Question for snake owners with children...

cannibalcupcake · 04-01-11, 02:39 PM

I own snakes and I love having them as pets, and if I ever had children I wouldn't freak out and get rid of them... HOWEVER, sometimes I see pictures of people on the internet like this one of people allowing their toddler/young child to play around full grown red tail boas or Burmese pythons. I have to say that is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. I'm not saying the red tail is going to think that baby is food, but the second the baby pisses it off on accident (because toddlers don't understand to be respectful around a snake) the snake might bite them... on the face, in the eye.. it could knock them over or squeeze them (worst case scenario) to death. And your snake can be as tame as a puppy and still get pissy and bite you someday. What's your opinion on this? What do you think is the correct age to introduce children to your pet snakes?

marvelfreak · 04-01-11, 04:38 PM

First Hello and welcome! Second i agree. Snake born killing machines. All it takes is for something to spook the snake and in second you could have a dead kid. If it a little snake it's one thing, but a large snake and a toddler is just asking for trouble IMO.

Lankyrob · 04-01-11, 04:46 PM

Totally agree, and welcome

, our daughter is not allowed near the keys to the reptiles, she is almost five, and only allowed to handle them with 100% supervision.

candyraver69 · 04-01-11, 04:49 PM

I had a burm when my youngest son was a baby. I didn't let him anywhere near her, too worried something could happen. With the kids being older now, I let them handle my corns with supervision... the supervision more for the snakes sake then theirs though lol.

whoaxmary · 04-01-11, 04:51 PM

It probably all depends on the maturity of the child in question. Like you said, they need to understand to respect the fact that they're handling a living animal - that could harm them if it wanted.
For example, my two youngest newphews always handle Blue (my lil ball python) when they areover, they are in complete awe of her. Unfortunitely the fact that I let them hold her is a big secret from their older brother because, even though he is intriged by her as well, I don't believe he has the right mind set. He simple looks at it and gets very excited, "Oh cool! Sweet!" and looks like he'd pick her up with out any care or gentleness. He seems to just think of it as something cool to brag about being near, rather than, yes, it is 'cool' but it is an animal, like the other two seem to understand. Unsurprisingly, the other two are much better with my puppy. They understand 'dog manners' like to ask before petting a dog on the street, to wait for a dog to approach them, to 'be a tree' etc, mean while the oldest comes over and starts screaming and runnig around with puppy.
Just so you know, my oldestnewphew is 15, the younger are 12 and 11. Both the younger ones asked me about how to handle her, and act around her, before they ever actually asked to hold her, while the older actually tried to open her doors and pick her up when I was just walking into the room! Thank god it was only a ball python - and not anything else! Just goes to show how different children can be from one another.
OBVIOUSLY the child in that certain picture is no where near old enough to understand even what I snake is, so it's not like I can try to argue 'maybe the child grew up around them, and knows how to act around them' or anything. ;/

infernalis · 04-01-11, 05:25 PM

Oh no you guys beat me to it...

Damion930 · 04-01-11, 05:42 PM

Ther is also a lot to knowing your animals and knowing how to read them as well as the behavior of the children

stephanbakir · 04-01-11, 06:16 PM

I've let children age 5 and up touch my snakes.. that being said, if it was a garter snake or a burm, i ALWAYS held the end that bites... all it takes is one mistake on your part or the part of the child for that snake to react.
Even if its a ball python who loves to be held, I can almost guarantee that if a kid bites it, hes getting bitten back for sure, there is no way you are going to react before the snake does.
As Whoaxmary said, maturity has allot to do with it. On my last trip to cuba I caught a Cuban Boa that was an amazing looking animal, I let most of the kids around me touch the non business end of it without worry, but there was this one kid who must have been about 30 years old i wouldn't let close to it because of the way he was acting... it just scared me a little.
You know your animals better then we do, and when you have kids you will get to know them... When the moment arises and you want to introduce your children to reptiles, give it some thought and introduce them gradually to reptiles starting with ball pythons (I prefer starting kids off on ball pythons because with planning the snake cant hurt them(you hold the biting end) and the child can't easily hurt the snake like he could a corn snake). Slowly introduce them to smaller more delicate snakes, and larger more dangerous snakes as their maturity level and overall level of understanding increases.

Nektu · 04-01-11, 06:25 PM

My 6 year old daughter loves the snakes. I let her hold them, but either myself or my wife has to be there to supervise. I also take time to teach her how to properly handle them. But as long as she knows how dangerous they can be, she is fine.

Jendee · 04-01-11, 06:29 PM

wow, My first thought to that picture is that they are letting there baby "teeth" on that boa 8O why that in itself is a good way to get your baby in ICU!! and secondly was the giant snake with a baby. My kids help me alot with the snakes, they have been handling them since around 20 months but little tiny not even a yr old boas. All my bigger animals are in locked cages, my snakes also have their own room with a key locked door to keep all little ones out!! I do have one boa shes going on 3 that my boys have handled since she was a neonate that I trust with them, but I still would never leave their side when they have her out. I am well aware that something could happen, my worst fear a bite in the face. But to me its just the same as letting your kid run around with the dog in the back yard. It is an animal and things happen even when your a parent who takes all precautions.

sephinflames · 04-02-11, 12:34 AM

My daughter, who is 9, can hold the corn snakes with supervision. But she knows that she does NOT take them out unless I am here and she doesn't handle the bigger snakes, and in reality I don't handle the bigger ones unless Presspirate is around.
Teaching kids how to handle snakes is awesome, but kids move fast, and snakes hate that.

shaunyboy · 04-04-11, 08:38 AM

pictures of young children playing with adult carpets and boa size snakes really freak me out as you said it don't take much for a snake to strike an eye and you end up with a kid growing up with only 1 eye.

i just don't see the need for such a risk

smaller snakes under strict supervision imo is ok but still has its dangers

i firmly believe that uneccessary risk should not be taken with kids

yes there are thousands of instances where kids are just fine with snakes but at the end of the day why risk it ?

cheers shaun

TeaNinja · 04-04-11, 08:43 AM

i'm not a parent but i can see when common sense is lacked lol

stephanbakir · 04-04-11, 12:02 PM

Not sure how it is in the Usa. But in Canada we unforunately see a lack of common sense on a daily basis... about 20 minutes ago I saw a kid that must have been 10 walking a St.Bernard on her own... lol.

stephanbakir · 04-04-11, 12:37 PM

Had to post this...
Best pets for kids decision making
For one, they think this retic is a boa constrictor, and they out a kid in this situation... sorry but the childs parents and the owner of that snake were really slow in the head...
This is a perfect example of people who put others at risk to bring more attention to their cause.
Then, they dont even talk about reptiles at all, they talk about nothing and everything at the same time and conclude their 2 paragraph post.