Reptile & Amphibian Forums

used to have 2 nice burms like 3 years ago, since then got married, and have a 2 1/2 yr old boy. I want to get back into snakes, and think balls will be the better choice. How many of you have snakes with young ones in the house? and how do the wives feel about it?

Well my husband loves my burms and didn't have any issues when we got together, but if you have a young child I would be worried about him/her opening the cage because even the sweetest burms can have dangerous feeding responses. I've been bitten dozens of times by ball pythons, never by my burms (neonates don't count), but the risk with children is too great. Boas have the strongest feeding responses in my experience, so anything bigger than a ball python I would keep in a locked enclosure if there was a child in the house.

~kasey

I am a father of 4 (ages 8 down to 3) and have no problems what so ever with having reptiles (I've kept snakes long before the midgets were born, and will have them still long after they have moved out). I am usually more concerned for the animals well being then the kids when they interact (I do not allow any of them to handle anything until they are 4-5 years of age since kids tend to be careless/squeeze hard etc etc). I used the reptile handling to compound good hand washing practices and if nothing else can say it helped with forming that good habit lol.
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Randall L Turner Jr.
Boas make the world go round.

heres my son aidan at 2 years old with a 2000 gram female! she is a sweetheart and we are around him at all times...so b4 anyone gets upset we keep very close watch for any signs of the snakes attitude change!

I don't see a problem as long as you are a responsible reptile owner. I have three kids 8, 6, and 4 and they love all of our snakes and lizards. My reptile room is locked and all cages are locked that house my big snakes. No one goes in my room with out me. And my kids understand that accidents happen. Part of my business is education and I'm on top of it. I am a responsible reptile owner and father.
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Education is Everything.......

I am the Wife in this situation-- but my husband doesn't care either way. I have 2 kids-- both under 3 (one will be 3 this year)
I have large snakes, small snakes, and everything in between.
We have big girls up to about 15 foot-- and little ones-- our smallest is a rosy boa-- actually is my son's pet-- the snake is ontop his dresser-- teh dresser is attached to the wall and the aquarium is attached to the dresser. Every other nite or so we change the water, I reach in and pull it out, he dumps it in the sink and refills it- i put it back in.

Anyway- With our big snakes-- we have a 2 1/2 car garage, we bought super insulated doors, insulated the walls and celing, installed central heat and air-- all our big snakes are out there. All of them have locked cages as well-- the keys are usually in the locks-- in case of fire/similar crisis- we dont have to hunt for keys. The door to the garage is also locked-- the lock is at my head level- and also has the key in the lock.

The biggest snakes we have in the house are the 5 foot retic and a 5 foot emerald. the emerald is in our room, also with locked cage- the retic is in the living room.- also locked.
We are buying some new cages with next years tax return- one will be a new retic cage and will be going to the garage.

I also do a LOAD of events--- educational, b-days, rescue events, etc--- all of which involve children.
I will post a pic that has brought up a lot of controversy before-- the pic was taken by the photographer, of the photographers kid- You can see in the back ground that the other kids are at the end of the snake, and sitting down. The photo-op was a far and few between occurance for us.

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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

my wife is pretty indifferent about my snakes. We have a 1 1/2 month old, but it really does not matter what anyones wife thinks but yours.
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John Vandegrift

I have many ball pythons around the kids, 6 and 4 years old. I keep a very close eye when they handle them, but honestly, if they get bit by a ball python, whats the worse that can happen, a littl blood and pain? Anyways, that builds character.

Your family dog or cat will heart you kids before a Ball Python will , a hamster will bite you 100 to 1 time of a Ball . I personally have only been bit one time by a Ball and it was a gravid W/C female and it was my fault . It is my opinion that the Ball is one of the most trustworthy of all snakes ,and I have 35 years working with reptiles ,I also own DS Reptile Rescue , Removal & Rehabilitation ,and work as a volunteer keeper at the Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin Texas .

now THAT is cool...even the kitty likes the snake

thanks guys for all the info and help on this topic...

Well there's a sexist assumtion! LOL

I'm the Mom. Ball Pythons are great with kids. But as with any animal, all contact must be closely supervised, and a proper handwashing routine instilled at an early age. I also have Borneos, which I keep in key locked cages for extra security.

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"There is a fine line between a hobby and mental illness"
COLD BLOOD.........WARM HEART

I have a 20 month old, and my hubby doesn't care. I have two BP's and I breed my own rodents. We keep the "snake room" door closed and my son only goes in there attended. Just be smart about it, it's when stupid parents own snakes, that something terrible happens......

My son just turned two this past April. Let me tell you the boy loves animals, when i take him down to the snake/rodent room he loves it. He asks to hold every snake one by one, and actually enjoys holding them. He's gentle, but firm at the same time. He's going to make a great herper when he grows up.

Wife doesn't care for the snakes much, but really hates the rats. As long as they both stay in their room everything is ok

Good thing is that i can always pass down the snakes to him if he ever wants to become a breeder.

I posted these pics a while back on here.........enjoy!

Pitoon