how did you get into snake keeping?

[Dave]

how did you people get into snake keeping and what was the first snake you held?


I first got into them through working with a mate with his snakes! the first snake i held was a young boa and it really made me intrigued by them!

[Muphesto]

i think a few people might know my story but here goes

when i was 8 i was part of a community centre for kids during the summer holidays, done things like went to butlins (emma will know what i mean ) and played football and stuff...well one day a guy came to the centre and had loads of reptiles..snakes..lizards..and a few spiders...at first i was really scared of the snakes, so i held a wee small one (dont know what it was) and found it to be ok, after a while i ended up with a 12ft boa over my shoulders, and going round my legs etc..anyway i had my pic taking with it and as my mum worked in the centre she talked the guy into giving me the snake skin, which i had pinned up on my wall for years anyway since i was 8 i have been trying to get a snake but my mum was a firm no (due to wee baby brother in house etc) but now he is growing up, so last year i finally got a corn (indy), 10 years after i started wanting one....since i was 8 ive been reading books looking foward to having my own and last year it came true

sorry for the long story lol

[lozzer]

I first got into snake keeping when i went to a place call white post farm and went in their reptile house and held a corn snake.But didn't buy a snake till another 3 years.I recently went back to white post and since ive done my research you only then realise that their care for reptiles is un acceptable and they are dam right neglecting them.
And then there was another time when i went into a pet shop(recently shut down by the rspca)and the lady brought out a adult corn snake and i got to stroke it and only did i get intrested.
I found Steves site and forum and that got me addicted to snakes and i read up on his forum and did a huge search on google for almost every care sheet and carefuly read them.
Now i own 3 happy and healthy corns and soon a Royal python

[John Pilling]

Junior school, a grass snake (wild cought, and injured) just about to be released into the wild. I was 9 or 10 at the time. from their i loved em and called into shops purpasley just to hold snakes and get to know about them. When i was 14 i started work (volentery) at an animal sanchtuary dealing with mainley dogs and cats, but the rspca occasionally brought a snake or reptile in, it go to the point where the people who usually took them couldn't, because snakes and reptiles were becoming popular and so i got my first snake at 16 and had it for 7 weeks before it got rehomed, it was a beutifull baby gtp, and was as snappy as hell. From their i just learnt more and more, and rehomed and sheltered more till i got my first corn snake about 5 years ago and sandy 6 years ago.

I'm glad as i have nevr looked back and they have me through a lot of health problems (severe depresion and worse, but you don't need to know the in's and out's) .

[Keith]

Between my friend John and my sister I had seen lots of snakes, but was never really interested in having one as a pet. Then my best friend's fiancee got a green ribbon snake that I had grown really attached to. It used to climb up my face, weave through my glasses, and chill out there for hours. Sadly, that snake died 6 months after being treated for mites. She never recovered fully, didn't eat. I had gone to the shop where she got the GR looking for one (I wanted a small snake), but they didn't have any. Then I saw Hashie and became the proud owner of a baby corn snake.

[Baz]

In Holland, where I grew up pet stores generally only sell rabbits, guinnea pigs etc. So I always presumed it was not possible to keep snakes. I thought they were fascinating, but no more than that. When I lived in the UK I never realized you could get snakes as pets, but then as a student I never had a reason to go out to look for a pet.

Only since we moved to the US I saw snakes and reptiles in a pet store for the first time. I noticed the little rough green snakes that eat insects, which I thought would be nicer than mice. I started reading up on snake keeping and green snakes. Then I started slowly buying all the stuff for buying a snake. By the time I was ready to go for it, Green snakes were nowhere to be found, because they hibernate in winter, so it's harder to find them. I looked into garter snakes and ribbon snakes, but then found out they are at less risk of getting parasites if you feed them mice. I decided then that feeding thawed out frozen mice was actually easier than keeping feeder fish or crickets. That opened up the types of snakes available. I picked out the corn snake, because it's pretty, a good beginner snake and I had a better set up for it than for a Cali Kingsnake, which I found very pretty too.

I'm hooked now... ;D

[lee]

id been intrested in animals since i was a wee nipper knee high to a grasshopper and had a few normal pets like dogs,cats,chinchillas,chipmunks and other things even a pot belly pig called rosey lol but reptiles i was always fascinated by and when i was 11 i went to have a look at a petshop recommended to my family as was buying leopard geckoes and saw the hugest snake id ever seen(14ft is quite big to a little boy) so i went up and stroked it which i found out was a burmese python and asked loads of questions and when i left rthe shop with my pair of leopard geckores i started to research snakes and 2 weeks later my stepuncles son had lost intrest in a pair of red sided garter snakes so my dad got them for me(their end comes with a sad story that ill share you all on a later date...)then after i got a royal python(bad experience again which again ill share later on and reasons why you buy from a reputable dealer and mmake sure theyre CB) then went onto kingsnakes,milksnakes,sandboas etc then at the age of 14 i was given my first ever cornsnake a carolina which incidentally i still have lol and its grew from there to 13 corns:) and many others
lee

[mourne]

I have always been an animal lover bout 25 yrs ago i was bought a garter snake as a present i had it for many yrs but the poor wee thing died. I have seen numerous corns in local pet shops as last few years always thought i`d like one but didnt really want something if couldnt care for it properly so i found out some about them and thought "i could do that" so last year i quit smoking and saved the money.So the 1st ten weeks money bought the snake and the set up but as they say one is never enough and 2 mths later my hubby bought one.Just last week we got our 3rd. We think they were one of the best buys yet. People say to us sure they dont do anything but slither about, well i`ve one that keeps us on our toes when out cause it gets into the most awkward of places hubby is usually found with a screw driver to dismantle things to rescue it. (nowhere that cant be got at)

[John Pilling]

Typical hudini corn snake, you'll soo =n have 10 of em running around.

[andrea]

My story is slightly different as I never wanted to ever be within 100 miles of a snake let alone own 1!!!!

My son James has always wanted a snake and one day I decided that I felt brave and would go and see if I could stand near one in the pet shop. It took 3 hours to get me in the room with a Hatchling!!

I kept going back week after week and researching about them and eventually held him after a few months. The Herp man said I would be the one most interested in snakes as I had had such a fear and he wasn't wrong!

I was soooooo excited when we went to pick Homer up and since then I have hardly put him down! I love him to bits!!! ;D

Best bit it I'm getting a little girl Okattee for my birthday in July!!

[John Pilling]

andrea, go girl go.

You sound like my mum, she was affraid and had a phobia about them, she love em now, and the only thing she won't do is feed them.

[jo]

iv had animals all my life all the normal cats,dogs rabbits, hamsters, horses ect. A friend of mine got a candy corn, It was love at first site when i met babushka . I couldnt put her down, i did ma resurch and ma friend took me to get one about a month later ! now iv got 2 ! and looking for a iguana.

[Dave]

its amazing how fast it takes off!!! i brought my first corn izzy then i got my kiera (my royal) for my birthday last year then i got my snow corn shelley as a mate for izzy then for this years birthday present i got a baby boa named hannibal! it takes off, since then my sister has brought a candy cane named kane and my parents are planning to buy a female red tail for the living room ;D