what got you into the hobby?

[sirtalis]

Basically the title is my question, here's what got me into keeping reptiles, when i was eight, my aunt had a bull snake, the first time i held it was awesome, and it touched me forever, so what about you guys?
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[trailblazer295]

Moved into my own place................lol I liked reptiles since I was a kid. Watched countless hours of nature shows. Reptiles always seemed cool. But never was allowed to own any. Now I live alone so I can buy whatever. Now my mum regrets her classic saying "when you have your own place you can have whatever you want" lol didn't have the same opinion when she first say Mushu instead it was "what the hell were you thinking?" I'm still alive to tell the tale so it's okay. Funniest part was she had to sleep in the same room as him 2ft away.

[drumcrush]

My dads friend had a BCI and a black rat when I was young. I was always fascinated with them, begging my mom and working my way up from a gold fish. from the gold fish I got a turtle, then my leo, and then my mom gave in and I got my first snake Sophmore year. Was shortly after that I got Mrs. B, my garter.

[prairiepanda]

I've always loved animals of all kinds and have always loved to care for any kind of pet. I do not have any particular preference for reptiles over other animals. The reason I have reptiles(and spiders) in particular right now is because they suit my current living situation better than other pets that require more time/space/cost. My cat is an exception because I grew up with her and we are inseparable. In the future when I have more time, space, and money, I'm sure I'll have a variety of other pets in addition to reptiles...probably a few more types of reptiles as well.

It's hard to say what really fueled my love for animals and desire to raise pets, but educational TV shows such as Crocodile Hunter(oh, how I miss Steve), books, zoos, and camping trips were certainly big influences.

[sirtalis]

That's really cool guys. @prarieprada, i also feel that reptiles are good for my living situation, once i graduate high school, college, and have a stable job i plan on getting a large exotic pet like a baboon, a hyena, or maybe a large cat lol, i know it sounds a bit weird but hey, people on this forum keep 15 ft + snakes.

[SSSSnakes]

As a teenager I was terrified of snakes. I bought myself a Boa to over come my fear. I then turned it into a business to help others get over their fears.

[eminart]

I grew up in rural alabama with thousands of wooded acres as my playground. I always loved animals, and there were plenty around. From a very young age, I was fascinated by reptiles, especially snakes. I honestly can't remember the first reptile I kept. I was very young. But my mom was terrified of snakes, and I do remember the first snake I talked her into letting me keep - a ringneck snake. I was maybe 8. Thirty years later, I still love reptiles and I've passed on the herp gene to my daughter, apparently.

[Lefitte]

I love all sorts of animals and I've never really feared any of them. Except some creepy crawlies still make me jump. I was born in the year of the snake and there's a running joke in my family that I'm my sister's pet snake [long story] so I've always felt a connection to them. I saw my first one when I was around 6 and then in second grade my teacher brought in a rattlesnake skin to teach us all about them. We got to touch it and make it's tail rattle and it was really really interesting. I've wanted a snake ever since. I looked into other reptiles but it just didn't work out. When I finally got a few misconceptions about frozen mice straightened out, I went to work immediately to get one and bought my king about 3-4 months later. Since all the work and money was on me and I pay more than my share of the rent, my parents couldn't say no [I'm an adult but my whole family lives together]. I'm getting my second in September =D

[EL Ziggy]

My brothers and I would catch and keep garters and racers when we were kids, and I had a couple of ball pythons in my 20's because I thought it was cool, but I wouldn't say I was a hobbyist then. I had no idea about husbandry and no connections with other keepers. Fast forward to 2013 and my 4yr.old son decides he wants a 'blue lizard' as his first pet. One weekend the family and I are out and about doing weekend stuff. My lady decides to stop at a beads and craft store which just happened to be next door to a pet store. Being the great dad that I am I tell my son we're gonna see if they have a blue lizard. I can't remember if we saw a blue lizard but there were some lizards there. The lizards are right next to the snakes, where I saw a few BP's and a pretty little baby cal king. I don't know what happened but something shifted. I asked to see the snake, held it for a few minutes, and fell in love. I convinced my son that "we" don't really want a lizard but would like a snake instead. That was an easy sell :). The hard part was getting mama bear on board. After 15 minutes of pleading our case she reluctantly agreed. The rest as they say is history. I've got 4 snakes now, with 2 more on the way, and all of you reptaholics to share this passion with. :)

[Jrich]

I grew up in a nice wooded area with many creeks and a lake that ran up to my backyard. Pretty much a snake haven. Mom was terrified but my dad was always bringing little garters up to the house. I think that piqued my interest because they are very colorful and interesting animals but also secretive.
When I turned 16 and could drive a car, I cut class a little early and bought the necessary supplies to house an albino corn snake and convinced an older friend to purchase the snake for me. I don't remember why I named him Wendall, maybe to make him seem less intimidating. I mean, c'mon, who could be scared of a pink snake named Wendall that was the size of pencil? Even though I've moved on from him, he's still alive and well today.
Now I have 9 snakes....it escalated rather quickly. Right now I'm just trying to figure out which snakes I enjoy the most so my collection is diverse. Really leaning hard on Rosy boas lately but who says I only have to have one kind of favorite snake? ;) I really love all of my guys.
I should avoid reptile shows and pet stores like the plague.

[Sylphie]

I'm similiar to the OP, when I was 6 I went with my grandma to her friend, and he was having really big collection of bci and pythons. He let me handle one of the "small" one, and it was soo cool, when the snake wrapped aroung my hips. Unfortunately my parents were like "we don't have enough money for snakes", so I just waited till my 18 birthday and buy one myself :D

[serpentgirl123]

I love all sorts of animals and never had a fear of them, including most insects and arachnids and it was because of that, I wanted to become a veterinarian. I attended a week long program at a local university for 10-12yr olds looking to go into vet career to get a taste of what it is like on a day to day basis. At the end, in smaller groups, we presented on a particular animal and for my group it was on reptiles.

It wasn't until after my guinea pig died a year later that I began to question whether I wanted another one or something else. I already had 3 cats. I was at my grandmothers' a few weeks later and happened to catch an episode of Steve Irwins' show and it was at that moment that I was hooked lol.

I got on the phone that evening with my mother and asked if I could get a snake as a pet, knowing that she would say no, but I had to ask. To my surprise, she didn't turn it down but insisted that I spend a LONG time researching. Make a long story shorter, after buying several reptile books and a little internet search and a couple of "failed" reptile proposals to my parents, I got my first snake at 15.5

[sophiedufort]

I never held a snake, or been near a snake, until age 45. I peacefully lived in Australia, thinking that snakes were slimy, disgusting creatures that hiss, bite, and must be avoided at all costs. Then I met my husband on a online dating site. He's Florida born and spent his entire life in the United States. He had snakes since he was a kid, and was called, in his circles, the 'snake whisperer'. When he first mentioned snakes, I made him promise that he will never bring a snake near me, otherwise I will not come to the United States to join him. He promised, but he lied. Two weeks after my arrival, he sneaked a Florida water snake in the house. I thought I would die when I first saw the snake. It took hours of deliberation to convince me to touch it. A few days later, I was in love with the little creature. Poor snake, he was sick. We tried everything to make him better, but nothing worked. We lost him a few weeks later, and I cried my eyes off for hours. Then my husband got me a normal ball python for my birthday, and that's how our snake collection got started. We now have nine snakes, all amazing and docile, beautiful creatures that we love with all our heart, and we care for dearly. We are about to get our tenth addition, a purple passion. Can't wait.

[millertime89]

I visited the Reptile Garden in Rapid City, SD when I was 4 or 5 and I was hooked. When I was younger I was always out in the fields near my house searching for snakes, lizards, toads, and salamanders. When I moved out of my folk's place I was finally able to get reptiles of my own.

[Rattlehead]

As some others in here, the girlfriend and I wanted a pet that could live discreetly in an apartment, with a relatively low maintenance. I have always been interested in local archeology, and one of the most important deities is the feathered snake. I was interested about the cult and mysticism around snakes, and it was a factor to get one. Or two :D

[sirtalis]

What's the feathered snake?

[Mmrseed]

I was 32 and scared to death of snakes (but always was fascinated by them as well as all reptiles). My 3 young kids wanted a snake for a pet...a corn snake and I said no way in hell is a snake going to live under the same roof as me. Month later we had a baby mexican black kingsnake. A year later we had 15 snakes and two monitors. My kids' fascination with them (and my own) helped me get over my fear of them and enjoy holding them and caring for them and now our collection 13 years later includes numerous balls, boa constrictors, baby short tail and retic, green tree and carpet pythons, african egg eater and mexican black king as well as a tortoise, monitor and beardie

[Rattlehead]

What's the feathered snake?

It's maybe the most important (or at least most iconic) god of the aztecs.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatl

and looks neat too :P

[sirtalis]

Oh, i've heard of this guy, he does look pretty cool :).

[RAD House]

When I was a kid several kids on our block would head down to the pond to catch garter snakes some of which they kept for pets. Another friend of mine had captive bred pet snakes and I loved them, even though I can not remember for the life of me what kind of snake they were.. Unfortunately my parents only allowed furry pets like hamsters and mice. I suffered many bites at the hands of those rascals. Sometime during high school another neighbor in another neighborhood got a gorgeous milk snake. Being from the mountains of Colorado I had never seen a snake this beautiful in real life. I really put the full court press on the parents but they again resisted my begging. Honestly I always assumed snakes were hard to care for because of my parents objections. After I left their house I moved every few years and just assumed snakes were too much to handle at this point in my life. Finally a couple years ago me and the wife bought a house and about the same time I found my first picture of a piebald ball python online. I was amazed by this creatures beauty. Unfortunately they were and still are priced too high for me to consider purchasing one. Then last November I happened to end up next to a reptile shop. I figured I would go in as kind of a free zoo experience. I ended up chatting with the owner for about an hour while holding a graceful anery corn snake. I was hooked and went home to research the logistics and a couple weeks later I was a snake owner.

[Wingbeats]

Well, I grew up in Colorado and I spent most of my time growing up outside, poking around in the BLM land around my neighborhood and in the mountains.

I've always loved birds, reptiles, any sort of critter. However my mom was terrified of snakes and spiders so I was never allowed to own either. I grew up with cats, dogs, and horses instead. I was that kid who would catch giant wolf spiders to show my friends, or snag a snake while I was out hiking. I memorized the venomous species, so I knew I could pick up everything else!

However, now I am living and working as AN ADULT. And I can do ADULT things. Like, buy a pet if I wanted to! And no one will tell me no :D I thought about birds, but I decided they were too high-maintenance, especially with how much I work. Also, I have two cats already. So I started researching, confirmed that yes - reptiles are much lower maintenance than any bird - and ended up with a rainbow boa six months later!

My mom thinks I'm a bit of a weirdo, but I showed her a picture of Chaska with all her iridescence and mom admitted that she was "a pretty girl." Still a weirdo, though haha :D

So far, Chaska is doing great, and feeding and shedding great, so I'm feeling more confident in my snake husbandry. :) It's nice to watch an animal thrive in your care.

[TxScarlet15]

I grew up roaming the woods and searching ditches for all kinds of critters. Always loved it when I would find the occasional ringneck, garter, king etc. Glass lizards and skinks were also a nice treat to find. My sisters and I would catch small snakes to keep for a time. My older sister had a mean little garter for a couple years, beautiful snake but horrible personality. I had a young banded water snake for a while that I absolutely loved, beautiful pattern and so docile. That was probably what really got me into it, that water snake was so awesome and I hated being reptileless after I released it.

[eminart]

However, now I am living and working as AN ADULT. And I can do ADULT things. Like, buy a pet if I wanted to! And no one will tell me no :D


That's the great thing about being an adult. You can finally do all the childish things you want! ;) I have reptiles and I'm a falconer. Nobody can tell me no, and I'm past the point of caring if other people think it's weird. Yay for adulthood!

[D Grade]

I have liked snakes all my life, tried many times to bring Garters home when I was a kid up in WA but was forced to release them by good ol' mom. Many years pass and I find myself moving to AZ 10 months ago and my snake passion returned. Not only did I love the climate and desert, but I knew AZ is one of the top herping states in the US. After getting acclimated and settled at work, I began my collection and shortly after started herping. This is the first hobby in my life that has been relatively low cost, natural, and non-materialistic.

This is my passion in life and Ive enjoyed every bit of it.

[Deva]

I was over 40 years old before I acquired my first pet that was not a bird or fish. It was a warty newt and i was able to keep him because I had been able to buy my own home. I didn't plan to move, so I got an aquarium and put the newt in there with my other tropical fish (not a good plan, I know) but that was about 13 years ago and since then I have acquired more amphibians and reptiles.

[SnoopySnake]

My dad would catch snakes when he was younger. So when I was old enough (4-5) he would take me out to my uncle's house to catch garters and ribbon snakes. A couple times we would bring some garters home and set up tanks for them, then let them go a couple months later. Around that same time we also got a couple corn snakes, both of which unfortunately died and we don't really know why. But I loved watching them and the garters. When I was 6 we got a green iguana who was around 6 months old. He's now going on 11 years old and has a great new home. Around 8 I got my first reptile of my own, a bearded dragon. Her name was Yogo (after some yogurt snacks that I loved, hahaha) she was awesome. She passed about a year after we got her though, I think it was from the calcium sand she was on but the vet didn't tell us what was wrong. All after that I loved looking at the reptiles in stores and wanted a ball python, but my dad wouldn't let me get one when we lived with his ex. Then sometime in 2012 a "Colombian rainbow boa" I saw at a pet store reignited the passion. I later learned it wasn't actually a CRB. To this day I don't know what it was. I did research and got my 2 CRB's in 2013 at 14 and I hope to have my current reptiles a long time.