Snakes!!!!!

[RockyRoad]

Does anybody here have/like snakes? I never hear about snakes around here! :confused:

[Karen]

I like snakes, and think they're cool, but I do not have a pet snake.

As it says in my profile, I like all critters - except slugs and leeches - shudder.

[Aspen and Misty]

My sister's x-boyfrined used to have a snake, it was a python name Monie. She was very pretty and alot of fun. She coiled herself around your arm and woudl sit there for hours. We used to freak people out with her, they would scream and run. LOL.

[Dogz]

I like snakes too. They are so neat to look at and touch. I know that some people think that they are slimy and stuff, but they arn't. I agree with Karen! I hate leaches and slugs too!

[toughCookie]

Karen
you said you like all critters, does that include scorpions and centipedes??:confused: :eek:

[Barbiro]

I'm afraid of snakes -- trying to get over that. I think they're cool though.

[Desert Arabian]

I really love snakes!! I think they are really neat. I love catching them in the woods. I would never own one tho... they aren't that great of a pet.

[RockyRoad]

Ok, great. Snakes are my favorite animals. They are too much work though. When my cat and dog are not here, then I will get one. I will also get lots more animals. Right now I am settling for my four little (or ibg, in some cases) babies. ;)

[blonderella]

Yes, I have two snakes. Both are Ball Pythons. One is a 10 year old female and the other is a 2 year old male. I also used to have a Columbian Red Tail Boa whom I gave to a snake breeder and another Ball Python I got from a pet store which died because it was sick when I got it. I will never buy another snake from a pet store. They seldom know anything about the snakes they are selling and they are poorly taken care of. The snakes I have now are captive bred. If you are interested in getting a snake, I encourage you to buy only captive bred snakes rather than wild caught or captive born. Read about the species you are considering buying first. Some snakes are more aggressive than others and some need very high humidity, etc. Also, make sure you have a vet in your area that specializes in exotic animals in case your snake should get sick.

Snakes are beautiful and interesting creatures. Each has a personality all its own just like any dog, cat or other animal. I chose Ball Pythons because they remain small in size in comparison to other pythons and are docile in nature. I have never been bitten by any of my snakes and hold them often. They like to hide under my shirt sometimes.

Currently, I am treating my female for a staph infection. She is not too happy with me right now because she doesn't like it when I give her the injections but I only have three left to give her so I'm happy about that.

I love snakes and would have a whole houseful if I didn't live in an apartment. There are several other snakes I am interested in but at this time don't feel that I have the time to give them the special care that they need. Hopefully some time in the future I will be able to.

[Twisterdog]

I have a snake. Well, actually it is my son's snake. It is a green tree snake. We chose this snake because it stays small and eats insects. I could never feed a snake mice or rats or rabbits. :(

He (she?) is a sweet snake, we hold him a lot. He is very smooth and soft, and likes to wrap around our hands. :)

[CathyBogart]

How are snakes too much work? My two babies are very low maintenance, which gives me plenty of time to spoil them. I have a Western Hognose snake and a Black Pine snake. I always love seeing snakes getting good press, they are such wonderful animals.

Although...I DO have a baby Anaconda sitting on my boyfriend's bed behind me. That one creeps me out just a little bit..... I'm sending it out tonight to a guy who has the means to take care of it.

http://www.ophiophobia.net/~wolfchan/images/chubby2.jpg
Here's a picture of my favorite baby, my Hognose, named Chubby. She has been nothing but wonderful!

[jenluckenbach]

I am not really a fan of reptiles, I do not know why. But I love the look of snakes, how colorful they are. but I really like the little baby ones they are so cute.

[blonderella]

This is great! I am happy to hear of other snake lovers out there. My sister thinks I'm strange because I have snakes. She has cats and a dog. I told her that I love my snakes as much as she loves her pets.

When I was at the vet last week with my female, she was on the examination table but kept trying to slither up my shirt. She wanted her mommy. :p

The vet took her back to get a culture while I waited in the waiting room. You should have seen the look on the other customers faces when the vet brought her out to me. It was a hoot! I was holding her and she went inside the sleeve of my sweater and around my back. She's about 3 1/2-4 feet long. One woman was interested and asked a lot of questions about her. I think most people are afraid of snakes because they know nothing about them. They assume they are mean and bite. It's so nice to hear others describe their snakes as "sweet". My two are very sweet. Romeo, is a very curious little guy. Sometimes I take him out of his cage and put him on my bed. He usually doesn't try to get away, he just sits there and lifts up his head and looks around. He's my baby. I got him when he was 6 weeks old and fell in love with him immediately.

Thanks for sharing your stories and pictures. Hopefully I will have pictures of mine to post soon.

[RockyRoad]

I like big snakes, Rattlers, etc. I of course am going to have someone else feed them the rats:eek:. I would never do that either. They are a lot of work..in Alaska because most snakes are accustom to the warm weather, except of course for snakes that are there. I imagine it would be hard..with the heat lamps and the live food, etc. Glad there are some snake people on Pet Talk!

[blonderella]

Snakes are a lot less work than cats and dogs. I'm sure anybody who loves their pets doesn't consider it work anyway. If I go on vacation, I can leave my snakes for a week without worrying about them because they don't have to be fed every day. My snakes are used to warm, humid climate. I have a humidifier in my room and a basking lamp for them. That's all they need. Also, as far as health issues go, they don't have near the maintenance of other animals. I don't have to get them spayed or neutered or declawed or get them shots, etc.

I had two cats that I loved dearly but they were very expensive to take care of initially. I am much more satisfied with my snakes because they are less upkeep. I don't mind feeding them mice. You can get pre-killed frozen mice and just thaw them out when it is time to feed the snake. I know that sounds gross but that way, the snake does not get any scratches or bites from the mice.

I happen to not like rodents very much so I have no problem feeding my snakes.:D

[The Cat Factory]

I love snakes! They have cute little faces!

I really freak out when I see a snake ... . I once spotted one in a cave in Australia , and I screamed my longs out ..:eek: :eek: :eek: ! Here in belgium , we don't have many snakes ; there are some in the woods in the Ardennes : vipers .

[cturtle]

i like snakes theyre so cool most peopls think there slimy but theyre really not most reptiles and amphibians arent slimy but most people think they are and they think its so disgusting and that makes me really mad!:mad: :mad: :mad:

[popcornbird]

No offense to anyone, but I HATE snakes! They are so scary and creepy and slithery and worst of all.............POISONOUS!! I know not all snakes are poisonous, but even the one's that aren't are so scary and creepy. I think I'm even more afraid of a snake than a lion! LOL! At least lions are cute! :D I don't think a snakes an animal to be kept as a pet, but of course that's only my opinion. Personally I don't know anyone who has a snake as a pet. Forget having a snake in the house, I would die knowing there was a snake a mile away from me!:eek: :eek: :eek: Lut, looks like we both have snake-o-phobia! :D

[ChewmonkeyBC]

My mom HATESS snakes!!!but the snakes lover her!!:D she will be walking across the yard and she one will crawl across her foot or she will acidently.....step on it:( .....We have BIG King Snakes out here...and unfortanly thats all she ever finds!I once had a small worm snake...that was cool,i love the way they fell they look slimy yet they are not.......the other day my unc. found a Coral Snake! i havent seen it yet but hope i get to!I would like tohave a small snake that will stay SMALL!...

Kay

FcR:)

[kingrattus]

I use to have a 4 foot garder snake, but my inteligent mother thought it would be a smart idea to turn off my fan & close my bedroom door. When I got hom that day after school, my snake, goldfish, 3 mice, 5 frogs & 4 plants were all dead, the only thing that survived was my snapping turtle & he was only 1 week old. Talk about having a bad night. I have pics of my snake somewhere, Rob named him Mike, he names everything Mike. heheh...

[ChewmonkeyBC]

i wish i had a snake......mom claims I did other than the worm snake.....i think shes just sayin that so that ill drop the idea!:D

Kay:)






FcR:)

[COCatMama]

I lurvvvveee snakes
it's spiders I am not wild about :)

[CathyBogart]

Originally posted by popcornbird
No offense to anyone, but I HATE snakes! They are so scary and creepy and slithery and worst of all.............POISONOUS!! I know not all snakes are poisonous, but even the one's that aren't are so scary and creepy.

There are no poisonous snakes, other than (possibly) the yellow-bellied Sea snake. Other than that there are only venomous snakes. You would come ot no harm if you ate the snake (poisonous), but it has an injection mechanism and can pump a harmful substance into your blood (venomous). Sorry if that sounds anal, but it's a pet peeve of many herpers. ^_^

I am always distressed when someone freaks out when they see my snake. It baffles me how a small animal sleeping calmly in my hands can invoke a scream. Not only that, the fast motions that often follow scare my poor baby!

I have, in the past, gotten very upset with people for doing that. I always get a lot of questions about my girl, and I find that if someone is open-minded enough to ask a few questions about why I like her, their fear diminishes. Even if they don't pet or hold her, it seems that a lot of people go away with a better understanding of these wonderful creatures.

One thing I have discovered in frequenting various forums is that reptile people are generally much more open-minded than people who are into other pets. For example; I stopped by one forum to inquire about my pet mice and found stuff like; "You have to wonder, do snakes really NEED to eat mice or do these people just like to watch them die a horrible death?" I cried because it hurts that someone could think that I love killing mice, and that I torture them while I'm at it.

Or "I wish snakes WERE banned as pets, for all involved." What would this accomplish? Would you take from one person their beloved pet just because it is a predator? Stupid, stupid, STUPID!!! Cats are predators! Not only that, cats eat every day! I think they are certainly more of a detriment to the mouse population than a snake. Why not ban cats? (I'm just using this as an example; I love my cat dearly)

Eh, I guess I should stop before I get really angry and can't stop....

[blonderella]

Well said WolfChan,

It's all part of the food chain. It's a natural part of life. If my snakes were in the wild, they would be hunting anyway so I don't feel bad about providing for their needs. There are birds of prey that also eat mice. If we discriminate about which animal eats what, we would have to wipe all the animals off the face of the earth.

I don't know if it's that we purposely go get the mice to feed to the snakes or what the problem is. I mean, some people set mouse traps in their houses. I have a natural trap just waiting for one.

Unfortunately, snakes are misunderstood and misrepresented. I find them beautiful and exotic. I hope to breed mine in the near future.

[popcornbird]

Originally posted by WolfChan


There are no poisonous snakes, other than (possibly) the yellow-bellied Sea snake. Other than that there are only venomous snakes. You would come ot no harm if you ate the snake (poisonous), but it has an injection mechanism and can pump a harmful substance into your blood (venomous). Sorry if that sounds anal, but it's a pet peeve of many herpers. ^_^

I am always distressed when someone freaks out when they see my snake. It baffles me how a small animal sleeping calmly in my hands can invoke a scream. Not only that, the fast motions that often follow scare my poor baby!

I have, in the past, gotten very upset with people for doing that. I always get a lot of questions about my girl, and I find that if someone is open-minded enough to ask a few questions about why I like her, their fear diminishes. Even if they don't pet or hold her, it seems that a lot of people go away with a better understanding of these wonderful creatures.

One thing I have discovered in frequenting various forums is that reptile people are generally much more open-minded than people who are into other pets. For example; I stopped by one forum to inquire about my pet mice and found stuff like; "You have to wonder, do snakes really NEED to eat mice or do these people just like to watch them die a horrible death?" I cried because it hurts that someone could think that I love killing mice, and that I torture them while I'm at it.

Or "I wish snakes WERE banned as pets, for all involved." What would this accomplish? Would you take from one person their beloved pet just because it is a predator? Stupid, stupid, STUPID!!! Cats are predators! Not only that, cats eat every day! I think they are certainly more of a detriment to the mouse population than a snake. Why not ban cats? (I'm just using this as an example; I love my cat dearly)

Eh, I guess I should stop before I get really angry and can't stop....

Venomous, yes.........that's what I meant! I am not against feeding snakes mice etc. because that is what they are made to live on. Just like we can eat certain animals, snakes are supposed to eat certain animals themselves. But its the look of snakes that freak me out. I didn't mean to offend anyone, but I think snakes are scarey and I would die if there was one in my house! I'm ok with seeing them in a glass tank like at the zoo or pet store, but I wouldn't want them near me without an enclosure.

[SANDY FROST]

SNAKES ALIVE! I HAVE 2 CORN SNAKES. AND THEY ARE WAY COOL AND PRETTY. THEY ARE ALBINO. ALBINO IN SNAKES DOSN'T MEAN WHITE. SNOW CORN ARE WHITE.:) SANDY FROST

[RockyRoad]

Does anybody know any good snake message boards?? I want to get lots of info on snakes before buying. But my mom says that there will never be a reptile in the house but with my obession with snakes it is kind of hard to survive!

Anyway the other day I was at my uncle's house and he has a garter(forgive my spelling) snake, a non-poisonous rattler(rattle snake), and I forgot the other one but it was a baby. So he let me hold them and stuff and it was really cool!! They felt kind of dry but not slimy at all! The rattler one was cool to hold because he was the biggest and when I was holding him he wanted to crawl up my neck!

Also once a long time ago my mom took me to a reptile museum and I got to hold a big snake but I was like 6 so I do not remember the type. The only memory I have of that trip is my mom runnng out when the snake touched her:p.

[CathyBogart]

First off: the best reptile boards around (IMO) are at http://forum.kingsnake.com

Secondly: There is no such thing as a non-venomous rattlesnake. You can have surgery to 'venomoid' them, but often times the glands that were removed grow back and the snake is just as venomous as the day they were born. (Yes, rattlers are born, not hatched)

Venomoiding snakes is a cruel procedure that deforms the animal, causes it weeks of pain and terror, and takes away something essential to it digestive process.

Third: Just because it's a pet peeve..... There is only one poisonous snake. It is the Yellow Bellied Sea Snake. That is the ONLY snake that will cause you harm if you eat it. Even VENOMOUS snakes are edible. Even the venom glands of venomous snakes are edible.

Poisonous things are things that are harmful when touched or ingested. Venomous means that the toxin is injected into your bloodstream.

*steps off her soap box*