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Are your snakes and other reptiles your "children"?

Who here has no human children and considers their pets as their kids?

  • My corn snakes are my kids

    Votes: 7 33.3%

  • My corn snakes are only pets

    Votes: 12 57.1%

  • I prefer to have snakes as friends than humans

    Votes: 2 9.5%

  • I use my snakes for breeding purposes only

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    21
smigon

smigon

Old enough to know better
How many of you who don't have kids consider your animals as your children?
 
I love my snakes. I definitely spend more time with them than I do with humans! I even have select snakes of friends that I love. Like Rich's Mrs. Mustard and Sam.
 
Oh- my daughter has a ten year old son, Darren, and a bearded dragon, Hatchi. I always show people pics of my grandson and granddaughter!
 
Well I have 3 human kids, all of them grown and out of the house but my 5 year old Cornelius, whom I've only had for 3 months now is definitely one of my kids also. I too show pics of him to anyone I can!
:rofl:
 
Hmm, I definitely have great appreciation for snakes, and value all of mine dearly, but not at all like a child -or my dogs. Perhaps the difference comes down to affection. My very favorite snake egg bound and died this year. When I found her, I felt physically ill, and was devastated. But it was nothing like my reaction to the cancer diagnosis in my dog Rose. For me, snakes are like aquariums, almost. I love and appreciate them and enjoy caring for them and watching them progress. They take up a lot of my time and attention, and working with them is therapeutic for me. They are among my most prized possessions, and I even appreciate the jerks and water bowl poopers for their differences. But I don't "love" them like a conscious dog that loves me back. They aren't concerned with who brings them a mouse on Tuesdays, and most could care less if I take them out that day. So, it's not that I "care" less about them, it's just not a warm fuzzy feeling I'd equate with the word love. If that makes sense.
 
I have no human children and I don't think I will ever be able to have them, but all of my furry, feathered and scale babies are my kids. We refer to them as our kiddos and we are mom and dad. I adore the love and affection that each one of my kids give me and I love providing them with a loving, caring home. I'm very new to the snake world but I am completely attached and very much adore my babies. My husband was anti snake and his adoration for them makes it a complete feeling. They are part of our family.
 
I kind of agree with chip. I have a cat, a dog, a bearded dragon, a 55 gallon freshwater aquarium and 10 snakes. I love animals and nature. I've always had a heart for animals but I understand different types of animals live on different drives and instincts. A cat and dogs affection and emotions have been tested and a dog has many emotions thay are very similar to humans. You can see the love in their eyes. My bearded dragon is as neat as all get out and I enjoy my snakes, I love reptiles and I find them fascinating. But they simply do not have the brain capacity for higher order thinking. Some fish are very intelligent also (like cichlids) and I enjoy watching my aquarium and the antics of the fish. I treat all of my animals well.. they get the best food, clean water and enclosures. But I don't cry when a fish dies. I've never had a snake die... and I will be sad when we lose one, but I don't think it is the same emotional weight as when our 10 year old cat passed away (R.I.P. scuba kitty the most awesome cat ive ever had). But even with cats and dogs their life span is limited and I rpepere myself emotionally that they will be gone one day and provide them the best life I can while I enjoy their companionship.

And no I'm sorry but my human children rank higher than anything else in this world to me. If aliens invaded I would save them first above all else and I'm not ashamed to say that.
 
My snakes aren't called my children like my dogs are. I think it may be the amount of affection my dogs show toward me that qualifies them as my "children". Although my snakes are considered family, they are still my pets. I love them, but I would choose a dog or human companion over a snake if I could only have one.
Just my opinion :)
 
I consider mine a pet, but I consider my pets a subset of my family. I would go out of my way and make sure they are cared for, but that's about it. I enjoy them, but I agree with Tiffycj
 
I do call my pets "the kids", and believe that as I have chosen to have them in my home it is my responsibility to ensure they always have the best care I can possibly provide for the rest of their lives. However, I don't actually consider them to be my kids. They are my pets. I love every one of them dearly, and am hugely attached to them and protective of them, and I get joy, therapy, a listening ear, and unconditional acceptance from them, but I don't think of them as people.
 
This is probably overly blunt, but I can't stand human children (sorry to those with children, I mean no offense). They just aren't for me. So my reptiles are probably the closest thing I will ever have. But I would say what I get out of my reptiles is more like what someone gets out of gardening. I just enjoy admiring their beauty and I find caring for them and watching them grow to be therapeutic.
 
I also do not have human children, but have 4 dogs, 50+ snakes, and my pet mice. I don't know if I consider my dogs my children, as I obviously did not give birth to them, but they are valued members of our family, and are loved very much.

My snakes are pets, but not even close to the way I feel about my dogs. They are fascinating animals, but are incapable of the kind of interaction I have with the dogs. That said, they are given the best care I can provide, and don't deserve less just because they're not intelligent mammals.

Kathy
 
I have 3 grown up children and 5 grand kids with 2 more on the way (although I only get to see one as the others all live away). I'm new to the snake world but already feel a connection to Mr Ripley(which friends and family find weird!!) I adore my 4 cats and my phone is full of pictures of my cats and now my corn, but only a couple of photos of the grandkid !!! I absolutely LOVE animals and do prefer them to humans..... Although I do get what people are saying about the 'different' type of love/affection towards a domestic pet....but I would do anything for my animals. Just my feelings.
 
I can't have human kids, so my pets are my kids. It's pretty fulfilling for me to see them grow and breed pretty babies of their own, so in that regard I guess it's like seeing human children grow.

I know the snakes don't love me back, but they don't arch up and S-curve and hiss at me like they do at strangers (I'm looking at you, Kitron), so I count that for something. Also, I work in a pretty stressful job and it's very therapeutic for me to go home after a rough day and hold a snake knowing it doesn't want anything from me and is pretty content to just "be."
 
My DD claims the snakes are HER children, so I guess that means my grandchildren have scales :). Given that she's 9, I'm perfectly willing to accept scaly grand kids for a LONG time to come....
 
DuxorW said:
This is probably overly blunt, but I can't stand human children (sorry to those with children, I mean no offense). They just aren't for me. So my reptiles are probably the closest thing I will ever have. But I would say what I get out of my reptiles is more like what someone gets out of gardening. I just enjoy admiring their beauty and I find caring for them and watching them grow to be therapeutic.
Click to expand...

Great, honest answer. I used to love babysitting and still fawn over newborn human babies, and little kids are okay for about 30 minutes, but that is it. I do not like being around little kids, they are loud, sticky and they smell and I can't give them the attention they deserve. Don't apologize for what you feel.

I am SO not a dog person (I was attacked twice by the same dog when I was little, I have some nice scars to prove it) so when people say "oh, but you would love MY dog", no offense, but I probably won't.

And I totally understand why most animals are in the "pets" state of mind, there is a fine line between mentally healthy and being the crazy cat lady! I definitely push the envelope.

crazy_cat_lady_action_figure_1.jpg
 
I wish children all the best in life, I just don't want them around me :)

And LOL! My friends bought me that action figure when I was in college, but the packaging is slightly different. I only had 3 cats! I am not a dog person either but I fell in love with a huge boxer a couple years ago and brought him home. It turns out he had extreme anxiety about cars and motorcycles and I lived in a busy urban area. He spent most of the day shaking in fear and would not even go outside without being dragged and never got to enjoy all the things a dog should enjoy. I even had an animal behaviorist work with him. It broke my heart but I found a good home for him in rural GA and he seems to be super happy now. But otherwise, not a big dog person. I love any kind of bulldog, however. They are like the Persian cats of the dog world with those smooshy faces.
 
smigon said:
And I totally understand why most animals are in the "pets" state of mind, there is a fine line between mentally healthy and being the crazy cat lady! I definitely push the envelope.

crazy_cat_lady_action_figure_1.jpg
Click to expand...

OMG where did you find that? And do they have ones for other animals? People have always called me the crazy dog lady because I have two big dogs (and a little one) in a condo... and now they call me the crazy snake lady of course! :rolleyes: I need one of these! Just not a cat one. I love cats... I just can't figure out what you're supposed to do with them... or how on earth to get any sleep with cats in the house??? :p
 
We don't currently have children and though we often refer to the reptiles as the kids or our scaly kids, they are definitely more a valued pet than the emotional connection I'd imagine one generally has to their human children or that we have to our dogs or cats.

We also breed and or want to breed, some of the reptiles and I really think to be good at breeding any kind of animal, you must be both passionate about them and yet able to be dispassionate too. Nature can be cruel at any time and especially with breeding and selling animals, you are likely to encounter even more heartbreaking issues than just being a keeper generally encounters. You have to have a bit of emotional distance to be able to weather those and not fold and quit breeding or even sometimes keeping them altogether. For that very reason, I know I'd be terrible at breeding dogs because I wouldn't be able to deal with selling/giving up the babies or having anything happen to my breeder dogs from being bred, as they really are very close to my babies.
 
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