Hi Crazy mongrals!
What makes you guys keep snakes?
Colleague asked me this week and I was kinda surprised at my answer-“Because they are freaking awesome!!”, felt so stupid…sounded like a doped up 16 year old…
But it got me thinking, why do I keep them…
It’s not for the $ (easier ways to make money), it’s not for the look at me factor (I am quite satisfied with the size of my privates thank you very much…)
It’s not for the affection…
No, in the end I am a educated, employed, well adjusted (hopefully), married (love ya babes!) regular guy, that pulls my 9-5 to the best of my ability…
But when I walk into my snake room I am 9 years old again and its Charismas Morning… that is why I keep these guys…
So freakies, why do you keep reps?
The B

Snakes are easily one of the most interesting creatures you can have for an exotic pet. As "tame" as some can be, there is still a distinct cold-blooded 'edge' they possess over anything else, even compared to big cats, and birds of prey. Maybe its the way they catch their prey.

Here's a quote from one of my favorite novels:

"...You can't see it...You see only the scales and the venom and the danger. You don't see the glorious array of colors on their skin. You don't see the beauty with which they move. It's art, it's dance...They're everything, snakes. Marvelously designed, incredibly diverse, and amazingly beautiful. And they're the purest of all animals. No limbs, no ears, no eyelids. Evolution pared down as far as it will go."
- Boris Starling, in his novel, Storm

Snakes are easily one of the most interesting creatures you can have for an exotic pet. As "tame" as some can be, there is still a distinct cold-blooded 'edge' they possess over anything else, even compared to big cats, and birds of prey. Maybe its the way they catch their prey.

Here's a quote from one of my favorite novels:

ooooo, i do love that quote. an extreme description of their minimalism.
ck

not the least of which is BECAUSE they're so maligned and misunderstood by the masses. as promised, i will quote an old sage friend of mine again, "the masses are the asses". clearly these guys need us to champion them lest the pervasive ophidiophobic moron mentally be allowed freedom to run willy-nilly throughout God's green earth.
then of course , there's the chance to help even one poor soul overcome an inately natural, yet entirely irrational fear. we've all at some point( and for lots of us here, at many points) put that first snake into the hands of the once frightened. the opportunity to watch that veil fall from their once fear-ridden face, is right up there with watching the release of a re-habbed wild animal for me. they've been liberated, and you've freed them, through the carefully calculated effort that grew from your desire to see one less soul have to go through life as a hapless victim of their upbringing. more than once i've seen this experience lead to other epiphany moments in that person's new, less encumbered, life. of course, like they say in the super hero movies, "with great power, comes great responsibility." we need to do our best to assure that every experience has the best opportunity to end up a positive one. that's up to all of us, all the time.
but mostly i keep them because they are so dammmm cool ! cool to watch, cool to hold, so polarly unlike us, that i NEED to observe them regularly. the attraction started early, mostly because i wasn't allowed to have them. tell any kid they can't have something...see what happens later ! (it's for this reason i keep open bottles of hard alcohol, vials of crack, bags of weed, set-up lines of coke, and more pills than a vitamin factory, scattered all over my house. my kids will never have to go lookin' for that stuff.) please don't send child services, i'm REALLY only kidding, but i think you get my point !
plus, is there one of us on here that wasn't entranced by dinosaurs growing up ? most i'd say still are. although serptiles aren't the four legged bronto's (now apatasaurus)we all wanted miniaturised in a tank in our childhood bedrooms, they are alot easier to house in addiction sized numbers than monitors are !
but i'll still have my ackies and helodermas one day !
thanx for the great thread beastbuddy,
ck

I keep snakes because it is a relaxing and rewarding hobby. Even when it is work it is a labor of love.

You shouldn't use the word "Retard" in such a way. It is very offensive to some people. Not to mention that it screams "I'm in high school"

I keep snakes because it is a relaxing and rewarding hobby. Even when it is work it is a labor of love.

You shouldn't use the word "Retard" in such a way. It is very offensive to some people. Not to mention that it screams "I'm in high school"

it's a culture thing chimp. now he knows. gotta cut tarzan a little slack on this one. americans have been trained to take offense to everything beast, choice of words will piss some off. ( i for one rarely give a flying blue rat's ass what someone says, but, i'd say i'm the exception, not the norm ).
feel free to pm me (if you care, i could save you a little backlash ) next time you're wonderin' if a post may tighten someone's undergarments. (before you post it !)
chimp is tryin' to help you out here, by all means, he's not some mary-ass mamby-pamby cry baby with no sense of humor. just givin' you good advice.
other than that, i think this will be one of our great "fledgling years" threads.
ck

Yep, I vote - retards :letsparty:

Keeping snakes for me is the fascination with them, kind of hard to describe really. It's a way of life!

I think we serpent keepers are born with a serpent loving gene. I can remember holding a rough green snake before I was in kindergarten and thinking it was the coolest thing in the world.

In third grade I went as a herpetologist on career day, khaki pants and snake hook in hand..:)

In third grade I went as a herpetologist on career day, khaki pants and snake hook in hand..:)

Now thats hardcore.

Snakes are easily one of the most interesting creatures you can have for an exotic pet. As "tame" as some can be, there is still a distinct cold-blooded 'edge' they possess over anything else, even compared to big cats, and birds of prey. Maybe its the way they catch their prey.

Here's a quote from one of my favorite novels:

i agree and my wife said i am like a junky i am addicted to them like a crack head is to crack i just have to have them

Great thread. I'm not politically correct so no offense here, btw.

I have been asked the same thing by someone looking at me like I just bit the head off a chicken. I'm an Internet marketing manager at a large IT firm and they are always shocked to find out I own something that could eat my children at anytime (at least thats what they think).

I love the way snakes look and feel, especially a boa constrictor. I was skeptical of snakes until I held a friends BP. I have always loved animals, but thats when I really fell in love. Then I started studying up on genes, mutations etc..... Now I have 8 boas and 7 leopard geckos. I'm sick, I need help, I can't pass up a "good deal" on a snake or let a killer aberrant boa pass me by. I always tell the wife "this will be the last one for quite a while", then BAM! I've spent countless hours watching, holding, studying, and cleaning up after reptiles and I just can't get enough.

I also have a boy who is VERY allergic to furry creatures. I don't know anyone allergic to snakes unless it's mentally. It's nice to see him enjoy a pet (supervised with the big ones of course).

Sometimes I'll go into a rant about genetics (that sounds like black magic to them) and make it sound like I'm doing some kind of research. Then I tell them how docile they are and that a boa has not killed anyone. If they are at my place I enjoy showing them off and letting them hold them and realize how cool they are. Of course I pull out the sweetest of my boas for that. ;) It really does open a lot of peoples eyes.

Now thats hardcore.

Thats how I roll...:rockon:

I have always loved them since I was a kid, everything about them.

I think it is the simple nature in them, eat and reproduce.

The fear of things you don't understand is what I think is retarded.

They are freakin' cool! Oh there I go again.

I love all animals, but for some reason snakes are a little different. Ever since I first saw one, I was hooked. I still don't really know why except they are just so neat to me. Neat, beautiful, awesome...

Before I can remember, I caught a grass snake while at a family reunion. I hear the story all the time about when Diana was a little girl and caught a snake and scared everybody because they didn't want her to get bitten by a poisonous snake.

When I was 11 or so a guy that lived on my street had a snake room. I didn't even realize it was a culture at that point, or where he got the snakes... I didn't even think about it. He had a large boa, lots of corns, a gila monster, and some kind of viper. I would go out and catch toads and he would let me watch his viper eat them. I bought my first snake from him, a hatchling normal corn, for $30. I lost it that same night. I wasn't able to get any more snakes until I was 18... it was a long 7 years waiting to get one. I was living with my aunt as a teenager and she was afraid of everything that wasn't a mammal, fish, or bird.

Constrictorkeeper describes it pretty well for me. I also feel like any animal that has been on the Earth for 60 million deserves more respect than to have their head chopped off in your back yard. Snakes have such a bad rep it's ridiculous... I like showing people who think that "the only good snake is a dead snake" that they really aren't that bad...

I have loved snakes since I caught my first Black Rat Snake. They are animals that I just love being around. I love working with them :) Don't know the exact reason why but I just do!!!

None offence meant frekoes…if the Beast wanted to offend, you would know…African VOOOOO DOOOOOO man…

Anyway “retard” is a term of respect out here, most African heads of state are commonly referred to as retards…

But lest not turn this into a huge steaming pile of pansy Shiite…the tread is what it is.

PS-If you guys are looking for a politically correct lapdog, then I would suggest banning me now…

O yea, and I think it was Eugene Basette who in his interview on RR said how he had a religious experience when he was young and knew he would be working with snakes. Man that got me AWESOME PIECE!

The B

Ok, I don't have a snake yet but this threat is just so great...

I don't remember since when I was into snakes but I know when I held my first snake and decided that I must had (at least) one.
Back when I was about 11 years old our physics teacher brought one of his boas to class. It was such a tame and wonderful animal, I just loved it :D

And why I love them so much is because they are so strange, wild and monstrous yet you can touch and handle them. It's always an honor to me when such a fascinating creature allows me to hold it in my hands.


not the least of which is BECAUSE they're so maligned and misunderstood by the masses.

I agree with that too! Honestly, I hope that this hobby will never be a thing for the masses.

http://C:\Documents and Settings\Pete\My Documents\My Music\My Pictures\Reptiles

Nuff said
Quig

None offence meant frekoes…if the Beast wanted to offend, you would know…African VOOOOO DOOOOOO man…

Anyway “retard” is a term of respect out here, most African heads of state are commonly referred to as retards…

But lest not turn this into a huge steaming pile of pansy Shiite…the tread is what it is.

PS-If you guys are looking for a politically correct lapdog, then I would suggest banning me now…

O yea, and I think it was Eugene Basette who in his interview on RR said how he had a religious experience when he was young and knew he would be working with snakes. Man that got me AWESOME PIECE!

The B

:lmao::lmao::lmao::rockon:

Just different :lmao:

I, like most here, started at a very young age. Been chasin', catchin', keepin' and tryin' to explain it to people for near fifty years. Maybe it's that "original sin" thing:D. As a youngster I'd caught and kept, for a week or two at least, all but maybe four types of snakes in Michigan. And that doesn't include the multitudes of amphibians, turtles, mammals and birds I bought home from the wilderness. I've always been a critter freak and tend to gravitate towards the odd ones.

My collection now is pretty varied. After having kept a breeding pair of normal balls for seventeen years now I've decided to try my hand at making morphs, more for my personal collection than to try and make any money at it. Making money seems to be against my religion:D.

Quig

Oh, another question...............I've tried to add pics in the message box to no avail. How you do dat?

WHY BE NORMAL???:wamma:

Anyway “retard” is a term of respect out here, most African heads of state are commonly referred to as retards…

see, chimp... i knew it was a culture thing.
it's like all the hoods who say "stoopid!" but it really means "cool".
thanx for clearin' that up beastboy, and thanx for bein' such a retard !
if we were all 'tards (i prefer "tards personally, but hey, that's just me)
the world would be a better place,
ck

oh, and yeah...
this thread is already a rocker.
great to hear the passion. gotta have passion.
as i often say...LIVE LIFE ALIVE !
ck