Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Im desperate. Im 15 Years old and love snakes. Ever since I saw an emerald Swift in a glass tank at a petstore when I was very young I became Hooked on Herps. I am madly loving Hog Island Boas. I've done all my Homework and givin convincing points to my parents but they still say NO. I have such great amounts of knowlage about reptiles. I began breeding my Red ear sliders and Leopard Geckos. I know what I need to know about these inslar boas and their requirements for captive care. Ive tried so hard and I finaly have enought for an 04 pair and I have all the supplies. I am a very responsible teenager. I never buy reptiles and neglect them. I've had them since I was 6. They think its cruel feeding other animals yet i feed my blue tounge skink F/T fuzzies occasionally and feed my Leopard geckos crickets and mealworms. I tell them that the rats are already dead butIt doesn't matter to them. I was woundering if anyone could give me any advie on helping to convince my parents. I plan on breeding them later on. I wold really appericiate it.

Thank You

just kidding,
it may take some time but if you try to get them a little bit involved with the knowledge of these snakes they may break down eventually, my mom hated the sight of snakes, I had to sneek the snakes in that I used to catch, occasionally one would get loose and my mom would almost have a heart attack. I know own about 65 sankes.

Try not to go with the breeding approach, in thier eyes they see 100's of littles snakes crawling around.

Tell them you would like to use them for school lectures .. eventually you can get paid by schools to do reptile demonstrations.

take them to a pet store and show them first hand how they behave( find a docile one) and let them know Hogg Island boas won't get really big,
and if they still don't see what it is you desire about them, then get a rubber snake and put it in thier bed every nite untill they finally give in,,,

my wife is saying that you should make them feel guilty and tell them that they are holding you back from exploring a safe interest and a new experience in life, other than drugs or partying.

Your parents are typical people who have a feer of snakes which is natural and thanks to movies like anaconda people will feer them for a long time, get them to see how you lite up when you go to the petstore or a zoo, talk to them about it and let them see your passion for them and maybe after they get used to the idea they may realize your love for them and might just give in...

I can see why the hesitation as well, with teenagers everything is excitement only for awhile in some cases and the thrill dies off, they may want to wait until you get a job and can support yourself and be on your own as you don't know where life will take you and then there is a snake that has to be taken care of while your away at college. I went through the same thing and when i got my house at 17 i bought snakes and so here i am at 33 and still in the snakes. Sometimes it's better to wait and not to rush into it, find a job at a petstore as well. Think and tell them of all the possiblilities when you go to college or if something happens to you what about the snake and its future?? I find it better to wait.
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My roomates are2 boas, 4 corns,Rotti,3cats and snake food AKA the food chain.

I understand why you can think that I may loose interest in them, becasue I know how it is but at the same time I have wanted a snake for 7 years now and never been able to have one. My friend has about half dozen snakes and still loves each One. I've had My Blue toungue skink for 7 years now and still love him like the day I bought him.

Also, I do have a job. I made 500 bucks over the summer and I plan on continuing working this summer and winter. I have already sent in my applications to many places.

I went something very similar. My mom despised snake and she would not even think about it. I finally went to college and bought my first snake, and redtail boa. My mom finally accepted the fact that I was going to have snakes and I now own 5 snakes. My best advice is get your parent to a pet store and introduce them idea that snakes aren't bad and that they wont hurt anything. Anyways, goodluck and keep us posted on how it goes.

For all who replyed to my ad thank you. I will be brining my mom to a local petstore soon. The reasons she doesnt like snakes are...

She thinks that they all are bad for eating rodents. I tell her that the have pre-killed rodents as well as f/t items.

She thinks that they will kill her if they will get loose.

She thinks snakes are too big yet even my friends kenyan sand boas is ig to her and its about 15 inches. When I told her the average size of Hogg Island boas is between 5.5 to 6 feet she freaked out.

She doesn't understand that snakes can be calm and gentel and not man-eating killers. I try to get her to watch me hold my friends snakes and she leaves the run and threatens to ground me. I don't think she'll listen to anything I say. As for my dad he doesnt really mind but says it up my mom.

I have such a hard time trying to convince them to understand that herps anern't bad animals. She likes my BT skink yet will hate anyting that has the work snake or boa or python.

I will never stop likeing reptiles. They are my passion and since ill be attending college in three years I plan to study them.

thanks

Ask your mom if she would like rats running around the house or even better tell her the reason you don't have rats in the yard is because the wild snakes take care of that for you, the natural circle of life..

Good luck and maybe you can get your dad into it a little, all guys have some sort of interests with snakes... if he gives in maybe he can help work on your mom.

see ya,
Nick