• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

snake fear / hatred

If a fear of snakes, sharks, and spiders are ingrained in us, I`m pretty sure I wouldn`t have lived very long a million years ago xD I love both snakes and sharks, but please hold the spiders, and insects in general. Even butterflies freak me out.
 
Well if a person fears sharks when they're in the ocean, why don't they have a fear of cougars in the woods? Seems like people only think of bears...but I'd be far more worried about a cougar.
 
EsotericForest said:
Well if a person fears sharks when they're in the ocean, why don't they have a fear of cougars in the woods? Seems like people only think of bears...but I'd be far more worried about a cougar.
Click to expand...

because it's not rational :)
Why fear a non-venomous small snake? Why fear a spider when you don't even have venomous ones in your country? Why fear a butterfly??
Sometimes you can find a reason (like being bitten by a dog when a child), lot's of times it's just there...
 
So this is a sort-of-on-topic question that I didn't feel like making a new thread for....

My mother and neighbor both say that they think snakes should be left in the wild and not kept as pets. But I always thought of snakes being the type of animal that would be happy anywhere so long as its temperature, humidity, food/water, and privacy (hide boxes) needs were met. They seem happy enough in captivity so long as that's all provided to them. Don't you agree? They have no reason to prefer the wild over captivity especially since in the wild temperatures and humidity vary, food runs away, and there are predators. It may be different with mammals (they may prefer the harsher environments), but snakes don't seem the same to me. Do you guys agree? They also say they don't understand the attractiveness of a pet that doesn't seem to appreciate you as much as you appreciate them, because snakes don't love you or bond to you as a dog or cat or whatever else does. Do you have any arguments as to why snakes make good pets?
 
Daenerys said:
So this is a sort-of-on-topic question that I didn't feel like making a new thread for....

My mother and neighbor both say that they think snakes should be left in the wild and not kept as pets. But I always thought of snakes being the type of animal that would be happy anywhere so long as its temperature, humidity, food/water, and privacy (hide boxes) needs were met. They seem happy enough in captivity so long as that's all provided to them. Don't you agree? They have no reason to prefer the wild over captivity especially since in the wild temperatures and humidity vary, food runs away, and there are predators. It may be different with mammals (they may prefer the harsher environments), but snakes don't seem the same to me. Do you guys agree? They also say they don't understand the attractiveness of a pet that doesn't seem to appreciate you as much as you appreciate them, because snakes don't love you or bond to you as a dog or cat or whatever else does. Do you have any arguments as to why snakes make good pets?
Click to expand...

I think the issue here is that your mom and neighbor don't understand that people have different reasons for keeping pets. I don't need to be emotionally validated by my animal to enjoy it as a pet. Companionship is a human need, not a serpentine need. The asocial nature of snakes simply makes them less needy as pets. It isn't neglect if I don't take them out every single day, and I can keep multiple snakes without having to divide my attention.

You can offer fish as an example to them. Why keep fish? They can't bond with you, they don't learn tricks, they won't come when called or purr at your feet when you are sad. But an aquarium is a beautiful addition to a home. Fish are calming to watch. We include animals in our lives for a myriad of reasons, and companionship is only one of them.
 
I agree with you on the whole snakes being okay in captivity. For a snake with the right owners, living with people would be bliss if they could understand that.
And I still like snakes BECAUSE they don't form bonds. In a way, for me that makes their final "trust" (term used loosely) even more sweeter when it comes. When they accept that you're not going to gnaw their head off at any given time. Plus, they aren't going to wake you up at five-thirty AM all over your chest to show you their love, or maybe just to reach the fishtanks next to you. Snakes don't NEED that constant love and attention many pets need. Heck, they don't even LIKE it.
 
oneirogenesis said:
You can offer fish as an example to them. Why keep fish? They can't bond with you, they don't learn tricks, they won't come when called or purr at your feet when you are sad. But an aquarium is a beautiful addition to a home. Fish are calming to watch. We include animals in our lives for a myriad of reasons, and companionship is only one of them.
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to disagree with you on this :) I own 11 betta fish (all in different tanks) and each one has a personality, knows a few tricks, and definitely knows their owner. They do come when called (if you wiggle your fingers a bit first :p), and I can actually play games with them, believe it or not. I have a definite companionship among my fish, and to lose one of them would definitely hurt as much as losing my snakes.
 
CodeRed said:
I'm going to have to disagree with you on this :) I own 11 betta fish (all in different tanks) and each one has a personality, knows a few tricks, and definitely knows their owner. They do come when called (if you wiggle your fingers a bit first :p), and I can actually play games with them, believe it or not. I have a definite companionship among my fish, and to lose one of them would definitely hurt as much as losing my snakes.
Click to expand...

You know what, you are right. I forgot about bettas when I used that example! I used to have a betta who recognized me and would greet me when I came into the room. I miss the little guy. Blew everything I believed about fish out of the water (no pun intended).
 
Another reason to own snakes as pets: their beauty!
Few things in creation share it, maybe a few exotic insects, birds, and fish.
But birds are kinda loud and messy and snakes are far more intelligent (and sociable) than the average insect or fish :)
Except for those of you with the genius bettas, that's really cool!
 
Kali said:
because it's not rational :)
Why fear a non-venomous small snake? Why fear a spider when you don't even have venomous ones in your country? Why fear a butterfly??
Sometimes you can find a reason (like being bitten by a dog when a child), lot's of times it's just there...
Click to expand...

Almost all spiders are venomous, but we won't go into that ;)

It's not rational to fear a 150lb (Sometimes more) cat that could kill you within seconds, and that you'd probably never hear coming?
 
EsotericForest said:
Almost all spiders are venomous, but we won't go into that ;)

It's not rational to fear a 150lb (Sometimes more) cat that could kill you within seconds, and that you'd probably never hear coming?
Click to expand...

Ok, the venomous thing was not quite correct :) What I meant was that a spider bite in my country cannot really harm you. It might get as big as a mosquito bite, but that's about it (apart from those people who are allergic to it I guess...)

And yes, the 150 lb cat can be scary and you can with reason fear it. But that's still not a phobia with most people. As afraid as I would be in an encounter, I would not have to look away when I see them on a pic or in a video, simply because the sight alone scares me too much...
 
Well if you want to take it to phobia level, as in your example...are there really people who have a phobia of sharks? I mean lets face it, most people rarely even encounter the ocean haha. I mean I guess you can have a fear of ketchup...so anything is probably possible.
 
EsotericForest said:
Well if you want to take it to phobia level, as in your example...are there really people who have a phobia of sharks? I mean lets face it, most people rarely even encounter the ocean haha. I mean I guess you can have a fear of ketchup...so anything is probably possible.
Click to expand...

I really don't know. sharks are so generally feared if there should be anyone with a phobia for them it wouldn't probably stand out.
haven't heard of fear for ketchup either yet :)
 
Getting back to your original question, I ran into a lady at the faerie festival who asked me this carefully worded question. The gist of it, which I got immediately, was wouldn't this snake be better off in the wild? Well what about snakes that are bred for the pet trade and have known nothing but domesticity all their lives? Does this question even have merit? This is all they have ever known, they have no other experience to compare it to, why would a wild life be considered "better"? My Draco and Franco seem perfectly happy with their lot in life being as its the only kind of life they've ever known. If they were unhappy with it, wouldn't they go off their food and fail to thrive? ( I'm asking this knowing that there are a LOT reasons for a snake to stop eating! ) So, in some respects, that attitude doesn't even apply. To have a preference for one way or another you have to have something to compare it to. So the "better off in the wild" argument doesn't even apply to captive bred animals. Its also a terribly human way to look at things. I dare say snakes don't sit in their tanks wishing they were "free". People who say this are trying to play the guilt card. Run like hell!


Devon
 
I'm afraid that in a lot of cases, people who suggest that a certain kind of captive-bred animal would be "better off in the wild" are really expressing that they personally don't consider the animal in question to be good Pet Material, often because they are somewhat disturbed by it. They're sometimes just wishing that they personally didn't have to deal with it. I'm pretty sure both of mine, being snows, would be a Hell of a lot *deader* in the wild-- especially my tiny one, because he's quite a tasty little morsel. I tend to suspect that if they were capable of self-reflection and aware of their own mortality, they'd agree that they were better off here, despite the terrifying pink thing that occasionally comes in to bother them (but hasn't yet shown any interest in eating them).

I am only discussing captive-bred animals right now, because I don't have any experience with wild-caught, and it's possible that some of them don't get used to captivity very well. I'm also only discussing snakes, tarantulas, lizards, and the other animals that I know people find creepy, but are unlikely to actually hurt people. Dingos excluded. Not my area.
 
It's funny how we teach that to our children, from very little. We sit down with junior and read him his board book with pictures of animals and say things that help form their opinions for life. Or we show them the snake room since they're tiny and they think it's the coolest thing. I think my 1 1/2 year old likes snakes more than I do! Of course, he's learning to dislike spiders like he should, JK (only partially). He's sitting here with me right now pointing at the snake it wretchedprocesses' avatar and saying excitedly, "a nay".

Most people who dislike reptiles I find warm up to them with a little show and tell.
 
Kali said:
Exactly!! How many people right here at CS.com started out being afraid of snakes? Well, they're not anymore!
Click to expand...

I don't think I was ever afraid of snakes, but I just didn't care for them. I really started to take an interest in snakes after watching the Jeff Corwin Experience as well as Steve Irwin. After that I started to find them more interesting than anything. It's amazing how many people start out hating them though, and then love them once they understand them better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top