Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just found out that I'm pregnant and was wondering if anyone has a snake around children. Could anyone tell me when a good time to introduce this pet to my child, at what age are children able to tell real pets (and the associated dangers) from toys? Thanks in advance.
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Congratulations.

As soon as your child is old enough to listen to what mommy says. As soon as the child is old enough to understand that they need to wash their hands before and after, and that it's not ok to handle the snake without Mommy or Daddy's supervision.

Of course, this all depends on you as a responsible parent. My kids were raised with animals, and learned from the start that animals are not toys. They are our freinds and will be treated with respect. Some kids I've known were not taught this, and, in my opinion, should not be alowed around any animals, at any age, until they are.

Given that you are the responsible parent, and responsible pet owner, you, your child, and your snake can have a long and happy relationship together!
Best of luck!
GratefulFred
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GratefulFred

I think there isn't any difference between introducing a baby to a snake or introducing it to a kitten. As with kittens or puppies or any other animal you should supervise closely to make sure that the child doesn't unwittingly hurt the animal or induce the animal to hurt it. I started out holding my daughters hand and helping her to gently stroke the cat or the snakes or the dog. Now I can verbally remind her to be gentle and for the most part she doesn't try to grab or pull anymore (she's 15 months) but I am still right there ready to stop her from squeezing or yanking. She is only around the snakes in a very controlled manner. Of course I wouldn't put her close to a dog known to be skittish around kids or a cat that liked to scratch or a snake prone to striking. I would say that the child should be old enough to sit up and control it's limbs Of course you want to make sure that your child is healthy and able to have contact with any animal without health worries and general cleanliness rules apply. And of course you wouldn't ever leave a small child alone with the animals.

Just use common sense, and you should be fine.

Congrats!
Laura

I have a three year and a one year old. After talking to the doctor I decided that two was a good time for my daughter to start interacting with my snakes. The doctor said that reptiles carry a weaker strain of salmonella and by age two the kids immune system should be able to handle it if it exists in your snakes. My three old now can hold my largest female which is over 2100 g. Use common sense and buy a lot of hand sanitizer and your baby will probably be taking one of your ball pythons to college before you know it. Good Luck

I agree with all the other posts. Actually, I am more concerned with my kids around the cats than I am the snakes or reptiles. My youngest, Katie, has a healthy fear of our cat Tiger because Tiger can be a B!tchykitty, and tends to scratch. The snakes, on the other hand, have never hurt any of our children. They key is supervision. Congratulations on the pregnancy!!
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1.1 Ball Python
0.0.1 corn snake
1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.2 fish
1.2 cats
3.1 kids
1.0 husband

Congratulations on a successful mating! I hope you get a nice beautiful morph!

Aside from the obvious issues of cleanliness (snakes getting germs on rugrats, rugrats with dirty fingers getting germs on snakes), I think it's a judgement call for the parent.

My sister has two little girls, currently 4 and 2. Ever since they were bipedal, they have wanted to see Uncle !Pitr's snakes. Like Bindi Irwin, these girls have taken to the reptiles like they were bunnies. They know that they have to use the hand sanitizer before AND after handling the snakes (and are very keen to remind me to do so!). They know not to touch a snake's head. ("Don't touch his head, Uncle !Pitr!"

They are NEVER let around the snakes unsupervised. EVER. They also don't handle any of the snakes without me having control of the snake's head. It will probably be a few more years before they're allowed to be around the snakes without me hovering over them.