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Taking snakes out and about

Wintermute

Wintermute

New member
Hi everyone,

I've occasionally read various people mentioning that they take their snakes into pet shops when they go to buy supplies. Or even just when they're popping out to town, and will walk around shops with a snake draped around them. To me, this sounds rather strange and I'm wondering why people would do it? It seems there is an aspect of "look at me, I have a pet snake, aren't I cool?" to it.


Except when educating school kids, I don't see any possible benefit to the practice. For starters, I'd worry that people with phobias would be scared, that the snake could pick up disease from an unsanitary pet shop, and mainly that it would stress the snake out no end. New snake owners are advised to let their snake settle due to the stressful nature of either being shipped or the ride home from the pet store or breeder, why is a trip to a pet store considered less stressful? Why can't the snake just stay home?

I don't mean to offend anyone who does it, I'm just curious :shrugs:
 
I wouldn't do it because I'd be scared to death I'd hurt it..

but if I were to bring my snake out, it'd definitely be the "look at me, I have a snake" reason. I don't know very many people who like snakes, and sometimes, you just want to share what you love and have no one at all to share with. Forums can only do so much, considering it's not out here in meatspace.. :shrugs:
 
I don't like to advertise that I have snakes. I am worried my neighbors might get freaked and try to start passing crazy ordinances. I don't care that others do it..I would also think it would be a lot to deal with. Of course I live way out of town.
 
Just curious...

I can see your point, although I guess each of us are different. I honestly wouldn't take my snake out unless to take it to the reptile shop that we frequent to show friends or what not, but I don't know if I would just take it out and about and walk around with it. I take our dog anywhere I can so I guess it's just the way you look at it. Dogs are more "accepted" in public places I guess, but then again we don't see NO SNAKES ALLOWED signs do we, so whose to say we can't take our snake anywhere??? :rolleyes:

I don't know if we could ever understand why some snake owners do what they do with their snakes, but they have the right you know what I mean? It's a good question because now I wonder too, maybe someone in these forums does this very thing and has some input for us curious folk. I don't see there ever being a bad reason in doing so...just my thoughts, but now I too am curious! :shrugs:
 
Well, I guess I'm one of the 'evil' ones.. :)

From time to time I do take them out with me. Not to show off ( I don't like crowds around me at all), but simply because they're mine and why not? I always take a feeding tub with me so I can let them have some down time if I'm going to be out for more than an hour, and I don't go down rows that are crowded. And honestly, one of my dogs is much more stressed by a trip to the store than my snakes ever have been. They've never gone off their food or become jumpy or snapish due to a short trip out.
I even took one of them to our church's picnic this summer. The snake was a hit, and she did fine. :)


Just my thoughts..


hana
 
I don't take my snakes out in public, for two reasons:

1. Fear of stress to the snake... and Connor especially HATES having groups of people around him. The last time he bit me was because I was showing him to a friend and he didn't like there being more than one 'predator.'

2. I don't think it's good for people who have snake phobias as well! On my property is one thing, but I don't think it's fair to take them out in public and force people to come in to contact with them. If someone rings my door and I've got a snake on me when I answer, that's their problem because I didn't ask them to come uninvited to my home, but taking them on a public right of way is different in my books.
 
Plissken said:
I don't think it's good for people who have snake phobias as well! On my property is one thing, but I don't think it's fair to take them out in public and force people to come in to contact with them.
Click to expand...
People have phobias of dogs too ya know. It's different if you're just out with the snake verses walking up to every person and asking them if they want to see the snake.

Snakes aren't the only unusual things you'll encounter if you go out. I've seen many a large parrot out with people. And once I saw someone out with a kangaroo. Now, none of those people forced me to interact with their animals. Do you really think it's fair for one person who *might* be phobic of said animals to limit what another person can do? I don't.


hana
 
So far, I have taken my snakes 'out' (as in 'out of my home') exactly twice for 'recreational' purposes.

1. My partner and I took many of our pets down south for an educational thing - fourteen animals, nine species - including three snakes. The event was at a school which my partner's sister teaches at, she'd specifically requested we do it, and we wound up showing our animals to 100 primary-school kids (8-12 years old) split between four different classes. We only took the animals that could cope with the trip and the handling, had some animals that surprised us with how very un-bothered they really were... and the kids (and the teachers!) absolutely loved it. The leopard geckos, fat-tails and tegu were the 'stars' of the show, but I'm sure that when Iris, our Colombian rainbow boa, gets some size on her, she'll be equally well-loved, as will Jasper, our wild-type corn. At no time was anyone forced to touch or hold anything - but 95% of the people who saw them, including several folks who were petrified when we brought out the first gecko, were curious enough to touch at least one animal. During the rest of the weekend we were down there, our animals did get shown to a number of other people as well, ranging from a three-year-old little boy to my partner's wheelchair-bound mother.

We've been invited back next year - and hope that next year will be as resounding a success as this one was.

2. My employer had a barbeque after the educational deal took place - and asked if I could bring one or two of my animals to the office (his house) to share, as he's got five kids who had oogled my desktop wallpaper each time I changed it. We took a leopard gecko, Iris, and our tegu. Again, nobody had to get closer to anything than they wanted to, and almost everyone touched something.

Notice something? Each time, the animals were specifically invited to the location they were at, and in most cases, the reptiles in question, during transport, were not visible to anyone. I don't think it's a good idea to display animals like that - and not just for the phobic and stress aspects. Some of our herps are pricey - I'm sure that some of the herps owned by folk on here have dollar values that could practically swallow our entire collection whole. I'd hate to have someone who was phobic or just a nasty piece of work pose a risk to my reptiles - better that they don't know they're there at all.

Much as it might be tempting, once Iris and Spectrum are four or five feet long, to take 'em out in the garden or down to the corner shop, I don't think it'll ever happen.
 
hana said:
People have phobias of dogs too ya know. It's different if you're just out with the snake verses walking up to every person and asking them if they want to see the snake.

Snakes aren't the only unusual things you'll encounter if you go out. I've seen many a large parrot out with people. And once I saw someone out with a kangaroo. Now, none of those people forced me to interact with their animals. Do you really think it's fair for one person who *might* be phobic of said animals to limit what another person can do? I don't.
Click to expand...

Phobia of dogs is not common, however. Phobia of snakes IS. I know that if I take a snake out, I'm almost certain to startle someone.

I feel you and I are speaking through our differing locations... you NEVER see anything unusual being 'walked' here. If I took a snake out I'd probably make the local paper!

I just don't see any reason to take my snakes out 'just because.' I could put my cats on leashes and walk them, but I don't because it is not beneficial to them or to me.
 
I never take mine out in public, except in the immediate area outside of my apartment. Even then, I usually scope out the scene, and if I don't have the area mostly to myself, I skip the whole venture. However, I DO occasionally take one with me when I'm visiting tolerant/interested friends and relatives.
 
Plissken said:
Phobia of dogs is not common, however. Phobia of snakes IS. I know that if I take a snake out, I'm almost certain to startle someone.
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It's a lot more common than you think. To me that argument holds no water. People are phobic of buttons, cotton, circles, balloons, almost anything you can think of. I don't believe in limiting my self for fear of what others might think.

And yes, you see some interesting things around here from time to time.. I used to walk my pet chicken back in the day.. :)


hana
 
hana said:
It's a lot more common than you think. To me that argument holds no water. People are phobic of buttons, cotton, circles, balloons, almost anything you can think of. I don't believe in limiting my self for fear of what others might think.
Click to expand...

I try to limit how much I alarm other people. True, you can't avoid everything, but I don't see the point in doing something which is guaranteed to scare someone if I can just as easily avoid it. I don't think it's particularily limiting to me. I don't need to take my snakes out, nor do I have any real desire to. I don't see any point, but that's just me.
 
I haven't taken mine out in public, yet, mainly because I haven't felt like there was anywhere I wanted to take them. Corns are too active to have out if I'm shopping or spending time with people. I would be more hesitant to take them to a pet store: mites, bacteria, etc, but I know a few stores around here are very clean, so it would be ok. My ball pythons I might take out at some point, but I really haven't found the need or desire to take them anywhere with me.

That said, there's absolutely nothing wrong with having a "look at me, I have a snake" attitude. Why shouldn't you feel proud of owning a snake? It's no different than people who take their iguanas out to the local park for a stroll or someone having a parrot perched on their shoulder or someone who owns a rare breed of dog. Of course you're showing it off! Maybe you can do some education while you're at it. I can't help if people have phobias. People have phobias about almost everything (Friday the 13th, heights, open spaces, large crowds, certain animals). They can stay away, simple as that. I wouldn't force someone to come close and if they expressed fear or dislike, I would keep my distance out of respect. I don't care for birds, so I wouldn't go running up to someone who had one on their shoulder. It's a choice.

And, baby, I am cool for owning snakes.
 
Thanks!

hana said:
Well, I guess I'm one of the 'evil' ones.. :)

From time to time I do take them out with me. Not to show off ( I don't like crowds around me at all), but simply because they're mine and why not? I always take a feeding tub with me so I can let them have some down time if I'm going to be out for more than an hour, and I don't go down rows that are crowded. And honestly, one of my dogs is much more stressed by a trip to the store than my snakes ever have been. They've never gone off their food or become jumpy or snapish due to a short trip out.
I even took one of them to our church's picnic this summer. The snake was a hit, and she did fine. :)


Just my thoughts..


hana
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say your evil, I think that's cool that you do that and congrats on your snake being such a hit at the picnic, it's good to see the insight of other snake owners and how they spend time with their snakes! :)
 
Plissken said:
I try to limit how much I alarm other people. True, you can't avoid everything, but I don't see the point in doing something which is guaranteed to scare someone if I can just as easily avoid it. I don't think it's particularily limiting to me. I don't need to take my snakes out, nor do I have any real desire to. I don't see any point, but that's just me.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. I try to lay low when it comes to my hobby. I don't want to give more reason to create pet legislation. Showing off reptiles in places people are not expecting to see them is bad for the hobby. Someone else's phobia can quickly become a 911 call and a news crew. I also think it creates an opportunity to stress out the animals. They don't need that. I would also add to anyone that says their snake loves it. I would remind them that snakes probably don't "love" anything, particularly Old Navy, or the local arcade. :)

Chris
 
Plissken said:
I try to limit how much I alarm other people. True, you can't avoid everything, but I don't see the point in doing something which is guaranteed to scare someone if I can just as easily avoid it. I don't think it's particularily limiting to me. I don't need to take my snakes out, nor do I have any real desire to. I don't see any point, but that's just me.
Click to expand...

I don't recall saying I go out of my way to upset/shock people as you seem to be implying, but I also don't walk around fearful I'm going to hurt someone's feelings.. :rolleyes:

I don't see any point to boys wearing their pants around their knees, but that's just me.. ;)


Chris Olson said:
I agree with this. I try to lay low when it comes to my hobby. I don't want to give more reason to create pet legislation. Showing off reptiles in places people are not expecting to see them is bad for the hobby. Someone else's phobia can quickly become a 911 call and a news crew. I also think it creates an opportunity to stress out the animals. They don't need that. I would also add to anyone that says their snake loves it. I would remind them that snakes probably don't "love" anything, particularly Old Navy, or the local arcade. :)
Click to expand...
I however think it's a positive when I'm out with one of them and people get excited and start asking all sorts of questions. Granted it slows down whatever I'm doing, but that's alright. :) Laying low doesn't help prevent legislation either ya know. ;)


I personally am phobic of moths.. Can't stand 'em. I know it's silly because they can't eat me or really do any harm but they make me shudder. As do spiders. But, if someone chose to 'walk' their spider or moth ( ya never know with some people), I just would try to stear clear. No big deal.. Life is all about encountering challanges and dealing with them.. :)


hana
 
I also take some of my more relaxed snakes out in the public. Usually just to the pet store. They are always asking me to bring them in for a visit anyway. I have found several types of people when I have a snake with me

1. Scared, run away run away. Not usually very many of these people in the pet store. But I have made a few cry and leave the store.

2. Scared but fascinated and asks questions about the snake. Will not come close or touch them though.

3. Scared, but will touch the snakes tail as long as I am firmly holding the head.

4. Little bit scared, but wants to hold the snake.

5. And not scared at all, and usually owns snakes of their own.

I have run into more men that are afraid than women or children.

I love the look on the kids face when they ask if they can touch the snake and I say "yeah sure"

Took my big fat Dumeril to my daughters Dentist appt. I kept her outside and the office girls were looking at her through the window. Totally freaked the doc out though, someone touched her arm in the office, she threw the chart and took off running. Said she thought it was a snake.
 
Chris Olson said:
No it doesn't. But at least it doesn't provoke it.
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It sure can.. Who better to pick on than someone who lays low and doesn't want to make any waves? Besides, if you don't educate people and expose them to snakes or whatever it happens to be, they will always be afraid. It's our duty to help people work past that.

And since it seems like you want the last word, go ahead and have it.. I've got critters to feed. :)


hana
 
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