Reptile & Amphibian Forums

got a new roommate and his first question was "why keep snakes?". after keeping several different kinds of animals (dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits, etc) i understood his questioning. it isnt like Fluffy brings in the morning paper, Ash doesnt nuzzle me with a cold nose in the morning to wake me up, and ive never heard of a morph that can sit up and beg for food. so what exactly is it about these creatures that make us want to care for them? my only thoughts to give to my roommate (besides 'theyre just cool') was that they are easier to maintain and have very good shock value when revealed to the public. also the fact that everyone has seen the cute little puppy or kitten but lot of people are curious to see a snake kill or eat or just slither around. so my question is this: why do you keep snakes as pets and what (not who)made you decide that you just had to have one (or more)?

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1.1.0 Colombian Redtail Boas
2.1.0 Sumatran Blood Pythons
1.0 Black Blood Python
1.0 Dumeril's Boa
0.1 Coastal Carpet Python
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.0 Texas Tiger Salamander

I keep snakes because they have always fascinated me. They have no legs or arms, smell with their tongue, have live babies, eggs, some incubate their own eggs, easy to mantain, come in a huge variety of colors; shapes, sizes temperments, don't have hair to shed, don't slobber, don't smell......can find them out in the wild.....There are plenty more things that I dig about them. I just wish the public's perception was a little more giving and understanding.....pardon the bad grammar.........

plus im willing to bet that certain people think twice before breaking into your house, lol.
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1.1.0 Colombian Redtail Boas
2.1.0 Sumatran Blood Pythons
1.0 Black Blood Python
1.0 Dumeril's Boa
0.1 Coastal Carpet Python
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.0 Texas Tiger Salamander

well for me its the fact that not everyone gets to keep an adult burm..or snuggle on the couch with a 10 ft burm and an eight ft boa and watch tv..and see the look on my eight year old girls face when she is sitting with me on the couch petting my burm and my boas..she would rather play with the snakes than our cats..I've loved reptiles every sine i was a kid going snake hunting all summer catching black snakes and copperheads or grass snakes and rattlers..when i was in my eary twenties my brother had an 18' female burm named elvira and i just loved her had to have my own..also i fell one day you wont find snakes in the wild anymore everything else is dieing off..thats why i keep reptiles
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0.1 wife
0.4 kids
2.0 kids
0.1 columbian redtail (gravid) 6ft
1.0 pastel 6 1/2 ft
1.0 burmese 10ft
1.0 redtail baby
0.1 surinam(purple)
50 rats
3.4 dwarf hamsters
1.1 dogs
0.2 farret
8.24 mice
1.0 guinie pig
0.2 cats

np
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1.1.0 Colombian Redtail Boas
2.1.0 Sumatran Blood Pythons
1.0 Black Blood Python
1.0 Dumeril's Boa
0.1 Coastal Carpet Python
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.0 Texas Tiger Salamander

Everything has its value to each individual. I have been around my snakes so long that each and every one of them has their own indvidual personality. Treat it well, and they will treat you the same. And yes, they are cuddly. And yes, they are cute. Feeding for me is only for the owner, not for everyone else who wishes they had one. But I guess I can spend anywhere from $1,300 and up on a dog that will last approximately 13 years, if you're lucky, and I love dogs. But, to each his own. Apart from owning a snake is the price ranges, I think it is the utmost rediculous to spend large amounts of money on reptiles because they have a stripe or a unique color. But then I feel the same way about dogs. But I all fall back to each his own. Its an individual taste and choice. If someone is willing to pay high price for anything, let them spend. Because when people stop paying high prices for each and every animal or reptile they will all come down and eventually find a home with any person.

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i was asking myself that same question. so, here is an amendment to the question. if snakes to you are a "get rich quick" scheme, please feel free not to answer this question. i want to know why people like snakes...not how much money you hope to make from them.
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1.1.0 Colombian Redtail Boas
2.1.0 Sumatran Blood Pythons
1.0 Black Blood Python
1.0 Dumeril's Boa
0.1 Coastal Carpet Python
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.0 Texas Tiger Salamander

Like most of you, I've been chasing snakes, and most anything else not human, since I was knee high to a skink, darn near. Not sure if I've flashed the pic in here of me at eight years old with a garter snake wrapped around my neck . My mother's to blame LOL. Used to catch them and let me hold them so as not to be afraid of them. Boy is she sorry she ever did that LOL. Have caught and kept most species of wild in Michigan. Was bitten by a massassauga when I was seventeen (was a dry bite). Don't have a large collection, and most of those are West African species. It's just a fascination that won't go away, and mind you I ain't tryin' to make it so either . Like someone else said. They're clean, don't shed, don't eat much or often, and many are just down right beautiful. I'm stuck and I LIKE IT!!

Quig

Well, when I was just a youngin' I would get on my bicycle nearly every day I was able...and ride about 3 miles to Tryon park to catch turtles and snakes...I did not really believe in catch and release so you could most always see me riding home with a sack or two of some crawling creatures...
My Mom...would take me to the zoo and I would never want to leave the reptile area....When I was 12 my Dad happened to stop at a pet shop/ motorcycle shop...the real reason for the stop...and I saw my first available Boa constrictor... what a beauty!!!..I could not believe it's color and how smooth and sleek it was...It was like $100 or $200 and it might as well have been a million, my Dad would not even think about it....
Well, I was able to talk him into a green Anole about a month later as they were only $5.00. So I was on my way into the world of reptiles...
I had all kinds of reptiles after that but never had anything that ever cost more than $100...being married with 4 kids...they came first...so I still had never had my dream..the prize...Boa constrictor! In 1999, at age 34...I found Kingsnake.com... I purchased my first common Red tail boa...actually I bought TWO...lol...I was hooked and have never been the same since....Like a kid in a candy store ...with a pocket full of money is what I feel like....Wish I had more money, but then I would just buy more boas...lol...Sorry I'm an Addict...lol...
Maybe it's an obsession...lol...anyway, I have never been happier...Andy Federico

AJF Reptiles.....

Enjoy!

Snakes mean the WORLD to me and I wouldn't trade it for anything! What I mean in a Nut shell is that yes my name is Jake and all my friends and family call me Jake the snake! LOL
Iv'e always been the out doors type of kid growing up in Colorado scince I could remember. Me and my buddy's still till this day still go out and catch garters, bulls, milks, corns, racers, rattlers, and water snakes all over Colorado. And yes I was the ring leader getting all my close buds around the block to go on fishing/snake trips. I was the only one out of the group that took my hobby into a passion. At 13 my mom let me buy my first snake, a Ball python. My Mom and Dad felt right about having a docile smaller sized snake to own for my first exotic pet! My snake passion grew from then on. All through middle school and high school I was always buying snake books and Reptile Mags. to read up on about the SNAKE MORPH WORLD THAT has made me a Herp ADDICT that I am now. I'm 22 now and I have feel in love with BOA's for the last 5 years and I been saving up money every year to treat myself with a different boa to love and own with my girlfriend, old buddy's, and family. What I really want to get across is that snakes have been a big part of my life and they mean so much to me words can't explain exactly how I feel because I good babble on forever about all kinds of snakes are such awsome creatures with such fascinating beautiful characteristics! Snakes were put here for us to appreciate and to respect with love and care!
Take Care and Happy Herping
Jake

These are just some male DH snow from various breeders! Outcross is always the best way to go!

NP pythonis

First of all, I don't only like reptiles. I like all animals, but snakes are my favorite. The only way I can explain my fascination with snakes is; They are kind of like art. I appreciate and am fascinated with snakes like some people like art. I love to look at them, I love to watch them move, and they are not your typical companion animal. I really like being responsible for all aspects of their care. I don't care what anybody says, they do have different personalities. There are so many different types and colors. I enjoy this hobby very much, and I like letting my kids help and learn with me. I know that my 3 kids won't be afraid of snakes and cut their heads off just for being snakes, and hopefully they will pass that on. Right now, I have 19 snakes, and all are taken care of very well. Derek

I keep snakes for one simple reason - the voices in my head told me to.
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2.1.0 Kidletts
0.0.1 Ball Pyhton (Rex)
0.0.1 Okeetee Corn (Maizey)
0.1.0 BCI (Ruby)
0.1.0 Cat (Ginger)
1.0.0 Pughuahua (Ranger)

ROTFLMAO!!! Good answer.

Quig

When I was little, probably around 5,my stepdad got a ball python. I don't really remember it, just the stories I have been told. Unfortunetly a lot of bad stuff happened to it, it got loose then found, quit eating, then had to be put down by a vet. But later around 1st grade we went out of town and stopped at a pet store and I saw my first colombian redtail and we got it. I walked around that whole store with it and it was no bigger than a pencil and people were terrified of it and it amazed me. We kept it for about 2 or 3 years and it got bigger than I was and I got scared of it. I looke back on it and laugh, my friends cant believe I was afraid of a snake once. But the summer after my senior year in 2003 I got a Brazilian Rainbow boa and fell back in love with snakes. I was planning on becoming a vet but I realized my love for snakes and reptiles would change that and I am now in school to work at a zoo one day with herps. A year later I got another redtail. Then last year I got 5 corns at my first trip to Daytona. Then at the begining of this year I got a 5.5 foot male and 6.5 foot female Colombian redtails and then saturday I got my first morph, a hypo colombian. So it is really a great addiction. They are amazing animals. They have no arms and can still function. I still am amazed every time I feed one. I love getting people to hold one for the first time and getting them to like snakes, even though it isnt the love I have for them. I have also found that it is contagious. My room mate that I met in college now has two after having none when we met. My g/f who never thought she would own one now has 2 corn snakes and 2 chameleons and my room mates g/f wants to get a bearded dragon. So I am doing my part to get people to love the animals I do, instead of having a hatred for them.