How did you get into reptiles?

[smy_749]

I don't know if there is a thread like this already. I didn't find one.

Anyways my old friend from high school was chatting with me, and reminded me of a book that sparked my interest in snakes. I was in like 2nd grade and got a childrens book about GTP's called Verdi , does anyone else remember that book?

[CarissaREVV]

I don't recall a book like that but as for your question. I had a teacher in high school that had a corn snake that I was allowed to hold and had even got to feed and since then I wanted a snake and finally got one last aug. from there I have two ball pythons two bearded dragons red eyed tree frog my husband has a boa 6 dart frogs and we have 6 fire belly toads we love them all. We also have a cat but my hubby cares not for the little kitty

[smy_749]

I don't recall a book like that but as for your question. I had a teacher in high school that had a corn snake that I was allowed to hold and had even got to feed and since then I wanted a snake and finally got one last aug. from there I have two ball pythons two bearded dragons red eyed tree frog my husband has a boa 6 dart frogs and we have 6 fire belly toads we love them all. We also have a cat but my hubby cares not for the little kitty


Verdi: Janell Cannon: 9780152010287: Amazon.com: Books (http://www.amazon.com/Verdi-Janell-Cannon/dp/0152010289)

[CarissaREVV]

Cover looks familiar I may have read it.

[Ivanator]

I grew up catching lizards in my backyard, but when I went to the SD Zoo in first grade, I fell in love with the huge snakes and komodo dragon. It just got worse from then on.

[Julius2314]

I lived in Florida as a child, and used to catch lizards, frogs, snakes, turtles of all kinds. So my parents purchased me a snake so I would stop catching them. I had caught a coral snake. But it has just recently been sparked in me 10 yrs later lol. Now I have a corn, ball, and a carpet :)

[bcr229]

Last summer my daughter said that she wanted "a snake" for her birthday. I said no way, the hubby said yes so I was outvoted. Now we've got ten plus four in QT with one more going to QT in a separate room tomorrow.

In many ways I prefer them over the four-footed critters.

[StudentoReptile]

The home page of my blog says it all.

[Starbuck]

i started with tarantulas and scorpions at 16 (so many legs!!), then chameleons and geckos, and got my first kingsnake 2 years ago... now i have only 2 tarantulas, 2 geckos, and 6 snakes!

[Aaron_S]

The story goes it started when I was 3.

[DragonsEye]

Always had a fascination with "critters" for as long as I can remember. No idea just when it started though my childhood interest in dinosaurs no doubt played a role.

[smy_749]

Always had a fascination with "critters" for as long as I can remember. No idea just when it started though my childhood interest in dinosaurs no doubt played a role.

Yea me too, definitely started with dinosaurs and cartoons like land before time if anyone remember that.

But specifically reptiles, I think started with the book, can't remember for sure. My aunt lives in the middle of nowhere, and has huge piles of wood out back. Started catching garters and ringnecks there every week almost when I was in second grade too

[Freebody]

when I was born my dad had 2 rtb's, a few years later he got rid of them, then when I was around 4-5 ish I got a couple iguanas, they died because I didn't know how to care for them properly and my folks pretty much said its my pet my responsibility and the internet wasn't around back then to research for free, I was very sad and they never got me anything else after that. I caught various garters and frogs and salamanders and kept them for a few days at a time when I was growing up, I went herping everyday almost up to about 10 or so, so basically I always had something lol, around 15 I went and got a rtb of my own, then a 2nd, I had them for 10 years or so, at age 20 I was a victim of a violent crime, had to spend 37k in multiple surgeries to fix my face, so I sold everything I owned including my snakes and took a few years off herping, as I payed it all off, then we moved, and got new neighbors, they knocked on the door one day to show me his RTB he had out, well that sparked that herper blood in me again, I went out a few weeks later and got my retic bella in 2008, and now here we are, back in the saddle again, with many more snakes and lizards and fish, I'll be a herper for life! :)

[Theweinz]

For me it started when I found a Fox Snake when I was 10 years old. The thing was so unbelievably cool- made a huge impression on me. At first I had no idea what to feed him so I went to the library(years ago!) and found Kauffelds' book "the Keeper and the Kept," and then went to a pet store and bought a mouse which "Foxy" constricted and consumed immediately. I was hooked! Always remember the Kauffald book too, bought a first edition a couple of years back. I kept the fox snake for several years but it "escaped," -however, I strongly suspect my mother freed it because she absolutely hated snakes. I will never forget that first Fox snake!:yes:

[Lankyrob]

Always loved lizards and snakes as a kid but on,y experience was seeing them at a zoo.

Then when i had my accident i was sent to a pain group and got chatting to a guy there who kept snakes and offered to let me meet them, went home after holding one of his and said to my wife that i wanted a snake expecting her to laugh and she said she loved them too!

Four months or so later we had seven snakes and two lizards.

[KBHicks2012]

Growing up as a child in the city we had a small vacant field next door that was always filled tons of mother natures creatures. My mother has always been a fan of spiders and insects, can't say that I got that trait from her, deathly scared of spiders for some reason, but I would always head out to that field on the way home and overturn every rock and log looking to see what lied under neither. I found my first garter snake around the age of 5 or six. I began researching my love of snake in school and learned that I had been looking in all the wrong places for the "cool" snakes that my mother didn't want me to find. I remember at the age 8 I finally found that cool snake I wanted crossing the field, was named before I had even made it the 30 seconds back to the house...."stripes". Needless to say my mother made me immediately quit handling the very friendly coral snake and release him back into the field and bought my first ball python. Ever since then I quest for finding another coral snake has never ended, nor has the growth of my collection.

Luckily I have been blessed enough to have found a women in my life that shares the excitement of snakes and has allowed my collection to grow, but currently at a stop letting me know, that no more homes will be given until I give her a new bigger home, so yeah we went home shopping last night because I found an absolutely beautiful GTP that is really wanting to come home with me ;)

[CK SandBoas]

My dad....

[TragicTaste]

I think for me it just kind of happened. No one in my family likes them, and outside of the overabundance of anoles and geckos that ran wild in our backyard, I never was really exposed to different reptiles. It just seems that it was a natural thing for me to admire them.

[jennuhkins]

I caught a lot of blue belly lizards when I was little I didn't keep them for long I was just interested. I was about 11 and My neighbor was screaming yelling and called my name, i went running to her yard and she hit a gopher snake with a shovel, it was disorianted i never seen a snake in person only on animal planet but i knew it was a gopher snake, so i picked it up and took it to a field and waited with it until it was back to normal. 7th grade my teacher had some green anoles and I was the one who fed them and took care of their cage in class so he let me keep them during summer break. I have always been interested in all types of creatures.

[MDT]

I saw a movie in 1975 (Disney's "One of our Dinosaurs is Missing")...one of the characters had a baby RTB. I was smitten from then on. I'm 47. My mother asks me to this day "if I'm ever going to outgrow this phase?".... Gotta love moms.

[LadyWraith]

Been into critters from the get go but really became fascinated with constrictors specifically after handling the giant Burms at zoos and such. Add to that being around BPs owned by friends and I became hooked. I'm still partial to constrictors. :)

[MikeM77]

My pops was terified of snakes. Got my first bp when I moved into my first apartment. Kinda my first rebelion type deal. Any how I've been hooked since then.

[moshirimon]

Wanted the closest thing to a dinosaur

[Trollbie]

I love all animals and always wanted all of them as a kid. I had fish in college and one day, when I was going to the pet store to buy fish food, I accidentally came home with a milksnake. 3 weeks later I added a BRB, then a gecko, etc.... A year later I'm at 4 snakes, 1 gecko, and a tarantula. And I'm constantly itching for more.

[Trollbie]

Wanted the closest thing to a dinosaur

Shouldn't you have gotten a bird instead then? Lol

[smy_749]

I love all animals and always wanted all of them as a kid. I had fish in college and one day, when I was going to the pet store to buy fish food, I accidentally came home with a milksnake. 3 weeks later I added a BRB, then a gecko, etc.... A year later I'm at 4 snakes, 1 gecko, and a tarantula. And I'm constantly itching for more.

You should get that checked out. :P

[smy_749]

Shouldn't you have gotten a bird instead then? Lol

I was thinking the same thing. Buy an ostrich or emu , plug all its feathers off, and paint him green. T REX !

[Trollbie]

I love all animals and always wanted all of them as a kid. I had fish in college and one day, when I was going to the pet store to buy fish food, I accidentally came home with a milksnake. 3 weeks later I added a BRB, then a gecko, etc.... A year later I'm at 4 snakes, 1 gecko, and a tarantula. And I'm constantly itching for more.

The only fix to that is a retic! Or a woma I guess. Anything, really haha

[moshirimon]

I was thinking the same thing. Buy an ostrich or emu , plug all its feathers off, and paint him green. T REX !

Visually reptiles were more like dinosaurs for me. Later on i found out about the whole bird thing... I still think dinosaurs were more like reptiles. That's just how I think of it in my world lol

[smy_749]

The only fix to that is a retic! Or a woma I guess. Anything, really haha

So go get one then :-P.

[Trollbie]

So go get one then :-P.

I'm not allowed to get a retic (for now) and I haven't come across a baby woma yet :( I would rather not buy online

[smy_749]

I'm not allowed to get a retic (for now) and I haven't come across a baby woma yet :( I would rather not buy online

Buy a retic, call it a woma and nobody has to know. Blame his size on freak genetics.

[Trollbie]

Buy a retic, call it a woma and nobody has to know. Blame his size on freak genetics.

My boyfriend is smart. And I'm dumb for showing him what each looks like haha

[LadyWraith]

I accidentally came home with a milksnake. :laugh::laugh:
I'm using that excuse next time I acquire a new animal.

[Trollbie]

:laugh::laugh:
I'm using that excuse next time I acquire a new animal.

It totally works!

In fact, I went to visit a new reptile store today, so if you see a thread about my new hognose, I swear it was an accident. D:

[Danimal]

Me saying no has never stopped my wife for doing exactly what she wanted anyway..... The great dane probably pissed me off the most.

[Chris72]

Re: title question.....

Grew up knee deep in ever pond, stream, creek, lake, culvert, puddle, soggy forest I could get my hands on. I was always bringing home something's new and somehow caring for them out of some kind of intuition. (We loose that a little as adults)

I am allergic to cats and dogs so since the early days it has always been reptiles and, once there was a little bit more money, exotic birds on the side! :)

My wife is always amazed that we can be walking down the beach in cancun talking about xxx and I can spot (from 10 feet away) a tiny ghost crab or Anole (lizard) hiding under somthing, catch it on the first try, show her and let it go unharmed.

Something's shouldn't change. :)

[smy_749]

Re: title question.....

Grew up knee deep in ever pond, stream, creek, lake, culvert, puddle, soggy forest I could get my hands on. I was always bringing home something's new and somehow caring for them out of some kind of intuition. (We loose that a little as adults)

I am allergic to cats and dogs so since the early days it has always been reptiles and, once there was a little bit more money, exotic birds on the side! :)

My wife is always amazed that we can be walking down the beach in cancun talking about xxx and I can spot (from 10 feet away) a tiny ghost crab or Anole (lizard) hiding under somthing, catch it on the first try, show her and let it go unharmed.
Something's shouldn't change. :)

Yea I'm the same with the wife. Everyone is talking and having fun, and I'm the weirdo in the corner lifting up rocks....or driving down the street pointing out agamids on the side of the road (there are hundreds in Jordan, and I never tire of seeing them/pointing it out)

[Pareeeee]

I've always loved 'creepy crawlies' and animals that other people don't tend to like. Since I was a toddler I've always loved insects, spiders, snakes, lizards, frogs and the like. My bedroom was always filled with containers and little terrariums filled with bugs, frogs, etc. I was called the 'bug girl' or 'walking encyclopaedia'. lol...I would, and still do, pick up almost any creature (even have fed wasps from my hand)

I have always loved snakes but became more and more interested in them in recent years.

I like routing for the underdogs of the animal world.
(rooting?)

[marvelfreak]

I
For me it all started over 20 years ago when my brother
-in-law went into the Marines. he had a snake and asked if we could keep it for him. when he bought it he was told it was a boa. After i got it i wanted to learn more about it so i bought. Pythons and Boas: Peter J. Stafford: 9780866220842: Amazon.com: Books (http://www.amazon.com/Pythons-Boas-Peter-J-Stafford/dp/0866220844)

After seeing pictures of Diamond Python, Bloods Pythons and Brazilian rainbows i was in love. A year later i had around a dozen snakes. Been keeping Boas and Pythons ever since.:D

[Freebody]

Me saying no has never stopped my wife for doing exactly what she wanted anyway..... The great dane probably pissed me off the most.
LOL! I couldn't imagine how mad i would be if i didn't want to get one, It would not be so bad if it were a little dog, just kinda try and over look it, but that one is huge. this post made me laugh pretty good. But im sure the dog has grown on you, dogs have a way of doing that, unless its like my folks dog, went to mc Ds one day came home with this mutt, nonstop super, super high pitch barking as load as she can go, all day everyday......so load her voice cracks out and she chokes sometimes, hate to say it, but when i see it choking i think, could this be the end of my torment? oh their we go, she was just warming up and clearing her throat lol

[Mark Taylor]

When I was 8 I would put my frog wellies on and head of into the woods were the ponds and streams were I would take little plastic tubs in a back pack and try and find some cool stuff.

I often came home with frogs, newts, stickleback fish and tadpoles.

Then we moved and I was 12 me and my mates would go looking for lizards and slow worms, the slow worms I kept a few in my bedroom.

When I was 14 I kept fish guppies mainly and 2 Chinese water dragons.

So when I left home at 16 I could not afford to keep anything and gave them away.

@ 20+ I had about 6 Chinese water dragons they grew big in a 6' high 4' deep 4' wide viv. Then I lost my job and had to sell the whole lot.

And you know the rest.

So I would say my fascination started from a young age. Oh and forgot about when I collected bees and kept them in a suitcase only for my mum to get a massive shock when she looked to see what I was doing lol.

[Novek]

I was 8 and my dad told me my cousin was "getting an iguana". I had no idea what the blazes an iguana was but when I saw it I was mesmerized. However, it was an anole and not an iguana (iguanids, close enough). Within a year I had acquired a red eared slider and a columbian brown basilisk. I've had reptiles consistently ever since. :D