Aidan Rhiannon

I love snakes and would have more than one if I had the room. I love them so much that I'm defying the HOA by keeping my snake. They are VERBOTEN!@! Bastards.

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That's sad! People who ban snakes are ill-informed, given that dogs hurt FAR more people than snakes ever do!

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What the HOA doesn't know won't hurt them.
Frankly, had I been given the CC&Rs BEFORE I was forced to put down a payment for the place, I never would have moved here. They also don't allow large lizards.

So I pretend the beardies are animatronic.

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Hee. Yeah. It's easier to keep a reptile quietly than a cat or dog. I have to live somewhere that allows cats anyhow, I figure I'll probably be okay on snakes.

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I've had snakes in the past, and I do enjoy them, but not to the extent that I enjoy my more interactive pets. (Heck, even my fishtank is more fun to watch, in general)- they're neat to hold and stuff but... meh. I probably wouldn't have one again.

I also think the conditions that a lot of them are kept in are sort of sad. Just because they're not as active as other cage pets, doesn't follow that they shouldn't have room to climb and stuff.

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*nods* Reptiles are about the only things that, on average, have shorter lifespans in captivity than in the wild. Which is because too many people don't take proper care of them.

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I'd argue that hookbills do too, given the amount of seed diets sold as 'complete' in big box pet supply stores.

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Ah. I don't know anything about them. Birds, I assume?

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Yes- all the commonly-sold pet birds except for finches and canaries are hookbills.

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Ah. *nods* I suspect they suffer from the same problem as reptiles, people think "get bird, stick birdseed and water in, that's it, easy!"

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Actually, if you know what you're doing as far as herp husbandry goes, the reptiles enjoy a lifespan at least twice that of their wild counterparts.

Iguanas, for example, live an average of five years in the wild. They can live up to 25 years in captivity.

My snake is arboreal, but she also loves to burrow. I give her a lot of climbing and burrowing space. If she wasn't happy, she would not eat. Rainbow boas are notoriously difficult to maintain correctly.

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*nods* I was talking about averages. I've been reading some stuff from a gal who does iguana rescue, and gets all upset that people who don't research proper care often have their captive iguanas die after just one or two years. Which I agree is a shame. And there seems to be a high percentage of people who think a reptile is super low-maintenance, and doesn't realize they need more than just to be fed once in a blue moon.

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True. Most of the iggy babies you see at the store won't survive their first year. Those that do are likely not to survive more than five years due to poor diet.

My iguana lived 14 years. She died from an infection she had at the base of her tail, due to an accident that was unavoidable. I'm sure she would have lived another five or six years if that accident hadn't occurred.

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That's pretty sad.

I've lost two cats so far. Also several betas, and one hermit crab that still makes me feel guilty because it was my stupid fault he died. I miss the cats. I dunno though. You go into getting a pet knowing that you're probably going to outlive it. Unless you're getting a turtle. For me it's sad, but not unbearably so. You mourn a little bit, then you get a new cat and go on with life.

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lanabananaotter.livejournal.com

I have to apologize for the quality of this comment in advance. I'm in a lurking mood right now, and typing isn't coming easily for me...

Anyway, I'd have one (or more) if my mom wasn't wildly afraid...
We had a ball python when I was really little (I even tried to eat it) :3

My dad finally convinced my mom to get a snake under the rule that they had to get a 'slow' one. They got to the pet store, and got the (supposedly) slowest, a ball python. They took her home, and all was good... 'til it came time to feed her. The little microvaved mice were already slightly unnerving for my mother, but when they were lowered in to the tank, my mom was scared out of her wits...
It was THEN that the snake struck like lightning! :O

After that, my mom had nightmares until the snake was sold. I think the fear of snakes (and small spaces, and spiders) is actually quite illogical. Maybe there's something in our brains that realizes snakes are dangerous... *shrugs*

I don't think I'll EVER get a snake, though. My mother has vowed that if I ever have a snake in the house, she won't come over and help me look after my kids.

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Well, illogical is the whole DEFINITION of a phobia- it's a non-sensical, non-rational fear.

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lanabananaotter.livejournal.com

Yeah, I know.
I'm completely afraid of spiders, and when I ask myself why, there's no actual answer... I just am.

fight or flight... amirite? :3

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beetlecat.livejournal.com

Most fears are hold-overs from when humans needed to be scared of things that could kill them. The ones who were scared and so avoided those animals, survived and so the fears gradually became ingrained in our collective psyche.

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reiko-sazanami.livejournal.com

I'm personally not afraid of snakes, unless I would happen to encounter one that I KNOW is venomous in the wild. I was in love with my roomate's ball python, as he was the sweetest (but very, very dumb) little snake you could ask for. He'd curl around your shoulder and watch TV with you, even.

The rest of my family, however, seems petrified of them. For my mom, she simply finds the way they move to be eerie. Dad has just never liked them.

As for fear in society of them, I would trace it back to relgion, mythology and instincts. As we all know, Satan took the form of a serpent when he tempted Eve, so followers of Christianity are taught that they are a bad animal. As for instinct, our ancestors saw that a snake could kill with a bite, and therefore became wary of ANY snake, being as they can be hard to tell apart.

Just my two cents while I lurk. :3

(and someone explain tickybox, I see it everywhere!!)

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I have no idea where tickybox comes from, but I find it amusing, thus I pass the meme along.

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I dunno about the society thing. There are whole sections of society in various countries that not only aren't afraid of snakes, but worship them in various ways. And then there are the snake handler Baptist people. They just weird me out.

It's wise to steer clear of wild snakes if you don't know what you're looking at. I've run across fat gopher snakes that would fool an untrained eye, but knew what they were by the shape of the head. I still don't understand the whole fear thing, since most snakes do their utmost to avoid people, if at all possible.

Only a couple species actively attack, and neither is native to North America. I'd be more afraid of the Brazilian Walking Spider, since they are known to go after people. And they are deadlier than the Australian Funnel Web.

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emirasan.livejournal.com

I know of one species of snake who will actively and agressively attack even outside of breeding season and that is the Cottonmouth. I've had more run ins with these than I care to think about as they are very common in the swampy areas of the south where I used to live. I've been lucky enough to avoid being bitten, but I would still rather completely avoid them and their unaggressive cousin the common water moccasin.

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beetlecat.livejournal.com

I've always wanted to get one of those large terrariums with water in the bottom with fish and salamanders and snails and stuff and then with a bunch of rocks and sticks in the center making a tall island for a snake and other land-dwellers (that style of tank has a name but I can't remember it right now)

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wolven-remorse.livejournal.com

Snakes are neat! I used to catch little garden ones when I was younger, until I accidently caught a water Moccasin. I got yelled at because they are poisonous. ^^; No more snake catching. But Snakes are neat. I'm not creeped out and I've been bit before so I like them. =)

BTW: How's the tail coming along? 4 - 3 days until AnthroCon, so do you think you can get it to me before then? I don't mean to be a pain. =(

-- Kiyo --

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It's in the mail.

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wolven-remorse.livejournal.com

Oh good. =) That was fast, do you know when it should be here and when did you send it? You must be a speed demon. =D Thank you again. <3

-- Kiyo --

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I sent it on Friday by priority. That usually gets things to folks on Tuesday.

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wolven-remorse.livejournal.com

Okay. Thanks. =)

-- Kiyo --

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wolfmare.livejournal.com

I like snakes, but not sure I'd really be up to owning one. I have, however, 'snake-sat' for someone before. Ball pythons are cool :)

Interesting reason I'm not afraid: At the school I went to in southern Missouri, they had people from the conservation department come by every year for Earth Day, and they brought a HUGE black rat snake. Can't remember his name. But I had never really dealt with any snake before (I was 6 at the time) so I went ahead and petted him when they offered to let us do so.

Venomous snakes... I'm a little scared, yeah. Constrictor types though, I'm not even the least bit skittish of. I've even petted a wild garter snake.

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reaverta.livejournal.com

I find snakes to be curious. If given the chance, I would gladly handle a harmless one, preferably with advice on how to do so and Not Be Stupid.

As for wanting to own any... they're not native to New Zealand, and illegal to import for fairly obvious reasons, given they're an exotic predator and we're kind of known for our small flightless birds...

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