Lets hear all them questions

mudflats · 11-05-04, 02:54 PM

I am sure this had been done, but lets here 'em. All the pretty ignorant and soemtimes stupid comments or questions made by the non-herpin type. Reason for posting on this is i actually got asked two new questions that kick the notorius "Do they bite" quesiton out of the ball park. One i got asked the other day is: Doesnt it get tired of eating the same food every week ( refering to a large bcc). The other one was like a conversation. The women asked if i owned any poisonous snakes. ( that alone pissed me off). I replied no. I took out a juvenile ball python of mine, and she asked..Arnt you afraid to handle that snake,i asked why, and she said: Because its poisonous right? I almost freaked out. Well, lets here all your experiences with the folks not of this hobby. jon

joey · 11-05-04, 03:06 PM

I get the poisonous question a lot.

One friend was suprised when she watched my corn swallow it's hopper because she thought it would 'chew it first". ??? I said, "you're joking, right? ..please tell me you're joking"
...she was dead serious.

oi.

capsicum · 11-05-04, 03:24 PM

Top five would have to be:

"Can they bite?"
"Are pythons poisonous?"
"Do they rip apart their food, then chew it and swallow?"
"Where are their hands?"
"Can it eat my leftovers so I don't have to buy rats?"

Some people are seriously stupid, although I do understand the basic "Can they bite?" question (I always answer "Do they have a mouth? Then yes, they can bite!").

TK

beanersmysav · 11-05-04, 03:43 PM

ha believe it or not i get that poison questions with my lizards all the time, same with the biting, but the question I hate the most although it may not be a question about related to care but bothers me when people ask it in disgust, "Why do you own so many lizards?" especially when it came from a woman who owned over 20 cats, now in my oppinion thats almost more disgusting than own 50 lizards let alone 14 especially since they're all properly cared for in proper cages and dont smell

rwg · 11-05-04, 03:46 PM

Okay the "where are their hands" is a pretty stupid question, but the rest are reasonable from the POV of a non-herping public. I get "can/do they bite" and "is that a poisonous snake" all the time. I occasionally get asked if there are any vegetarian snakes they could get as pets. It sounds like a stupid question now, but I remember googling it when I first got into the hobby. I knew snakes in general were carnivores, but I was wondering if there were any exceptions. In a world where the platypus exists, anything is possible.

I still ask the "does it bite" question all the time. Some species/individuals do, and some dont. How I handle them may be different depending on the temperment.

rg

rwg · 11-05-04, 03:47 PM

Oh, and the one that bugs me the most is "aren't all snakes poisonous?" No...there are no poisonous snakes. Some snakes are VENOMOUS, and some are not.

CamHanna · 11-05-04, 03:57 PM

One that I get often is "Don't they get huge?", in reference to my ball or spotted pythons. It's a ridiculous question if you know anything about snakes but a justified concern if you don't.

The only people who really annoy are the ones who aren't satisfied with "I keep a few different ones" and make me rhyme off my entire list; of course they don't recognise any but the corn snake.

Oh, well

Removed_2815 · 11-05-04, 04:08 PM

Boy, most of the people to reply really need to get over themselves! People ask you legitimate questions and all you can do is "almost freak out" or undermine them with replies such as "you're joking right?" or accuse them of being "seriously stupid" and so on. I guarantee I can stump the lot of you with numerous zoological questions regarding various taxa that you would not even know where to begin to answer. Am I to assume that you are "stupid"? I am a biologist and I am sure a physicist wouldn't think I'm stupid because I don't know everything there is to know about quantum theory (I know a lot but would never be so conceded to claim that I know all).
Nice attempts at educating the "ignorant"... I would be ashamed to respond like that!
Ryan

marisa · 11-05-04, 04:23 PM

I think all these "stupid questions" are a telling point in which areas the public needs the MOST snake education.....

Obviously pushing points such as not all snakes are venemous, not all get giant like the burmese and retic, and snakes are just aggresive.

Those are a few points that obviously need to be clarified over and over again to the public and non snake keepers, as it seems you all get asked the same questions.

Marisa

mudflats · 11-05-04, 04:42 PM

I dont mind answering questions aswell as asking them time and time again. But you have got to draw the line somewhere. Questions like dont they get sick of eating the same food over and over again or is it poisonous over and over again by the same person is ignorant and funny in most cases. RMBolton how can you consider some of these ligitimate?

joey · 11-05-04, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by RMBolton
Boy, most of the people to reply really need to get over themselves! People ask you legitimate questions and all you can do is "almost freak out" or undermine them with replies such as "you're joking right?" or accuse them of being "seriously stupid" and so on. Ryan

I for one was in no way suggesting that my friend was 'seriously stupid' and did not 'freak out' when she asked me her question---

-I just sort of took it for granted that everyone new the basics about snakes and was taken off guard when she asked me that.

It was educating for me.

Vengeance · 11-05-04, 05:12 PM

RM considers these questions legitamate because they are legitamate. Non herp people don't need this information, so why would you expect them to know anything about these kinds of things? If the person owns a snake and is asking these questions I can understand why there might be some frustration but for John Q public, I get these questions all the time as well and I am more then happy to answer them because it helps educate them in the end and dispel some of the myths in the process. Half of the people asking these questions have most likely never even seen a snake in real life, let alone know anything about them. So why would the questions "Is it poisonous?" or "Doesn't it getreally big" be such a out in left feild question?

Think of it from the point of view of John Q punblic, the only kinds of snakes that usually make it into the media are the big ones and the venomus ones. So for the uninformed that is all they know about, and if they have no interest in the hobby, then why would they ever need any information to the contrary what the media gives them. To me these questions arn't stupid, just uninformed.

Removed_2815 · 11-05-04, 05:20 PM

Joey, you would be the one I quoted as saying "you're joking, right?", which everyone knows is a loosely veiled attempt at undermining someone's intelligence.

Mudflats, of course they are legitimate! All questions are legitimate. Seriously, who are you to judge the legitimacy of someone's questions? Here you have a person (a mammal) who understands that humans need a varied diet and he/she is having trouble to understand that some other animals (snakes, for example) might not require a varied diet, hence the humanized question of "don't they get sick of eating the same food over and over again?" This person understands that he/she would get sick of eating the same thing over and over again, so why not a snake? The point is moot anyway because until you can communicate with a snake how can you know if it does not, in fact, "get sick of eating the same food over and over again?" Also, you will have to forgive my ignorance for not realizing that you were born with the knowledge that all snakes are venomous.
If you are being asked the same question over and over again by the same person, as you have alluded too, then perhaps that person has other problems. Although I find this hard to believe...

For questions, you draw the line nowhere... Please excuse me, my 5 year old cousin is here asking me if all snakes lay eggs, man she is so stupid!

joey · 11-05-04, 05:30 PM

My friend is a neighbor of mine and she's a good friend---she knew I wasn't belittling her. PLus her sister used to own a boa and they lived together-- I didn't understand how she could be around this creature and not know how it ate.

But then again, she's a old hippy weed puffin grandma with dreads.... lol

HeatherRose · 11-05-04, 05:34 PM

I'm in agreement with Ryan and Marisa...I'm extremely surprised and disappointed in everyones' attitude! I get my share of questions too, usually asked by my grandma: "Aren't all snakes poisonous?", "Isn't he (my ball python) going to get HUGE and eat the cat?" To which I just giggle and explain the correct answer politely.

Was everyone else not in the same boat when they fist got into the hobby or joined this site? I know for sure that I was. You can't expect everyone to know what you know now about snakes or herping in general, and I often tell myself this.

Anyway, I haven't had my morning coffee yet...

even though it's 5...

-Heather