Show your snakes!

Willowy

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Does anybody else have snakes? I have 2 ball pythons. One is a 2014 hatchling and one is a 2015. Leonard is a pastel and Squiggy is a cinnamon lesser. I'm operating on the assumption that they're both male, but I got Leonard from a girl who couldn't keep him, and she got him from Petco. . .so no idea. I got Squiggy at an expo from a breeder, and they said male, I hope they can tell the difference!

Haha, I was going to post pics but I just realized that I don't have any on my phone :lol3:. Well, I'll try to get some pics up soon!
 

pompy

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I don't have any snakes, but I loooove them! They're so cute. I would love to get into snake keeping one day...unfortunately, my mom has a VERY bad phobia of snakes, which is why I've never had one. But I'm very excited to see other member's snakes! :heart4:
 

Draco

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I almost got a snake before settled on a crested gecko. Few things prevented me from getting a snake is 1. size, and 2, thought of feeding mice (Even frozen) skeeve me. I'll enjoy other people's snakes though!
 

laura h

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snakes are my biggest phobia. I cant even see them on TV without panicking. Bad experience with one as a small child.
 
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Willowy

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I almost got a snake before settled on a crested gecko. Few things prevented me from getting a snake is 1. size, and 2, thought of feeding mice (Even frozen) skeeve me. I'll enjoy other people's snakes though!
I thought it would bother me more but it doesn't, much. It's just like getting a whole chicken at the store. . .:tongue2:. It's like any other meat for me now (and meat does creep me out a little, just the mice aren't worse than the chicken for me). I wouldn't want to feed live though. Not that I think it's inhumane, generally speaking (constriction is really a quick way to go), but because I would feel bad bringing a little mouse/rat home with me knowing what would happen :(. Plus I get attached too easily and would probably end up with too many pet mice/rats! Fortunately mine take f/t readily so it shouldn't be an issue. I even buy extra mice for the cats now, lol. They like the occasional mouse.

The funny thing is, crickets really creep me out. Not the nice fat black wild crickets, but the little brown ones they sell as feeders. I used to have pet salamanders, and I kept a Kritter Keeper of crickets for them, and I could never get used to it. If I had an insect-eater again, I'd have to keep a colony of feeder Dubia roaches for them. . .oddly enough, the roaches don't creep me out :lol3:. Of course Cresties are fruit eaters so that eliminates that problem!

As for size, there are snakes in just about any size. I think Ball Pythons are a good size for me. Although I think I'm getting addicted. . .I'm starting to consider getting a larger snake! :eek:
 
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NewYork1303

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I love snakes, but I don't have one since my fiance says only one creepy crawly at a time (I have a tarantula). I would love to have a corn snake one day. But it will have to be after the spider crosses the rainbow bridge (if they are welcome there). 

I think I would have to feed frozen critters since I love mice and have had many rodents before as a pet. 
 

Draco

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I thought it would bother me more but it doesn't, much. It's just like getting a whole chicken at the store. . .
. It's like any other meat for me now (and meat does creep me out a little, just the mice aren't worse than the chicken for me). I wouldn't want to feed live though. Not that I think it's inhumane, generally speaking (constriction is really a quick way to go), but because I would feel bad bringing a little mouse/rat home with me knowing what would happen
. Plus I get attached too easily and would probably end up with too many pet mice/rats! Fortunately mine take f/t readily so it shouldn't be an issue. I even buy extra mice for the cats now, lol. They like the occasional mouse.

The funny thing is, crickets really creep me out. Not the nice fat black wild crickets, but the little brown ones they sell as feeders. I used to have pet salamanders, and I kept a Kritter Keeper of crickets for them, and I could never get used to it. If I had an insect-eater again, I'd have to keep a colony of feeder Dubia roaches for them. . .oddly enough, the roaches don't creep me out
. Of course Cresties are fruit eaters so that eliminates that problem!

As for size, there are snakes in just about any size. I think Ball Pythons are a good size for me. Although I think I'm getting addicted. . .I'm starting to consider getting a larger snake!
Lol I see what you mean by frozen mice vs live! There is a difference!

Crickets and worm like feeders don't bother me, but dubia roaches (any crunchy bugs for the matter) freak me out totally. I tried to buy some roaches for my gecko.. but I balked at the sight of them, lol.

At least Cresties don't require bug feeding- they do well with the mixes made for them (Though I do feed wax worms once or twice a week).
 

di and bob

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I had many snakes when I was a kid, (so a LOT of years ago!) a five foot long Bull snake that I had my picture in the paper with and various Garter and Blue Racers. I loved teaching others that snakes are NOT 'slimy', and how to tell the difference between a poisonous one and a non, the main and quickest way is the shape of the eye pupil, slits like a cat for the poisonous and round like ours for the nonpoisonous. Sometimes it was hard to tell on a bull snake, when they get mad they shake the ends of their tails, are marked similar to a rattler, and make a rattling noise with their mouth. I fed live mice, but tried not to watch, it did bother me, thank goodness they didn't need feed often. They also got REALLY cranky when they were shedding their skins, I think because it affected their sight. With the large snakes I pray that everyone who has one remembers that they are a wild animal and can revert to wild ways quickly, never let a small child be unsupervised in the same room, it's just not worth it.I remember how incredibly strong that big bull snake was, he was difficult to 'unwind' from around my neck at times where I carried him on our walks.  Snakes brought me a lot of enjoyment and I still look for them on my walks, they are pretty rare around here, too many cats! 
 
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Willowy

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The standard for responsible handling is that 2 adults need to be present whenever a snake over 8 feet is out of its enclosure. Since I'm single, no snakes that big for me! I'm considering a Borneo short-tailed python, and a smaller variant of boa constrictor.

My brother got a baby corn snake at the expo, but she died within a week :(. Because of that, the breeder offered a "replacement", but he hasn't been able to meet up with her yet to get the snake. But eventually he should have a corn snake! This breeder has very pretty morphs.
 

kittens mom

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This is Frank. One eyed wooden slot cut wiggle of undetermined wood composition. He's about 20 and has lived on my desk aside from assorted cat rampages that left him on the floor.  He's well adapted to being free range and tolerates a weekly Swiffer dusting like a champ.

I actually like snakes quite a bit. We have a few that live around the house. The only ones I cull on any regular basis are rattlers when they start moving in too close. I did dispose of one that took up habitat on our corner where the school bus was letting children on and off. My husband gets the jeebies looking at Frank.
 

ellag

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at the risk of having everyone hate me, i must say i think the only good snake is a dead snake. if i can't tell them apart then they best not come near me! let me say though, my dad, grandmother and ex-husband were all bitten by rattlesnakes! (i know, what are the odds??) i heard the horror stories and my dad and grandma almost lost their legs because this was back in the 20's and 30's. my husband was in the marines so he was flown to a hospital but his leg still swelled up to double it's size and my husband said the pain was horrific and even the morphine didn't help. so i don't take any chances around them and i don't like them and i certainly don't understand why anyone would want to keep them as pets--or any reptile really..even the non-poisonous snakes give me the eebie-jeebies!
 
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Willowy

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Many people feel animosity toward snakes. Just like some people feel animosity toward cats (perhaps they had a bad experince with cats). But snakes are an important part of the ecosystem, like any living creature. And of course there's NO excuse for mistreating any animal. The wildlife people do not recommend killing any snakes, even venomous ones----the majority of bites occur when someone is trying to kill the snake! So they deserve it. There are methods for dealing with venomous snakes; there are a lot of ways to avoid clashes between wildlife and humans. Just takes a little compassion and thoughtfulness. It is a bit upsetting to hear professed animal lovers (as I would expect from those on a cat site) admit to killing any creature out of malice.
 
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fyllis

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I love snakes! I had a boa named Sheba and an albino Burmese Python named Ochre. Sheba got to be about 6 feet, but Ochre got huge! He was a little over 10 feet when I donated him to the local zoo. 

This is a snake I did several years ago with wax pastels. 

View media item 330893
 

kitty chew

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Love your snakes. They have beautiful markings. I always wanted one, but love rats. I could never feed one to a snake after having pet ones. I kept frogs though. I even felt bad dropping crickets in their tank.
 

narelle

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at the risk of having everyone hate me, i must say i think the only good snake is a dead snake. if i can't tell them apart then they best not come near me! let me say though, my dad, grandmother and ex-husband were all bitten by rattlesnakes! (i know, what are the odds??) i heard the horror stories and my dad and grandma almost lost their legs because this was back in the 20's and 30's. my husband was in the marines so he was flown to a hospital but his leg still swelled up to double it's size and my husband said the pain was horrific and even the morphine didn't help. so i don't take any chances around them and i don't like them and i certainly don't understand why anyone would want to keep them as pets--or any reptile really..even the non-poisonous snakes give me the eebie-jeebies!
I can definitely see why you would be especially wary of snakes. I mean no offense myself, but I did want to say that given how common animosity towards snakes is, its easy for those with that sort of sentiment to forget that to some people they are as much a beloved and cherished pet as a cat or dog. I'm sure none of us here would much like if anyone came into their thread about pet cats to post that "the only good cat is a dead cat". Reptile people tend to deal with negative comments towards their pets pretty often, which is never fun. I'm sure you meant no harm and weren't at all suggesting that anyone's pets were better off dead, I just wanted to point out that comments about killing snakes that might seem innocuous to a non-reptile person can be a sore point for those who love or keep them as pets.

I don't yet have any pet snakes myself (I'd love a cornsnake or a ball python some time down the line) but they are among the animals I work with. I absolutley adore our cornsnake, "Cornelius". (I did not name her.) She is sweet, and inquisitive, and does awesome with handling and meeting guests.

A big thing we always talk about at work is dispelling myths and misinformation about commonly feared animals (sharks, stingrays, alligators, snakes, etc.) which is why I wanted to speak up. I won't go on about it too much, but they are very important for the environment and, just like any other animal, never seek out to harm humans. They just want to be left alone and defend themselves when they feel threatened. If you are in their environment and encounter one, if you back away slowly they won't pursue you. If they enter populated areas, you can call your local wildlife services to relocate them to a more suitable area. Demonization of cats and snakes is how the bubonic plague happened, even humans benefit from having snakes around.
 

Kat0121

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We had 2 ball pythons many years ago. They were fun and pretty easygoing. One of them only wanted dead mice and the other live. That was the problem. Not that they ate the mice. It's really no different than a cat eating meat or a shark eating a fish, etc. It was having to stun the live ones before putting them in the cage with the snake so the snake wouldn't get bitten by the mouse/rat. DH was the one who had to do that and he hated it. We ended up bringing them back to the reptile store because of that and DD showed up. 
 

bengalcatman

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Not a pet, Makena flushed this corn snake out while we were hiking (Makena is NOT allowed to hurt snakes!) I picked him up and he squeezed my thumb for all he was worth (corn snakes are constrictors: I found out first hand!) He wore himself out squeezing and then he set about trying to discover exactly what I was, slithering all over my hand and arm. My Wife is not a lover of snakes but this one was so beautifully colored she agreed to hold him for some pics.

After a few photos I slipped him back in the brush Makena found him in. He zipped under some leaves, then stuck his head out to see if I was still there.
 
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