Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was just wondering, since i assume a lot of people here have girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands, wives, etc, how do they take to the reptile hobby?

I've been very lucky with my girlfriend. When we first started going out, I only had my bearded dragon, and I don't think she really understood why I liked reptiles so much. Since we've been together, the collection has expanded to include my rescued mali uromastyx, a leopard gecko, a russian tortoise, and most recently a baby ball python. I find that with each reptile I get, she gets more and more into the hobby. When I got the ball python, it was snowing out, and I was carrying some stuff for the little guy (bedding and stuff), so I asked my girlfriend if she would carry the snake (in a bag) inside of her jacket. She didn't object to that! Even though she's very scared of snakes! She thinks Steve (the BP) is adorable, along with all the other reptiles.

She has picked a favorite though. Fat Sam, the mali uromastyx. I think it's hard not to love that little lizard. She's been through so much, and she's still going strong and seems to be very happy.

Here's the latest cool thing that has happened though. My girlfriend got an albino african clawed from a couple years ago (under my guidance), and since then she's been really into reptiles. Her birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks, and since we've been together about 3 years, we're past giving each other dorky little presents (for christmas I got her a bass guitar ). So, I bought her an adorable little White's Tree Frog, since they are one of her favorite species, and I also bought the tank for it. My mom bought her the heat lamp and all of the nice accessories. She's coming over today to hang out, and I've got the little frog chilling in his tank in my computer room. I'm thinking I'll just convince her to come into the computer room and let her figure it out for herself I'll let her take him home in about a week when I'm sure there's nothing wrong with him.

So let me hear any stories you have (good or bad) about your significant others and their reactions to reptiles. With my girlfriend and I, it's gotten to the point where when we walk into a petshop, we both head straight for the reptile section.

I have been married for 37 years (tells you how old I am) and my husband is not an animal lover, period. I have had dogs, cats, horses, goats, sheep, chickens, hamsters, gerbils, rats, ferrets, rabbits, geese, ducks and of course, reptiles. My animals damaged my house, yard, fences, etc. and my poor husband said little. He never says anything about my animals and the amount of money I spend to keep them. I think he likes the reptiles because they are in cages and can't damage anything. LOL I am grateful that he is so indulgent of my hobbies even though he has no interest in them. He has never touched any of my reptiles, but he does watch them from time to time. He goes with me to the IRBA show in Daytona Beach as well as the NARBC show in Chicago every year and we have a lot of fun. Of course this is very different from what you have when both have an interest, but since I have a very independent personality, it works for me. It certainly would not be possible to own what I have with a husband who was not tolerant, especially with the loose crickets we find all the time, frozen rodents in the freezer and mealworms in the fridge. Happy Easter of everyone!

Pam

-----
2.3 varanus acanthurus brachyurus (Dorado, Oro, Dora, Freckles & Amarillo)
1.1 varanus acanthurus acanthurus (Tabasco & Sprite)
1.1 u. macfadyeni (Amani & Abeba)
1.2 u. ornata (Husani, Zari, & Bintu)
1.1 u. ocellata (Zuhri & Ashai)
1.2 xenagama taylori (Asad, Ayana & Ayan)
1.1 hyla chrysoscelis (Pudge & Squirt)
Herps Are Awesome!

My girlfriend and my parents were just tolerant of the reptiles at first. When I was 6, my parents got me a desert kingsnake (because I already had such a great interest in reptiles). He turned out the be way too aggressive though, and too much for me to handle, so after three years of trying to tame him, we had to sell him. Then it took a long time to convince my parents to let me get another reptile, but eventually they decided that I could get a bearded dragon. Sydney is so laidback and docile that he changed my mom's perception of reptiles (except for snakes), and my dad didn't admit he likes him, but he would come in and watch Sydney every now and then. After getting Sydney, I was starting to plan out how I could convince my parents to let me get a snake again (I really wanted a ball python...I actually have wanted a ball python since I was 5 and first learned about snakes). I didn't push the issue too much though. Two years after getting Sydney, I got a phone call about a fat lizard that wasn't doing well. That's when I rescued Fat Sam. She was a full grown uromastyx and she was being kept in an extremely dirty 10 gallon tank with nothing but a hot rock (her massive burn scars tell me she did have a heat lamp at one time). She was being fed iceburg lettuce. So she is my second lizard, and she kind of got my parents more into reptiles, because she was in such bad shape when we got her, and they did everything to get her back to health (they paid the vet bills, and bought all sorts of supplies for her).

After that it was only a matter of time before I realized that have two lizards was even more fun than just having one, so about a year later we got my leopard gecko, who now lives in a 70 gallon aquarium (mansion) all to himself in the family room. My mom loves to watch him running around in the morning. With all these reptiles in my house, my dad finally started getting into it, and that's when he decided to get the Russian Tortoise. At first he actually wanted a box turtle (since he remembers catching them as a child and always wanting to keep them), but then we looked around and decided to go with a small tortoise.

I'm not exactly sure how I finally got my parents to let me get another snake, but in february I finally got my ball python. All I did was take my parents to the reptile shop and let them see him, and before I knew it we were taking him home.

So what I've learned from my girlfriend and my parents is that by involving them in the hobby, it's kind of grown on them. When I move out, I know I'm going to have to leave the russian tortoise here (for my dad), and I'm pretty sure my mom is going to make me leave my leopard gecko here, or at least have me help her buy some collared lizards (her favorite).

My wife thinks she is a saint for allowing me to have a lizard in the house...and she probably is. She didn't like reptiles, and for the most part still doesn't with the exception of Bruce, so the fact that she allowed him to take up domicile in our bedroom earns her a gold star!!!

JR
-----
BRUCELIZARD.COM Curious? Thought So.