View Full Version : female herpers
Are there many female herpers out there?
Yeah for female snake lovers!
How does your family feel about your interests in reptiles? Friends? Partners?
My boyfriend is terribly shy around my snakes and keeps his distance. Although he thinks it's cool that I like them. He keeps promising me that he will go to the next show with me and then at the last minute chickens out. Oh well, it would be nice if he loved reptiles as much as I but that's alright I love the ol'boy just the same.. lol.
I have neighbors in my apartment building who stop over just to see my snakes. One woman always brings her 6 year old granddaughter over and Mia (the little girl) LOVES to see the snakes. It's very cool.
thunder
10-28-04, 11:23 AM
i am a female herper. so far i have never had a boyfriend who was also into the hobby, but none that were terrified. my family and friends tend to think i am a major weirdo. but they generally like my animals once they see them.
bistrobob85
10-28-04, 11:26 AM
I don't think that, for some reason, there are as many female herpers around than male herpers, which is kinda sad... In fact, ladies are getting more and more interested into herps. Its always fun to have ladies around, keep them comming in! :)
phil.
Nothing wrong with being a 'weirdo' ---that's pretty much how my family and friends view me and my interests too. I wouldn't want it any other way!
I do wish there was at least one other person I knew who lived close by who also had reptiles.....
CHRISANDBOIDS14
10-28-04, 11:43 AM
Hey, were ALL weirdos!! Well in the eyes of regulare ppl(Non-Herpers or whatever you wish to call them). Lol.
C.
i am 1 and my family friends ect think im a wierdo. but i think its been great owning and learning many different herps. now mydaughter is into it
susan
RepTylE
10-28-04, 12:06 PM
There are lots of females involved in the hobby. I find that in most cases they are brought into it by their spouses or boyfriends which means that they are already taken :(
I haven't had much luck finding a woman that accepts my reptiles. Oh well..............
capsicum
10-28-04, 12:19 PM
I have always loved herps, but never really got into snakes until last summer. For valentine's day, I was fortunate to have my hubby offer me any kind of pet I wanted. I chose a yearling female spotted python :p
Hubby doesn't really like the snakes, but loves the lizards. However he is really looking forward to the corns we are planning on buying soon :D
TK
THAT'S ~very~ cool TK, ---awesome that your husband offered you any pet you wanted. Kudos to him !!
HeatherRose
10-28-04, 01:07 PM
I'm female, thank you very much :p
I've been into amphibians for as long as I remember, and from that it branched into an obsession with geckos, and then onto snakes and other herps. I never wanted a bunny or a hamster when I was younger, only frogs and newts...
Most of my family decided that my hobby was an interesting one, but of course there's always the handfull that think I've got a few screws loose.
My friends are usually tolerant of my constant yabbering about my animals, and some even come over to see them. However, my closest friends are also members of this site so I can obsess freely with them anyway :D
In my personal experience, boyfriends in the hobby are extremely overrated ;)...and I'm constantly being surprised by how many guys are actually afraid of snakes.
If anyone still doubts the abundance of females in the hobby, feel free to check out these threads:
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2193&highlight=chicks
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23063&highlight=chicks
(These threads are older and not all of the pictures are still there, mind you.)
There's also one for the girls while I'm at it ;)
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23114&highlight=chicks
Enjoy! :D
-Heather
LOL ---that was fun Heather, thanks for posting those links. Maybe we could get the fella's to post updated pics?
Very cool that your closest friends are also members here. Would be a nice common interest to be able to share.
I am a female into herps.
I don't find any shortage of either sex when it comes to herpers.
I don't really know what my family thinks, wouldn't matter if they hated it though. I am pretty sure they just think things are interesting.
My friends are all either snake keepers, or into other weird hobbies so they all enjoy my pets. My roomates love animals so they love me having snakes for them to hold and look at. :)
Marisa
capsicum
10-28-04, 01:40 PM
Originally posted by joey
THAT'S ~very~ cool TK, ---awesome that your husband offered you any pet you wanted. Kudos to him !!
It's deffinately cool :D He also bought me my first BCI (2 y/o female, 4 1/2 ft), for my birthday ;)
Even he suggested that if I wanted, I could try to find someone to trade the boa for 1.1 adult beardies....maybe???
He's awesome, keeps suggestion more and more snakes for me to get :D
Now my family is another story...they DO NOT like snakes At All, rofl! But they think it is interesting, though they will never have a herp in their home lol.
TK
askaboutrep
10-28-04, 01:51 PM
Girls are supposed to be scared of:
Snakes and lizards
Mice
Spiders and other bugs
Rats
I guess we all arent very good at being girls....lol
askaboutrep
10-28-04, 01:56 PM
As for me....I find it hard to keep roomates, they get a little irked about crickets chirping in their bedrooms all night, and when I inform them(not too often mind you) that a snake has escaped.
My bf loves me, and therefore loves my hobby too, but dont expect him to do anything with them.
One friend vowed never to come over when I got my very first corn....the rest are cool with it.
My family supports my hobby, my mom raises mice for me.
My co-workers all think I am nuts, especially cuz I have mice in my freezer.
My extended family tolerate my hobby simply because I am part of their family.
I think herpers are great cuz we are all open minded and not too worried what the world thinks.
I am a female herper! :) I've had a partner who just tolerated the herps, but supported MY interest in them, and one who loved herps almost as much as I do. One guy I met ran out of my home (literally) because the idea of herps in the place was too much for him! LOL!!!
I find that almost an equal number of men as women are afraid of snakes, so I don't think sex has anything to do with it. I do have to say, though, people generally warm up to the lizards much quicker than to the snakes... but still, once most people spend some time around the animals, they grow to like them.
My family thinks it's cool, though they don't much want to handle the animals, and my Mum says that she WON'T be babysitting my animals for me! LOL
Anyways, I love my animals, and anyone in my life either has to accept that, or move on! ;)
Nicki
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Nicki
[
Anyways, I love my animals, and anyone in my life either has to accept that, or move on! ;)
**************
right on!!!
I've met guys who were totally wigged-out by the idea of snakes in my apartment and then thought I was kinda scary for having them. bwa ha ha ha. :medteeths
My mom loves all my critters and even refers to my snakes as her 'grandsnakies'. My dad went with me to a show where I bought my first ball python when he was visiting from out-of-town. He loved it!
I agree---there are just as many men afraid of snakes as there are women.
damzookeeper
10-28-04, 02:27 PM
I"m a female herper and so is my daughter. My husband on the other hand is terrified of snakes (he actually has a phobia) and I think it is so big of him that he let me bring my first snake in this last May for mother's day. Mind you he didn't buy it for me or even look at it. lol, but he allowed them in the house which is a lot on his part, he is so afraid of them just seeing them at a distance makes him go weak in the knees and I swear he is going to pass out he turns so white. He is definately not an animal person but he supports me and even helps build my cages and gave me the basement for my hobby (also so he wouldn't have to see the animals. lol)
My parents are bird people but my mom loves my turtles and my dad loves my blue tongue skinks. They have always supported anything I've done even if they thought it was weird and outragous. lol The rest of my family think it is interesting, most of them wouldn't own any themselves but they bring their kids over to see the snakes and lizards and are pretty cool with it.
My friends and co-workers, well, that's another story. lol, They just think I'm nuts and can't believe I keep rodents in the freezer. But they have asked for my autograph a couple times when I make the local paper. lol.
I plan on spreading my "disease" to as many people as I can in as short time as possible. My daughter is already on her way with her first snake at age 9. :D
And I too believe there are just about as many female herpers out there as their are men, some may have started out through their husbands or boyfriends but then their are the ones like me that have had a love of herps from the time I could walk and talk and live with a male spouse that could do with out them in his life. That makes me love him even more since I have well over 100 herps in the house. Almost a dozen snakes and he is terrified of them more than anything else in his life. Well, maybe not as much as losing such a great wife like me. lol, j/k I think my head got big there for a minute. :D
http://www.reptilerascals.com/pub2004-07-28mewithbcc.jpg
Heres a pic of me and my friends posing after I made our outfits!
I`m in the middle
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/showgallery.php?ppuser=4088
Shaghan
10-28-04, 04:38 PM
I am also a female herper. I love all animals in general. I grew up with at least 2 in my house. My b/f is pretty much as interested as I am in all animals. We have 10 animals right now but I think that's our limit. I would have a million if I could. We have...
2 Australian Shepards- "Trink" and "Toke"
2 Black Cats- "Jazmine" and "Opal Nera"
2 stick bugs- "Kindling" and "Hickory"
1 Normal Corn- "Mais"
1 Anery Corn- "Mallory"
1 Ball Python- "Dodge"
1 BCI- "Tron"
My family thinks I'm nuts. My friends like them cuz they can come over and hold them.
I used to have a phobia about snakes, used to be terrified. I wouldn't even go for walks when camoing b/c I was scared I would cross the path of a snake. Shane finally, after a few years, talked me into getting one cuz he thought they were interesting and I've never turned back. Your only afraid of the unknown. One I understood their behaviour I was cool with them.
justinO
10-28-04, 05:17 PM
I got Jessy (my girlfriend) into herps when I first met her.. now we live together and more of our snake room is occupied by her snakes then mine :)... not like i'm complaining.. I got her hooked good. I think herps are more addictive then drugs :)
Justin
snakegal12345
10-28-04, 05:22 PM
I got 2 leos and hopefully soon a couple standing day geckos(for free.) My mom has the biggest phobia of snakes and isn't a big fan of lizards that climb walls. She used never come into my room when my lizards were. Now she holds them every night.
Kirsten
nice picture damzookeeper!
I'm a female herper as well, and so is my five year old daughter( I think she's more addicted than me). My husband wasn't crazy about them when we first met, but now he's he's right into it. For about 2 years, lizards (he still doesn't like snakes) were the only presents we ever bought each other because there is always a show around each of our birthdays. Over the last year we've scaled down our collection a bit, but I can never imagine our house being totally reptile free.
As for family, friends, and co workers, there is the odd one that I've managed to corrupt but the general consenses is that I am nuts.
I may be nuts but I still think it's pretty cool that my 5 year old little girl can go into any pet store and list off all the reptiles by name and give you the proper care for each. She has also taken up the habit of correcting the employees when they give the wrong info to customers. (it's absolutely priceless to see the looks on their faces)
Kate
nat_the_brat
10-28-04, 07:31 PM
I am female herper and I find it frustrating where I live because I can't find any others... male or female. I agree that there are equal amounts of males and females in the field but oh man... the general public doesn't know that. I get such a kick when I go to pet stores and check out the snakes and frogs. The male staff are always trying to be macho thinking I am this scared little thing that will be so impressed with their ability to show me what a frog is. The other day I was looking at a corn and a 20ish male employee came up and said "that's a corn snake... they can get pretty long...they eat mice... yadda yadda yadda " and then said "do you want me to take it out for you?" with a grin on his face like I would scream or look at him in awe. I looked back at him and said "nah... its ok.. I got my boas at home. I am just here to pick up some rats for them"... so next he started off about the treefrogs... especially the red eye that was in the store. He kept trying to explain to me that they were those ones you see in national geographic and how rare and hard to find they are. I was like "Yah... you should see my female.. she's so pretty... you should see my dart frogs. they got awesome colors on them to" by then he gave up trying to impress me and went into the back room and didn't come back out until i left. what really pisses them off the most is when they try to seel you an animal and you point out all the horrible problems it has due to poor husbandry. sorry for going on and on.. just an experience still fresh in my head.
lol
I think you 'poo-pooed' on the boy's parade.
capsicum
10-28-04, 08:46 PM
Hehe...too funny Nat ;)
I had a similar experience here at a pet store. I went in and saw a bunch of little ball pythons, and the one chick asked if I would be interested in seeing it out of the cage. So she takes it out, and askes if I wanted to hold it. I said of course, picked it up, and as she tried to say how delicate they are and that they can be snappy, the little ballcrawls all over my head and wrapped itself around my hands. She was shocked, and said that none of them had ever been that friendly. She wanted to know if I was affraid of the snake, so I replied "Of course not, I have 5 balls at home" :p
It was funny, and even more funny when I corrected their labeling on the Okeetee corn tank - they thought it was an albino :rolleyes:
TK
LISA127
10-28-04, 08:54 PM
I'm obviously a female herper. I have two daughters, 9 and 10 years old. They also love reptiles and didn't realize for the longest time that most ppl don't appreciate snakes...lol. My husband likes the lizards, but isn't too much into snakes and turtles/torts. And my family, well they just get real nervous everytime they come over about finding mice sitting out being thawed on top of cages. They enjoy looking at the herps, but don't like touching them much. I run a latchkey program at the school near me, and the kids there think it's cool. They all wish I was their mom....lol. :)
To be honest, I'm an animal lover in every sense of the word. It's just not herps with me. Animals are my life, and actually dogs are my first passion.
I as well am a female herper. I have to be the only one in my community (female anyways). My family is cool with it, but when i was living at home my dad wouldnt allow me more than four snakes. My mom on the other hand, would take me to any herp related stores when we were in Winnipeg, she considers the snakes and iguana her grandchildren, although she has 12 human ones already. My bf was a challange when we first met, he wouldnt even come close to my room, and at that time i only had one snake!! Well now he lives in a room filled with snakes....but my room mate, well i have to get rid of him, he hates them with a passion. Even his mom loves the snakes too......must be something with men in my community. lol. but yea ive been keeping kings now for only 4 years but thats only a start.
I'm a girl. My family is ok with them, so long as they stay out of the main part of the house. They can't really say much more than that, seeing as how my dad was the one who bought me my first herp at the age of 3-4 :p My dad however, is absolutely terrified of rodents... dead or alive. He gets scared of the snakes sometimes as well. My fiance is incredibly tolerant of them. He's not in to reptiles at all, he's a cat person... :rolleyes: :p I'm so lucky to have found him though... I wouldn't want to be involved with a herper, and I don't think there is anyone else that would sleep in a room *crowded* full of animals every night and be fine with it (most he says its like a grocery store because of all the aisles :p). He helps me probe snakes, comes to shows on occassion (he'll be holding up the table with me at the next one), and when I had surgery, he wouldn't let me do anything until I was recovered.. he took care of everyone... even the 250+ rats :eek: I got my sister in to them a bit... snakes aren't her favourite, but loves my BP... and she has leopard geckos. She also helps me if I need a second set of hands with some of the snakes.
I'm a girl!! And I got my boyfriend into herps:)
My family and friends think I am insane but they are slowly getting use to them as every herp show they seem to multiply;)
My mom even helps me clean my big girls cage when she is in a "mood".
I am slowly warping my friends and family...I love it. I have even got some of my friends to get leopard geckos, not much but its a start!!
pardon the worn out phrase but---
you go girl!
heh heh heh
katev17
10-29-04, 03:52 PM
Ewww....reptiles?
Gross.
Kate (the real one)
JimmyDavid
11-01-04, 07:40 AM
Ladies...that's all 2 cool. But realise that confessing your interest in critters isn't gonna help getting a chance at cheerleading. ;)
Well......this is gonna bite me in the butt but.....when I was in school I was a cheerleader:) I will say I was probably the most insane but it was still fun!
damzookeeper
11-01-04, 01:28 PM
nope, back in the day.... lol, when I was in school I was the quite type, if they could see me now! roflmao. :D
zero&stich
11-01-04, 02:01 PM
Me.
Uh, hehe, noone got me hooked. I accomplished that myself by bringing home a 3 ft garter into the house when I was like 4. Heh, since then I been goin off an on with this hobby, mainly cause of school but since thats all over and done with I've been back with the hobby since 2000.
Um, as far as friends, family ect...Psh! Who care what they think. It's not their hooby, its mine.
your interest in critters isn't gonna help getting a chance at cheerleading I rather watch mold grow.
HeatherRose
11-01-04, 02:18 PM
Quote:
your interest in critters isn't gonna help getting a chance at cheerleading
I rather watch mold grow.
You're not the only one :rolleyes: http://www.pitbullforum.com/images/smiles/emote206.gif
Originally posted by HeatherRose
You're not the only one :rolleyes: http://www.pitbullforum.com/images/smiles/emote206.gif
that makes three!
Add me to the list of mold watchers over cheerleading LOL.... I'm another female herper with 3 more in the house of course they are only 4 yrs old. My husband finds them interseting and is happy to handle them when I'm cleaning cages and such but they are mine. He even bought me a female ball last mothers day and at the ERAS fall show he bought a beautiful het ghost male, wich he does claim as his but I'm the one who feeds, handles and cleans after him. LOL some men!
justinO
11-01-04, 04:37 PM
This is Jessy, the girl part of JustinO (really have to get that name changed)....... he wrote earlier for me but is very misguided (and will get spanked tonight ;) )
I have always liked reptiles and was turned off of the hobby when my ex bf's father fed his ball python live mice for pleasure and it was sick.......
I met Justin and learned VERY quickly that this should not be the case and that most herpers have a freezer full of "mousicles" that were thawed & fed to a snake/lizard. I had a ball python of my very own within a few weeks! Since then it has been our main passion, and something we always share a very big part of our lives in!
Just to mention, Justin was a lizard guy and I totally converted him to snakes :p
As for my family, they have all accepted it (except my hippie vegan cousin, gah!) and have all come to visit and see them. My mom and brother are interested, although my mom really likes the babies and makes a bee line for them first when she visits. My brother will be the first one to get a baby ball in the spring!
I talk about them a lot with friends also, none have actually gone to get one themselves, but I'm sure they know to come to me if they ever have questions.......
Herper chicks rock!
Originally posted by justinO
[
Herper chicks rock! [/B]
wooo-hoooo!
I'm also female, and herps are fabulous! My boyfriend is ok with them, though not nearly as keen. and guess what, I get it from my mother. (Tortoise crazy)
:)
So there goes your theory about females vs. males.
or maybe my family's just weird....
definitely mold watching over cheerleading... :)
zero&stich
11-02-04, 06:02 PM
I got my clan of mold watchers or a cult or whatever, :)
I'll be President :D
'cheerleading'
them's fightin words!
hehehehe
I'm a proud female herper! I've been keeping reptiles since I was about 5 years old. I'm the only odd ball in my family. The hobby was never introduced to me. I've just had a lifelong passion for scaley critters. It's so awsome to find a place where I can talk about my hobby and not be treated like a freak!
It's so awsome to find a place where I can talk about my hobby and not be treated like a freak!
*********
HEY----you're definately amoungst fellow freaks here. ;)
RepTylE
11-03-04, 02:27 PM
ohhhhh that can still happen around here
SerpentLust
11-03-04, 03:08 PM
Hehehe I'm a female herper. I've loved snakes since I was 3 years old. My mother and father encouraged a healthy curiosity in regards to all animals. Letting me play with the frogs and toads that found their way into our pool. But I didn't get my first snake until I was 16. Before that I had turtles, but meh.
I have had boyfriends that are in love with my snakes, boyfriends that were terrified (they got dumped pretty quickly) and some that don't care.
Friends, well, same thing as the boyfriends. Although most love them or keep them themselves.
Jenn
Cool thread....
Count me among the female herpers... (not like I've posted here a whole lot lately, but... ehh...). My family was always more or less okay with herps... they pretty much supported my interest in all animals for as long as I can remember (I have an excellent picture somewhere of me at about 4 years old with my nose about a foot above the sidewalk as I'm staring at a caterpillar.... :D ). My mom was always against rodents more than anything (although, the last 2 years I lived at home I was raising mice in the basement)... and now that I've moved out they ask every so often how "the snakes and things are doing".
My boyfriend is mostly indifferent to the reptiles... BUT he has come to a couple shows with me, and he did build me a very nice snake rack.... and he puts up with having a room mostly dedicated to my snakes (and having my uro Mak'esu on display in the dining room) and a shelf of mice in the deep freeze... what more could I ask for? ;) He'll even hold snakes for me if I need to probe one. (and as he said, only in our house would a girl walking up with a packet of lube and saying "feeling adventurous?" be followed by 1/2 an hour of sexing snakes.... *lol*)
Oh, and on the cheerleading vs mould.... ditto on the mould... but then, I majored in biology in uni.... I actually <i>have</i> watched mould grow..... :D
Dawn
I love this thread! It's awesome to see all you other herper-gals out there! :D
Nicki
yeh, I've loved reading everyone's posts.
...wonder if there could be a designate forum for women herpers on this site?
Originally posted by askaboutrep
Girls are supposed to be scared of:
Snakes and lizards
Mice
Spiders and other bugs
Rats
I guess we all arent very good at being girls....lol
Let's see....
I used to have Anoles when I was a kid---love them.
Caught gartner snakes.
Used to have a pet rat who could run free in my apartment. She liked to climb her way up to my shoulder. She was the best.
I had a trantula named Maldoon and she lived to be almost 10!
I LOVE watching bugs!
What does that say about me?? lol
Artemis
11-05-04, 07:10 PM
Female herper here. Just an animal nut in general really. Herps are just among my in-home zoo now :)
Kate- my 5 year old is the same way! She has "her" snake now, and couldnt be happier, lol. My husband said we couldnt have any more animals, so she suggested we get rid of the cats and get more snakes instead.
My cats are my babies and arent going anywhere... but I thought it was funny she would opt for more snakes over them.
Linds- Somehow in my head you were a guys, not sure why, but rock on that you're a chick!
Female herpers are awesome... I dont think its so rare to find us, I just wish more of my girlfriends were as into it as I am. Most of them think my snakes are neat, but you won't catch them requesting to hold one, either, lol.
Artemis
Originally posted by Artemis
Female herpers are awesome... I dont think its so rare to find us, I just wish more of my girlfriends were as into it as I am. Most of them think my snakes are neat, but you won't catch them requesting to hold one, either, lol.
Artemis
ditto....;)
SDSnakes
11-08-04, 01:03 AM
Hehe, female herper here too :D Great to see so many ladies around here. I've got a ton of reptiles at home but not much room for them at college, although I've managed to sneak in a couple to scare the boys with, lol. Not many reptile people here at school so if anyones bored.. crystalsnakes@hotmail.com is my msn :) message me!
Crystal
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