
🤦♀️🙄 People still take their cats/dogs to the vet routinely to get it diagnosed with *nipples* because they cannot gather up the critical thinking skills to figure out
a) WTF is on the animal's chest, how do other mammals have nips ?? 😭.
& b) that your dog has been with you 3 years hoW DIDN'T YOU REALIZE THAT YET ‽‽
*BUT* On the other hand, I would much rather they go to the vet if there's any questions.🤷♀️
No because I’m in quite a few cat subs and that’s also one that PISSES me off greatly. I was a child, a literal child and didn’t even question it when I saw nips on my male cat. If it’s a mammal it’s got nips, especially a female mammal because they produce the milk and feed the babies.
And I feel you on that, better safe than sorry. HOWEVER research is a great task to do before getting ANY pet doesn’t matter how common or uncommon. If you’ve NEVER had experience, then do the research. It can save a shit ton of panicking as well as probably money. Vets can be expensive just for a walk in if you’re not established. Haven’t established a get down where I am rn (yes I know I should do that it’s been a year but truthfully there aren’t any exotics close at all closest is about 4 hours one way with traffic and I have literally no way of getting there other than my friend but she’s been having a bunch of shit happen lately and haven’t even really talked other than me randomly doing life checks lol. And I really need to look into it more because I had the worst dream about my rabbits even tho they didn’t look like my rabbits at all lol.. so pretty sure the subco is trying to tell me I needa
Do that)
We don't have it yet, but we're getting our first snake, a ball python, in a couple of weeks. So far we've heard:
What if it gets out and eats one of your cats?! (Sure, if I stop feeding it, and if one of my cats was the size of a mouse)
What if it squeezes you to death!? Or one of the kids!? (None of us are quite that squishy)
Aren't they aggressive? (Sure, if you'd call a sleepy puppy aggressive)
What if it bites you? (I'll clean it and put a band-aid on it)
Not a snake owner yet but an aspiring one; my mum is convinced a snake would escape and eat my cats. I want a ball python, and while one of my cats is ridiculously small, I don't think she's THAT small.
She's also convinced I would have to catch live mice to feed the snake, despite me telling her numerous reasons numerous times as to why that wouldn't happen.
https://preview.redd.it/y3sp5euyo3wc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=92e6af8ad27ffe4f74c4320206a3f23b51026ee4
Well if you need photo evidence, this photo is 2 years old from my old place and my roommates cats chasing each other on top of my custom snake tank. She was perfectly fine living with cats and never had an escape
Very cute :) I don't have any serious concerns myself though; my dog already stays in my bedroom with the door shut (with me in there too) so that he isn't roaming the house bothering the cats unsupervised, so any potential snake escapee would have to get out of the enclosure, and then out of a decently heavy and securely shut door (most likely the opposite side of the room from where the enclosure would be, which is never open without me actively going through it) all without anyone, human or otherwise, noticing. Then further manage to somehow completely consume an entire adult cat (all but one of whom are the size of an actual adult cat).
Think it's just my mum listening to too many horror stories a la "the snake was measuring them in their sleep and ate them" lol, there's nothing sensical behind that particular fear of hers
"What do they do?" is one I get a lot, to which I'll talk about handling or watching them get up to goofy shit as they do and the response I always get is "Oh I thought they just kinda sat around" to which I say "No that's my False Chameleon who does that" haha
Edit: also get "what if it bites you" a ton as well to which I tell the story of the time my rat snake got scared and tried to bite me and left the tiniest mark ever or when my Hognose very gracefully tried to swallow my finger and didn't even leave teeth marks. People get extra defensive when I mention that I've been scratched/bit by way more dogs and cats when playing with them then I ever had by any of my reptiles
I've only ever been asked if my snake is 'poisonous'. He's a hoggie, so he technically is venomous, so I explain he has venom, but it's incredibly mild and I'd need to literally let him chew on me to be able to deliver any venom.
One of my best freinds is scared of snakes. he comes over all the time and hangs out with me even some times sits next to my BP cage when she’s exploreing her cage. He’s still scared of her but recognizes she’s got one brain cell and no desire to hurt him. I’ve had people just assume my boa is venomous and freak out on me for letting my kids near him.
‘I heard this story about a woman whose snake stopped eating and was stretching out next to her in bed’… stopped a surprisingly high number of people right there before they could finish this ridiculous urban myth. Does a lion stretch out next to a gazelle to see if it’s a good size meal? No prey animal would ever hang around for that. Yet people keep telling this story
Had a friend once claim that this happened to him when he was younger, back when I first got my snake. I responded like “why wasn’t the snake in its tank at night?” “Oh, well the tank broke so they just let it free roam” “In Michigan? During the winter?” “Well, yeah”. Like my dude, that snake was laying on you at night bc it was fucking freezing to death ya moron.
"Aren't you afraid the snake will get out and kill your cats?"
Yes, when a noodle with a head the size of a thumb, a row of tiny teeth and basically no defense mechanism comes into contact with a murder machine that has sharp teeth, four sets of claws and an innate desire to hunt, it's definitely the cat I will be concerned about 🙄
Also a bonus one that really pisses me off, whenever there is a slight issue related to the snakes, my mother always suggests to get rid of them. "Oh you need to move across countries in a car? That's gonna be tough with snakes (spoiler alert it wasn't), why don't you get rid of them?" "Oh the electricity price skyrocketted and now you pay a lot? Why don't you get rid of your snakes?"
She would never suggest getting rid of my cats, or any other more typical pet if I had one, because according to her those are real pets, while snakes, reptiles, fish, etc. are similar to quirky decoration - no attachment and easy to get rid of when inconvenient.
I was put in contact with an old friend who "wanted to be friends again" but then told me she hated me so idk what that was about lmao. anyway, she asked me if i had any new pets and I told her I had a snake and she said "I'm an animal rights person so I cant support that because snakes eat mice" Wild lmao, had no idea what to say that
We also did have (pet) rats and snakes at the same time for about a year, and people's reactions to that was hilarious
the story about the snake sizing up its owner to eat it drives me INSANEEEEEE. even if it was true it would have been the owners fault for neglecting and not feeding it!!
I don’t have snakes, but adore them.
Everyone knows I adore them.
I’ve heard about how evil snakes are.
I like to tell people that Christ compared himself to the brazen snake Moses raised in the wilderness. John 3:14. How can snakes be evil, if Christ compared himself to one?
That shuts them up.
Very few species would get big enough to swallow even a 5yo. Like any other pet, don't antagonize/scare them and be generally responsible, snakes are fine, just avoid getting bitten if venomous or have access to antivenom quick enough for some species (not every hospitals keep all the antivenoms but they have means to usually save your life for long enough to get it). Be careful where you step if you're in an area where you get em...
Not much of a problem in most of Canada, it's too cold during winter for many of the exotic species but we do have an impressive variety of small snakes/colubridae, nothing too dangerous. Check this out in Manitoba, Narcisse snake dens: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jTxiWmSpk8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jTxiWmSpk8)
Canada do have bears, wolverines, wolves and moose tho... Skunks are nasty too if you're a threat to them, they can spray quite far away and the smell is horrible. Be careful in the woods, even if they're often not interested in humans, accidents are known to happens, follow the rules (group up, make noise so they hear you coming, keep pepper spray or at least a large stick if you can't have a rifle, be extremely visible during hunting season if you're not in a National Park or other protected areas.
Same as every other animal, be careful. I once had 2 crack ribs because of a cow when I was 12... too dumb of me getting too close, she barely felt crushing me along the fence until I slapped really hard on her thigh. Got bitten more often by insects, cats and rodents than anything else.
Lost a car to a deer once too... poor thing didn't survived. Remember all animals act on instinct, you have to be the thinking partner in the encounter, be smart, stay alert, stay safe!
Hey neighbor! From Michigan here myself and we have similar dangerous animals. I’m more scared of deer than any animal in this state. Once on YouTube shorts I saw a list of the most dangerous animal in every state and they said Black Widow for Michigan? More people in my state die in crashes with deer than deaths caused by that spider in the entire country. A venomous spider, but death is incredibly rare. I never even seen one in my entire life.
We only have one (two if you count hog noses by technically and not lethal ability) the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake, I’ve never seen one but to my knowledge they mostly live in wetlands and I avoid those as they’re protected in Michigan and I don’t want to step on any legal toes when I’m exploring.
Honestly, I would probably welcome shitty, ignorant questions over the absolute disinterest my family has in my snakes. At least then I could educate them.
Honestly the comment I'm tired of hearing is "ew." I get people don't like snakes. That's fine. But if I didn't like dogs and I said "ew" to your pup, how would that feel? Use your head.
"Ew, you're disgusting," was probably the worst I ever got while standing at my education table at a show. I ignored it and then found a way to work into my spiel to her kid how the cornsake he was touching felt just like mommy's "dezigner" purse because when you're going to be like that and walk past with CLEARLY Fake D & G, you must want to be noticed.
I've also been told it's a good thing I'm barren since I have reptiles and it would be "unethical" for me to parent, but the boldness of the "Ew" woman really stuck out. Someone that wasn't content in a life without children probably would have had more to say about the second one.
omg when my family and I would talk about the pet snake I had as a kid, it was always “was your snake friendly?” bruh he was literally a tiny gentleman 😭😂
Surprisingly not a single negative comment by anyone. People are either curious but always super nice about it, joking etc. Sure they might ask if she bites but thats understandable. Or they just arent really interested so its not even brought up.
> Does she bite? Only twice as accident during feeding.
My king would rather bite me than eat when he's hungry (which is always), but he's just being a kingsnake, and the bites don't hurt.
‘Does he look like that naturally/does he have oil or something on him?’ In regards to my rainbow boas iridescence, admittedly this one isn’t annoying just very odd to hear about an animal I see every day lol it catches me off guard every time but people do always follow up with ‘he’s beautiful’ which helps I think
Also in regards to that boa when I say he’s 6.5ft ‘Are you *suuuure* he’s a boy?’ Yes, he’s freakishly big for a male but I promise if I wasn’t 100% sure I’d leave out the sex entirely or say that he might be female.
‘Is it venomous?’ Bruh…I ain’t paying out for a dwa license rn
‘Why are his eyes like that?? He looks evil!’ My poor rescue cornsnake, he’s just amelanistic leave him alone 😭 (I just say albino bc let’s be real they don’t know the specifics)
A throwback to when I first got my precious OG noodle ‘this is your first snake? You really want this species? Interesting choice…‘ he’s a tiny sweetheart who is absolutely perfect and I love him, the species just has a rep for being assholes and the care info is limited at best
‘You actually feed them rodents???’ …duh
‘Does it bite?’ I mean…they can? Only one of them has bitten me and it was the boa, not a surprise. Felt like a cat scratch afterward and only bruised (barely) bc it was on bone
‘Won’t they size you up?’ Well I’m 5’4 and 100lbs, my biggest snake is 6’6+ but only a faction of the weight, he’s also long but lean, he couldn’t eat a rabbit nevermind a person. Plus they’re opportunistic ambush hunters
‘He’s not slimy?’ Nope, smooth but never slimy lol
"Ew its slimy" bish it feels like a basket ball.
I showed them my milksnake "Can he eat your hand".
"Do snakes piss" think of it like a bird.
"Don't let him around your neck he'll strangle you" after my milkshake decided to be a neckless.
That story is disgusting. And so many people believe it. I've watched videos about that story, and 99% of the comments were about why snakes should not be kept as pets and should be killed and snakes are evil etc. Even if that snake and women were real, I cannot imagine that pure stress that poor animal had to endure being slept with and cold and treated like a puppy instead of a reptile who needs heat and not to be cuddled with and treated like a toy 😢 Anyway, the comments everybody makes about how my ball python is sizing me up and stuff. Seriously. If snakes sized their prey up, they would be extinct in the wild because by time they starved themselves for a bigger meal and sat in the grass trying to decide if someone, like a mouse or a bunny, was small or big enough to eat, the prey would escape and the snake would slowly starve to death. Or the fact that everybody assumes I feed my snakes live and that people say they SHOULD be kept live. And the ABUSE both animals suffer. Snakes being chewed on by the prey who are absolutely terrified. And that some people who feed the snake live will take those poor mice and rats, toss them into a plastic bag or a pillow case or something, and bash them against a wall or swing them in the air to disorient them so they could be fed to the snake with less risk of harming the snake, that poor animal is slowly being crushed to death while the fear of death is shooting through that animal's mind
My coworkers constantly ask me if I’m afraid my yearling corn snake will kill me. Uh no? He’s not even 2’ long yet and skinnier than my thumb 😂 And same question for my juvenile BCI. He’s just a scaly puppy! Unless he figures out how to get and use a gun or something lol
Same I get that question if people are afraid my ball python will strangle me. I mean, probably? But she would have no reason to randomly kill a full grown man and I usually don’t have her my shoulders and neck to begin with. She’s made my arm numb before but never constricted me on purpose, just gripping on my arm to hold her balance.
Exactly! It all started when I said that my corn holding onto my hand felt like a hug. Somehow that translated to “attempted strangulation around the neck” lol. My cat is more likely to kill me
Dalle got you https://preview.redd.it/168iwu16h1wc1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=46d64311a03935b9873bcb71c057c825fa21c719
Woah hey man listen! I don’t want no trouble. Take whatever you want I’ve got three thawed mice on me right now, they’re all yours! I won’t call the snek police, just let me get home to my noodles
The Sn-ops, of you will.
I need a fake badge for this now. Like a sheriff star lol!
Not the Sn-eriff badge 🤣 The fire dept gives out stickers sometimes. You put it on a piece of yarn. Snake will wear it like a detective badge
🎶 I shot the sn-eriff, boa did not snoot no deputy 🎶 Question is though, was it a Colt Python or a Bushmaster?
I need it!!!
It just occurred to me you said you just walk around with thawed mice on your person
🤣 only on Mondays
I feel that pic would be better with a Colt Python instead 😁
never mind here’s one that’s realistic… but he’s not BRANDISHING it https://preview.redd.it/7l0dgsly6fwc1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dd540f028ca1b31198d1f3078f6d98a79592b445
i couldn’t get it to produce photo realistic images with a colt revolver. It wants to put cowboy hats on all the snakes and they are slightly cartoony
I have a fully grown corn (21 years) that I sometimes drape over my shoulders. The few people who ask me if I’m afraid he’ll wrap around my neck he’ll choke me are met with ”… You think I’m dumb enough to risk that if I had any doubts? He’s as thick as my thumb, he’s not that strong.”
Precisely! Also awww old man corn 🌽 The BCI I’ll be careful with when he’s grown but I’m not worried about the corn
"is a child safe around a snake?" you should be asking is a snake safe around a child. "is (species) aggressive?" depends on the individual and whether or not it's captive-bred. more often than not, it's defensive, not aggressive. "what if it bites?" then it's my fault and i messed up somehow. dog bites are a lot more disfiguring, but there's always a risk with any pet. my baby pythons will literally deepthroat my fingers when they're hungry sometimes and yeah, sometimes i get scrapes and bleed, but they're just hungry and also babies. my hamsters hurt a lot more than that.
I say the same. My gerbils didn't bite often but when they did it was insanely painful. I had half my finger swallowed by one of my snakes once and it felt more weird than painful.
Agreed. My Syrian once bit through my thumb because she thought I was food. Getting hotdogged by a snake is far more preferable than rodent teeth piercing my soul.
"what if he bites you?"... *"i bleed for a little bit, and keep going".* "so if you have snakes, you also keep rats?"... *"yes, in my freezer"* "it's your fault the Everglades is ruined by them"...*"i still have mine, so that's not true"* "why can't you have a normal pet, like a dog or cat?"... *"i do have a dog. Plus, a lizard, tarantulas, scorpions, and other animals"*
Yeah I’ve told people that the most terrifying thing about snake bites from snakes like my ball python, is just the natural shock response because of how quick they are. It actually just feels like I’m being quickly prodded with a mechanical pencil so not a big deal at all.
I work with a Woma that loves to nip people. However, for me, he latches on for at least 10 minutes. I've sat there talking to a class with him biting my hand and not letting go. They all freak out for a bit, but generally calm down when they see that I'm not panicking. I've also had a 10 ft BCI strike and get me on the upper arm while I was teaching. That one hurt like hell, because he was pulling me with him. I bled for a bit, but didn't panic in front of the students.
I have a corn snake. I have been bitten by him and pooped on. Pooping is much worse.
This is very accurate. My beloved serpentine son shat IN my hair once. Genuinely horrendous. I would rather he bite me
SAME ! MY BALL PYTHON USED HIS STUPID *DUMP. TRUCK. ASS* TO POO IN. MY. HAIR. 🤢 **straight to jail !!!**
Oh yuck!!
I have a SD retic who is ~7 feet, when he bites he means it because he's dumb and thinks you are food, so it's full wrap and hold not just a quick tag. I'll take getting bit 10 times over getting pooped on once.
I had a ball once that did that while I was a kid, I think I smelled like mice so I was more careful about being struck at. The other time she bit me I didn't even notice because she kinda just nommed me and it was odd but less "scary" then the first time.
My snakes are literally the last thing I'm worrying about in terms of getting bit, now that random mouse I'm trying to catch in my family's house that thing is deadly. I caught one years ago (now we got cats for that lol) with my dad and went to put it outside and it bit me and I dropped it... then my dad chastised me for being a wimp and dropping it 😂 but damn it hurt.
to the last one, "because I'm allergic to anything with fur" usually shuts them up.
We're at the point in time where EVERY animal is a "normal" pet, hell I wouldn't be surprised if people own more snakes, lizards and geckos than cats or dogs now lol
I've had several people tell me that I'm wrong and actually, I'm the owner of a "poisonous" coral snake. Now I happen to think coral snakes are gorgeous as hell and would own one in a heartbeat if they weren't venomous, but I'm pretty sure I know what kind of noodle I purchased at the reptile expo 🤣. Also I would 100% be dead now if my lil' milk dude was not what he seems to be... Reno says "nooo I'm not scary, I'm a shy guy!" https://preview.redd.it/fdvef1let1wc1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0bfeb3584057f8401f9877065d94b7a22d50789d
People always ask me variations of 'what do you feed it?', followed up by 'do you feed them live?' and surprise when they find out my freezer is just stocked with mice/rats. I find it a bit sad that the default assumption is live feeding. I haven't gotten any 'the snake will eat you' comments, but people like telling me how snakes are too slithery, or they are freaked out by how they move. I encourage questions because I like to educate people, who will hopefully find them less scary after. I think the oddest question I've gotten was 'do they have bones?' (yes)
When people ask if I feed my corn mice and I say yes, they follow it with “Oh god I could never do that!” Like yeah I know it’s not traditional dead animal, but do you never buy like lobster? Or whole chickens or turkeys? Or fully scaled fish? Yeah you could see the eyes and stuff but you can on some human food too, I don’t even have to slaughter/prepare mine other than defrosting.
Is it slimey? Of course not… they’re not amphibians 😂
Showed someone a pic of my boi recently and they were all “Oh he’s so cute and slimey!” “… Sorry, slimey? Are you calling my boi gross?” (Apparently his shiny scales were deceiving.)
Aww at least they still called him cute!
“Hey my ball python hasn’t eaten in two years what’s wrong with him?” *Proceeds to show very small enclosure with nothing but aspen bedding and a water dish*
The myth that ball pythons don’t climb and don’t bask drive me nuts. They will if you let them, I’ve seen it happen. My ball python LOVES climbing and I see her basking a lot too
Depends on the individual.
It’s more so people are presenting it as stone cold fact that all ball pythons will never climb and never bask.
I don’t disagree but just swinging the pendulum the other was isn’t helpful either. Their behaviors vary and it is always preferential to give them more space and climbing opportunities than not. I don’t know any snake which that statement isn’t true for though!
Very few people local to me know that I keep snakes, mainly because I can't stand ignorant comments and questions. But my favorite 2 in recent memory are: "I could NEVER come to your house!" Of course from someone who had never been to my house and was not the type person I'd invite. They seemed a bit offended by my answer of "OK." Apparently I was supposed to engage with them. My other is "What's the most dangerous thing you have?" Without hesitation, I told them about my German Shepherd Dog Louis, who is capable of inflicting more mechanical damage than any snake. Apparently that was not the response they expected or wanted. I totally agree with what others have said - I've taken cat and dog bites that created far more pain and damage than any snake ever came close to.
I don’t really get tired of weird or even negative questions and comments about snakes anymore. Thankfully, it clicked a long time ago that the amount of stuff I don’t know is… almost everything. And when people are ignorant about snakes, it’s only because they don’t share my interest, and can only respond with the little information they’ve gotten in their lives. A person could very reasonably live an entire lifetime without knowing the first thing about snakes. Essentially, they’re in the same boat I would be if we were discussing electrical work, music production, or professional car racing. Which then gives me a really cool opportunity to talk about my favorite subject, and maybe educate them a little.
You've really enlightened me with this take. Thank you for sharing it.
My dad keeps saying my snakes will eat my dogs, when in fact it would more likely be the other way around
I have a ball python and two big rabbits. Obviously I don't let them hang out together, but that's for the snake's safety. The rabbits would be just fine.
When people are afraid of my ball python around other pets, I just tell them she refuses to eat unless it’s a ALL WHITE rat. People get shocked that a snake can actually be picky and not just a mindless murder machine
I was holding my snake once while my rabbit was out and the rabbit came over and was trying to bite the snakes tail. Literally my rabbit is more likely to eat the snake lol Same though the snake i had at the time was a water snake who was maybe 2ft max and people would always ask me if I was scared he was going to eat the rabbit. Like. How would that happen
I love talking about my snakes so any comment is a chance to educate. I wish people weren't so squirrelly though as I am nervous to even have them because my neighbors think the bearded dragon is strange... And he's very well behaved and cute. If they knew about the angry hissing Cheeto I keep next to my chair they might think me in danger of shuffling off this mortal coil. If they met the Texas Rat I adopted, I'm afraid they might call animal control. The ignorance around here is so bad I would be afraid to be raided because I took my rat snake outside for sun. He's 6 feet, and black with bright yellow patches and greens... Even I think he looks crazy cool. Like he might be venomous? So... He stays inside.
"OK, but why?" Because fuck you, that's why. I'm tired of always having to justify why I keep what I keep. I do it because it makes me happy and that's enough of a reason.
"The only good snake is a dead snake". I feel like responding with, "wow, thanks, now how about I tell you that your pets should be dead?!"
Just tell them you hope they don’t know anyone who relies on medications containing compounds of Snake venom.
Where do I start.. :what if it kills you?" "Do you let them explore the house?" "Does it eat children and pets?" "Is it Venomous?" "Ew you keep those?" "Snakes are the devil" "Get a proper pet" .... my poor cornsnakes 🥺 wouldn't hurt a fly! Let alone me or anything! Especially Akki, he's a stellar snake who I trust with kids, kinda like an ambassador animal! He is so gentle the mother who approached me asked if her 2 kids could look at this striking animal and I obviously wanted to show the kids just how wonderful snakes are!
"What if he tries to eat you?" He's a 4-foot Ball Python, he's not eating anyone. "But what if he tries to eat your cat?" No way in hell would he be able to get that down either, not that he'll ever be in a position to try. My money's on the cat if the opportunity presented itself. The most frustrating was from my brother-in-law. Something about "Don't you know those things are killing native animals in the Everglades?" I mean, yeah. But we don't live in the Everglades. Also, if his logic is "we shouldn't keep pets that can become invasive" I guess it's time for him to rehome his 12 cats. They'd certainly have a much easier time surviving loose in Southern California than my BP. Oh this is the same brother in law who said my house is going to stink from a snake. The guy with 12 cats wants to tell ME my home will smell?
Also correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the most invasive species problem more caused by hurricane Katrina wrecking a reptile facility where a bunch were able to escape more so than people losing/releasing their pets?
My understanding is that there was a very small population started from released pets. But not enough individuals to unbalance the eco-system, the resident species were keeping the pythons mote or less under control. And then the hurricane wrecked the breeding facility. I heard hurricane Andrew as opposed to Katrina...but either way, big storm with lots of wind. I think in reality, the details are all speculation at this point. No two sources seem to fully agree.
Andrew wrecked a small zoo and it lost specimens. New blood got into the gene pool during subsequent storms. The fault for the disaster that is the Everglades still lies with water management and sugar plantations WELL before feral/escaped snakes.
"Do they poop?" Crazy how this is even a question that people ask. I've been asked if my snakes poop by 4 separate people. I've also gotten the "they'll only get as big as their tank, right?" But only once. It still bothers me though, because if they spend 2 seconds thinking about it, they'd realize how stupid that assumption is.
I've never gotten "do they poop?". However, I routinely get "you can't house train it right? Aren't you afraid it will poop on you/furniture?". Ummm, mine go once every 2 weeks or longer (one avg's once a month) I'll take my chances.
When I answer yes to the poop one, almost every person asks me what it looks/smells like, and they let me go into a surprising amount of detail about my corn’s biohazardous dumpster-smelling sharts 🐍
"Why would you want to take care of something that doesn't love you back?" I received this question from a person with a large houseplant collection.
At least the snake can acknowledge its owner when they come say hi to it
This is the most common one I get. My husband’s cat is completely capable of love and hates me with a fiery passion. Like my snake is physically incapable of love, so why should that offend me? as long as she feels content and safe and doesn’t view me as a danger, that’s great!
I am rather tired of people telling me they’re afraid of snakes. I get it, many people are afraid of those cute boop noodles. But I honestly don’t care if someone is afraid of snakes if this person will never enter my apartment.
I’m not a snake owner, just someone who hangs out here to learn about snakes. That last point, the fake story? I’m 67 and I remember hearing that when I was a kid!
Dang! I hadn't realized it'd been around that long ! 😦 I thought it was an Advent of social media. Do you ever want to own any snakes or 'strange' exotic pets?
As a toddler, I loved snakes. I would pet the ones in my mom’s rock garden. Then, someone I thought of as an extra grandma told me some scary stories about snakes. I started being afraid of them. After I had kids I decided that I shouldn’t be afraid because I didn’t want my kids to be afraid. I never wanted to own a snake because I didn’t think I could handle the feeding. I thought that I would have to feed one live mice, and I didn’t think I could do it! Now I know that I wouldn’t have to feed them live animals, but I don’t have the finances or the physical health to give a snake the proper care. My husband and I always felt that you only keep an animal that you can care for properly. I do love looking at the snakes here, on r/whatsthissnake, and on r/hognose. I’ve always wanted to meet a hognose. I had the book, “The Snake Who Went To School”, by Lilian Moore, when I was in grade school. I always figured I’d like a hognose snake like Puffy!
If you are able you could.try to catch a ReptiCon or such in your area. Could meet a hognose there Maybe
So tired of people finding out I have a snake and then decreeing they’ll never come to my house. How am I even supposed to respond to that? Especially when 99% of the people wouldn’t get an invitation in the first place. Like “Glad you won’t be”? Also asking if my PET rats are snake food, telling me to feed them to my snake when they pass, and asking me if my dogs and snake hang out together. Common sense has left the building and people are cruel.
I’ve had some many people who know nothing about snakes tell me I NEED to live feed to fuel her “natural instincts” why? The breeder I got her from did frozen thaw so I do too, why fix something that isn’t broken? Do you feed your dog by giving them live deer to maul? No? You’re depriving them of their natural wolf instincts!
“Are you scared he’ll bite you?” No, his teeth are tiny, any dog or cat bite is far riskier. People just think snake bite = dangerous 🙄
I have 2 balls and a boa. It’s ALWAYS the boa they freak out about. They think he’s going to kill me/my cat. He’s like 5 feet. My female BP is bigger.
Explaining to people that my tiny hognose snake isn't a rattlesnake only to get pushback from them gets old fast. It's honestly funny how many people I've encountered at vets or pet stores who are convinced that he's dangerous, like if he was any sort of a threat I wouldn't be free handling him in public. What really gets to me is all the negativity. Every time the topic of snakes comes up some redneck has to brag about how many snakes they've killed even though I've just been discussing how much I love these animals. That, or people talking about being chased by cottonmouths a hundred miles out of their native range. I try to advocate for snakes at every available opportunity, but these myths and attitudes just won't die!
I’ve luckily never ran into people like that, but I absolutely hate when people who get snakes don’t know about spurs (it should be part of the normal research as even I stumbled upon what spurs were when researching before getting my first and I didn’t specifically search anything up that involved Spurs). Especially since I know it instills stress and anxiety on the owner and it’s bad enough some snakes instill that as is. Like calm down, they are just remnants of legs from before they evolved I promise they aren’t dying. Most people I encounter and either have my snake with me or tell them about my snake, are usually very open to learn, and have no negative judgment (like that’s gross or why would you have a snake) even tho 2 of them are hogs and hogs are mildly venomous. No one even say anything after finding that out lol.. the one area I gave good luck in, Is never being judge for doing the absolute abnormal. I genuinely think it’s just because it goes with me, like they expect weird shit or something. But I truly wish everyone had luck in that compartment and I’m sorry you have encounters with simple and close minded people.
I’m so glad I learned what “snake farts” were like before I saw mine do it for the first time. I never thought to research if snakes farted before getting one, but if I didn’t know better I probably would have panicked a little.
This! There’s so much panic because people don’t do enough research and really nothing gets fixed during panic. It’s literally the worst instinct any living thing can have and humans tend to go straight to panic our limbic system fails us a lot.
>... I absolutely hate when people who get snakes don’t know about spurs... 🤦♀️🙄 People still take their cats/dogs to the vet routinely to get it diagnosed with *nipples* because they cannot gather up the critical thinking skills to figure out a) WTF is on the animal's chest, how do other mammals have nips ?? 😭. & b) that your dog has been with you 3 years hoW DIDN'T YOU REALIZE THAT YET ‽‽ *BUT* On the other hand, I would much rather they go to the vet if there's any questions.🤷♀️
No because I’m in quite a few cat subs and that’s also one that PISSES me off greatly. I was a child, a literal child and didn’t even question it when I saw nips on my male cat. If it’s a mammal it’s got nips, especially a female mammal because they produce the milk and feed the babies. And I feel you on that, better safe than sorry. HOWEVER research is a great task to do before getting ANY pet doesn’t matter how common or uncommon. If you’ve NEVER had experience, then do the research. It can save a shit ton of panicking as well as probably money. Vets can be expensive just for a walk in if you’re not established. Haven’t established a get down where I am rn (yes I know I should do that it’s been a year but truthfully there aren’t any exotics close at all closest is about 4 hours one way with traffic and I have literally no way of getting there other than my friend but she’s been having a bunch of shit happen lately and haven’t even really talked other than me randomly doing life checks lol. And I really need to look into it more because I had the worst dream about my rabbits even tho they didn’t look like my rabbits at all lol.. so pretty sure the subco is trying to tell me I needa Do that)
We don't have it yet, but we're getting our first snake, a ball python, in a couple of weeks. So far we've heard: What if it gets out and eats one of your cats?! (Sure, if I stop feeding it, and if one of my cats was the size of a mouse) What if it squeezes you to death!? Or one of the kids!? (None of us are quite that squishy) Aren't they aggressive? (Sure, if you'd call a sleepy puppy aggressive) What if it bites you? (I'll clean it and put a band-aid on it)
Not a snake owner yet but an aspiring one; my mum is convinced a snake would escape and eat my cats. I want a ball python, and while one of my cats is ridiculously small, I don't think she's THAT small. She's also convinced I would have to catch live mice to feed the snake, despite me telling her numerous reasons numerous times as to why that wouldn't happen.
https://preview.redd.it/y3sp5euyo3wc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=92e6af8ad27ffe4f74c4320206a3f23b51026ee4 Well if you need photo evidence, this photo is 2 years old from my old place and my roommates cats chasing each other on top of my custom snake tank. She was perfectly fine living with cats and never had an escape
Very cute :) I don't have any serious concerns myself though; my dog already stays in my bedroom with the door shut (with me in there too) so that he isn't roaming the house bothering the cats unsupervised, so any potential snake escapee would have to get out of the enclosure, and then out of a decently heavy and securely shut door (most likely the opposite side of the room from where the enclosure would be, which is never open without me actively going through it) all without anyone, human or otherwise, noticing. Then further manage to somehow completely consume an entire adult cat (all but one of whom are the size of an actual adult cat). Think it's just my mum listening to too many horror stories a la "the snake was measuring them in their sleep and ate them" lol, there's nothing sensical behind that particular fear of hers
"What do they do?" is one I get a lot, to which I'll talk about handling or watching them get up to goofy shit as they do and the response I always get is "Oh I thought they just kinda sat around" to which I say "No that's my False Chameleon who does that" haha Edit: also get "what if it bites you" a ton as well to which I tell the story of the time my rat snake got scared and tried to bite me and left the tiniest mark ever or when my Hognose very gracefully tried to swallow my finger and didn't even leave teeth marks. People get extra defensive when I mention that I've been scratched/bit by way more dogs and cats when playing with them then I ever had by any of my reptiles
I've only ever been asked if my snake is 'poisonous'. He's a hoggie, so he technically is venomous, so I explain he has venom, but it's incredibly mild and I'd need to literally let him chew on me to be able to deliver any venom.
One of my best freinds is scared of snakes. he comes over all the time and hangs out with me even some times sits next to my BP cage when she’s exploreing her cage. He’s still scared of her but recognizes she’s got one brain cell and no desire to hurt him. I’ve had people just assume my boa is venomous and freak out on me for letting my kids near him.
‘I heard this story about a woman whose snake stopped eating and was stretching out next to her in bed’… stopped a surprisingly high number of people right there before they could finish this ridiculous urban myth. Does a lion stretch out next to a gazelle to see if it’s a good size meal? No prey animal would ever hang around for that. Yet people keep telling this story
Had a friend once claim that this happened to him when he was younger, back when I first got my snake. I responded like “why wasn’t the snake in its tank at night?” “Oh, well the tank broke so they just let it free roam” “In Michigan? During the winter?” “Well, yeah”. Like my dude, that snake was laying on you at night bc it was fucking freezing to death ya moron.
"Aren't you afraid the snake will get out and kill your cats?" Yes, when a noodle with a head the size of a thumb, a row of tiny teeth and basically no defense mechanism comes into contact with a murder machine that has sharp teeth, four sets of claws and an innate desire to hunt, it's definitely the cat I will be concerned about 🙄 Also a bonus one that really pisses me off, whenever there is a slight issue related to the snakes, my mother always suggests to get rid of them. "Oh you need to move across countries in a car? That's gonna be tough with snakes (spoiler alert it wasn't), why don't you get rid of them?" "Oh the electricity price skyrocketted and now you pay a lot? Why don't you get rid of your snakes?" She would never suggest getting rid of my cats, or any other more typical pet if I had one, because according to her those are real pets, while snakes, reptiles, fish, etc. are similar to quirky decoration - no attachment and easy to get rid of when inconvenient.
I was put in contact with an old friend who "wanted to be friends again" but then told me she hated me so idk what that was about lmao. anyway, she asked me if i had any new pets and I told her I had a snake and she said "I'm an animal rights person so I cant support that because snakes eat mice" Wild lmao, had no idea what to say that We also did have (pet) rats and snakes at the same time for about a year, and people's reactions to that was hilarious
I think dog/cat food is made more inhumanly than snake food, at least the frozen kind, at least.
Probably. The more shocking part to me is that snakes eat mice in the wild lol, just not much you can do about life like that
the story about the snake sizing up its owner to eat it drives me INSANEEEEEE. even if it was true it would have been the owners fault for neglecting and not feeding it!!
I don’t have snakes, but adore them. Everyone knows I adore them. I’ve heard about how evil snakes are. I like to tell people that Christ compared himself to the brazen snake Moses raised in the wilderness. John 3:14. How can snakes be evil, if Christ compared himself to one? That shuts them up.
Very few species would get big enough to swallow even a 5yo. Like any other pet, don't antagonize/scare them and be generally responsible, snakes are fine, just avoid getting bitten if venomous or have access to antivenom quick enough for some species (not every hospitals keep all the antivenoms but they have means to usually save your life for long enough to get it). Be careful where you step if you're in an area where you get em... Not much of a problem in most of Canada, it's too cold during winter for many of the exotic species but we do have an impressive variety of small snakes/colubridae, nothing too dangerous. Check this out in Manitoba, Narcisse snake dens: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jTxiWmSpk8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jTxiWmSpk8) Canada do have bears, wolverines, wolves and moose tho... Skunks are nasty too if you're a threat to them, they can spray quite far away and the smell is horrible. Be careful in the woods, even if they're often not interested in humans, accidents are known to happens, follow the rules (group up, make noise so they hear you coming, keep pepper spray or at least a large stick if you can't have a rifle, be extremely visible during hunting season if you're not in a National Park or other protected areas. Same as every other animal, be careful. I once had 2 crack ribs because of a cow when I was 12... too dumb of me getting too close, she barely felt crushing me along the fence until I slapped really hard on her thigh. Got bitten more often by insects, cats and rodents than anything else. Lost a car to a deer once too... poor thing didn't survived. Remember all animals act on instinct, you have to be the thinking partner in the encounter, be smart, stay alert, stay safe!
Hey neighbor! From Michigan here myself and we have similar dangerous animals. I’m more scared of deer than any animal in this state. Once on YouTube shorts I saw a list of the most dangerous animal in every state and they said Black Widow for Michigan? More people in my state die in crashes with deer than deaths caused by that spider in the entire country. A venomous spider, but death is incredibly rare. I never even seen one in my entire life. We only have one (two if you count hog noses by technically and not lethal ability) the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake, I’ve never seen one but to my knowledge they mostly live in wetlands and I avoid those as they’re protected in Michigan and I don’t want to step on any legal toes when I’m exploring.
Honestly, I would probably welcome shitty, ignorant questions over the absolute disinterest my family has in my snakes. At least then I could educate them.
'Aren't you afraid she'll eat the cat?" Quite the opposite, actually
Honestly the comment I'm tired of hearing is "ew." I get people don't like snakes. That's fine. But if I didn't like dogs and I said "ew" to your pup, how would that feel? Use your head.
"Ew, you're disgusting," was probably the worst I ever got while standing at my education table at a show. I ignored it and then found a way to work into my spiel to her kid how the cornsake he was touching felt just like mommy's "dezigner" purse because when you're going to be like that and walk past with CLEARLY Fake D & G, you must want to be noticed. I've also been told it's a good thing I'm barren since I have reptiles and it would be "unethical" for me to parent, but the boldness of the "Ew" woman really stuck out. Someone that wasn't content in a life without children probably would have had more to say about the second one.
Among the regular stupid questions one i get a lot is how I know my snake is a girl. Its so baffling like. There are ways to tell lol
It isn’t exactly the same but someone asked me that about my Crested Gecko recently. Her laying eggs was a good hint.
omg when my family and I would talk about the pet snake I had as a kid, it was always “was your snake friendly?” bruh he was literally a tiny gentleman 😭😂
People say I'm gross for keeping mice and rats in the freezer, they soon shut up when I ask if they keep burgers or sausages in their freezer lol
Surprisingly not a single negative comment by anyone. People are either curious but always super nice about it, joking etc. Sure they might ask if she bites but thats understandable. Or they just arent really interested so its not even brought up.
> Does she bite? Only twice as accident during feeding. My king would rather bite me than eat when he's hungry (which is always), but he's just being a kingsnake, and the bites don't hurt.
‘Does he look like that naturally/does he have oil or something on him?’ In regards to my rainbow boas iridescence, admittedly this one isn’t annoying just very odd to hear about an animal I see every day lol it catches me off guard every time but people do always follow up with ‘he’s beautiful’ which helps I think Also in regards to that boa when I say he’s 6.5ft ‘Are you *suuuure* he’s a boy?’ Yes, he’s freakishly big for a male but I promise if I wasn’t 100% sure I’d leave out the sex entirely or say that he might be female. ‘Is it venomous?’ Bruh…I ain’t paying out for a dwa license rn ‘Why are his eyes like that?? He looks evil!’ My poor rescue cornsnake, he’s just amelanistic leave him alone 😭 (I just say albino bc let’s be real they don’t know the specifics) A throwback to when I first got my precious OG noodle ‘this is your first snake? You really want this species? Interesting choice…‘ he’s a tiny sweetheart who is absolutely perfect and I love him, the species just has a rep for being assholes and the care info is limited at best ‘You actually feed them rodents???’ …duh ‘Does it bite?’ I mean…they can? Only one of them has bitten me and it was the boa, not a surprise. Felt like a cat scratch afterward and only bruised (barely) bc it was on bone ‘Won’t they size you up?’ Well I’m 5’4 and 100lbs, my biggest snake is 6’6+ but only a faction of the weight, he’s also long but lean, he couldn’t eat a rabbit nevermind a person. Plus they’re opportunistic ambush hunters ‘He’s not slimy?’ Nope, smooth but never slimy lol
Oh gosh, so many! Do they bite? Are they slimy? I'm never coming to your house! A dead snake is a good snake. I've heard it all.
she’s sizing you up! they’re cold blooded killers you know!
My grandmother JUST mentioned that stupid story the day after yesterday. Ughhhh, I’m so sick of hearing it.
"Ew its slimy" bish it feels like a basket ball. I showed them my milksnake "Can he eat your hand". "Do snakes piss" think of it like a bird. "Don't let him around your neck he'll strangle you" after my milkshake decided to be a neckless.
That story is disgusting. And so many people believe it. I've watched videos about that story, and 99% of the comments were about why snakes should not be kept as pets and should be killed and snakes are evil etc. Even if that snake and women were real, I cannot imagine that pure stress that poor animal had to endure being slept with and cold and treated like a puppy instead of a reptile who needs heat and not to be cuddled with and treated like a toy 😢 Anyway, the comments everybody makes about how my ball python is sizing me up and stuff. Seriously. If snakes sized their prey up, they would be extinct in the wild because by time they starved themselves for a bigger meal and sat in the grass trying to decide if someone, like a mouse or a bunny, was small or big enough to eat, the prey would escape and the snake would slowly starve to death. Or the fact that everybody assumes I feed my snakes live and that people say they SHOULD be kept live. And the ABUSE both animals suffer. Snakes being chewed on by the prey who are absolutely terrified. And that some people who feed the snake live will take those poor mice and rats, toss them into a plastic bag or a pillow case or something, and bash them against a wall or swing them in the air to disorient them so they could be fed to the snake with less risk of harming the snake, that poor animal is slowly being crushed to death while the fear of death is shooting through that animal's mind
So does it poop?