[Incubuss]

If you fancy a rant about anything herp related, this is the place to do it. Maybe someone else will have the same annoying herp related rant as you. Give it a go, I will kick it off:

I am sick and tired of people thinking that there is something wrong with me for keeping exotics. My family are all either afraid of snakes or spiders, and I have both. Some of them refuse to visit me as they are in total fear one of them will get loose and 'kill them'. Why can't people realise that I knw what I am doing and that my animals are secure in their enclosures. Obviously you can't start moving viv's around just so visitors are comfortable, but I did use to move my spiders and scorpions into a different room if people with a fear of them decided to visit, but no, I'm not doing it any more! I've had enough of it. If they have a problem with my pets then its simple; don't come around! I have one friend that has a yorkshire terrier and its a total psycho, if you go any where near it you get bitten, and he refuses to put a mussle on it while its in the house as 'its his home'. But when he comes to my house he wants me to remove all of my spiders into another room incase they 'break free' and decide to attack him. People shoud know better, and know that an arachnid or rep will not hunt them down just for the fun of it. It just makes me mad!

 

[cornmorphs]

you would be surprised by the massive numbers of people that have snakes.. theres ahell of a lot.

 

[welshgaz]

Most people are scared until they actually see and hold one... you wouldn't be surprised of how many misconceptions there are out there!

 

[dtaylor21184]

i know what you mean. why do people think your weird if you keep reps etc? i love my reps and people just don't seem to get how much they mean to me. my beardie is my baby i love him as much as anyone with a dog loves that. they would do anything for a dog but when you do the same for a rep its strange. well i'd just like to say

i love my reps and i'm proud

 

[qpmomma]

When I got my first snake my entire family told me they would never come over to my house. That was 6 months ago. Now my mom will come over to visit her "grand babies" lol. She takes pics of them and sends them to everyone. She's even touched one! I told her her next step is to hold one. lol

But, yeah, people have all these misunderstandings about exotics and don't realize most of them won't bite unless you smell like food or are threatening it.

I have a co-worker who tells me she is allergic to snakes! She says she hypervenelates and breaks out and has to leave the room. I told her that's NOT an allergic reaction, it's a PANIC ATTACK! The snake isn't doing that to you, YOU are doing it to YOURSELF!

My goal is to help people understand herps are not some evil creature created by the devil himself and all herp owners are posessed by the devil, but that they are, in fact, great pets who, IMO are less likley to bite than a dog.

Christina

 

[Trice]

When i was alot younger i had a snake, i don't think my family understood why i wanted one. but parents got me one. Was a bad idea, a young kid, no knowledge etc? I've always been an animal lover, sadly after a couple of years the poor bugger died.

Well.. In Sept/Oct last year i decided i'd love to have a go at keeping reptiles again. This time with the knowledge of keeping them. Because i'm a university student, not got a full time job, only a part time job and unable to pay for rent or a place to stay, i live at home with the parents for the time being.. They couldn't really have said no to me about getting a couple of snakes. Because my mind was made up. I got myself two really nice lil corns. My mum was scared of them. i mean as scared as alot of people are with spiders (including myself,) but she started to take a liking to my snow corn. She kept coming in to keep check (probably started off to make sure i hadn't lost them Lol) but she will now hold the snow. My nan doesn't like them but even she will hold them now.
Yet everyone i talk to, friends, other family etc. They're all "snakes? Are you mad?" I keep telling them, they're more than welcome to come see them, and i'll let them hold my lil babies. But they always refuse for some reason. I can't see why people get so scared. Well i can.. Because i have a small phobia of spiders... But snakes.. They're beautiful lol.

I constantly try to help people understand that they wont attack unless like any other animal they feel they're cornered etc.

Hell..i think my sister jumped earlier. I went to get my amel out, and while i put my hand in the viv, the Amel came over to inspect my fingers lol. She thought the snake was going to bite me Found it funny myself...

End of the day i like having reptiles. People having a weird reaction to me keeping reptiles wont change my decision to have them.


I can actually sit there with a spider in the room, but i couldn't touch one. I wouldn't ask for someone to move their pet spider out of the room if it was in there, i'd just bite my pride and sit there uncomfortable lol

 

[PuddleSplash]

I don't like horses but I'm not afraid of them. I'd rather they werent anywhere to be seen but I don't go having a huff about it if i see one. I like zebras though :lol:

 

[E.Crassus]

I can understand the family difficulties of keeping snakes.
Took me 2 years to convince my parents to let me get snakes and then 4 years ago they gave in lol.
Now I have over 25 and my dad and brother handle them more often than I do, my bro, 11, even has 5 of his own. My mum wont go near them though.
At the start my mates really layed into me bout them, but now they just have to accept it.
Latest person ive converted was my girl friend which is good cause shes now good with handling snakes :lol: :wink:
Just hate the predudice that comes with it, has caused alot of problems in the past.

 

[welshgaz]

At the start my mates really layed into me bout them, but now they just have to accept it.

Why would they do that?? OK my mates think I'm weird and all but have never had a go at me! In fact by the time most have come around and seen them they always ask about them

 

[E.Crassus]

Well cause my mates a jerks lol simple as that.
Thing with Norfolk, no offence to anyone from there but well if you do something different then your considered an outcast.
That was when I only had 2 though, when they found out I got bigger snakes they soon shut up lol :lol:

 

[welshgaz]

That was when I only had 2 though, when they found out I got bigger snakes they soon shut up lol :lol:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Its a great card to pull that one.....

 

[LeeH]

not many know i keep exotics and thats how i like it to stay :wink:

 

[E.Crassus]

That was when I only had 2 though, when they found out I got bigger snakes they soon shut up lol :lol:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Its a great card to pull that one.....

lol yea, before was like yea you wanna see my 2ft corn snake, erm no.
then... " do you wanna see my 7ft white lipped python with an attitude of a pit bull terrier?"
:lol:

 

[carl24bpool]

I don't like horses but I'm not afraid of them. I'd rather they werent anywhere to be seen but I don't go having a huff about it if i see one. I like zebras though :lol:

You crazy buy. lol

 

[carl24bpool]

not many know i keep exotics and thats how i like it to stay :wink:

Can I ask why you prefer it this way?

 

[Blazey]

I don't like horses but I'm not afraid of them. I'd rather they werent anywhere to be seen but I don't go having a huff about it if i see one. I like zebras though :lol:

You crazy buy. lol

I'm afraid of horses but i like donkeys. I particularly like zebras and like giraffes, my favourite animal.

 

[Blazey]

i fancied getting a pet giraffe, i dont think it'd like the space restrictions though :lol: i planned a hole in my lviing room ceiling for its head to poke through so i could pat it from my bedroom and give it a potted plant to nibble on :lol:

 

[LeeH]

not many know i keep exotics and thats how i like it to stay :wink:

Can I ask why you prefer it this way?

don't like to hold attention to myself in my choice of pet animal..unless you go out with a snake round your neck or lizard on your shoulder who will know other than you and those who know you
i think whats the point in making a big deal in things said because you keep them..exotic keeping is growing at a rate faster than youd think and not as rare as it would have been years ago

 

[trese]

alot of people thing that i'm weird for keeping snakes and lizards every one things they are dangerous an will attack but we have got a few of our friends an family to touch an even hold them but there is to much misconseption about them, but again i have a huge phobia of spiders don't mind being in a room with themif they are locked up an i can sit away from them an not have to look at them lol,

 

[Cara]

you can't really blame people for their irrational fears, tbh I'm petrified of spiders (esp ones in my house) even though I know they wont hurt me, in fact my snakes & lizards could do loads more damage to me than a spider which would do nothing (I'm talking about house spiders in general!!) yet I still can't stand the little buggers! I've been quite lucky in that my family are perfectly happy handling my animals (my little sister loves it) and none are scared, my little sister perhaps too confident and I have to watch her! In fact when they visited me the other day they started discussing buying a snake themselves!! Unfortunately they can't have one as one of my mums closest friends is extremely petrified of snakes and would never go in my mums house again if she knew there was one in there! But I'm working on them getting a beardie, will prob give them one of mine when they have babies.