|
RE: Children and venomous?
|
Reply
|
|
by Aries54 on August 27, 2010
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
When my son was born, I had hots and large constrictors. I had no intention of getting out of the hobby due to him. They were all under lock and key, very safely kept. But as my son got older, and started actually doing more,.....I found myself playing with him more and more instead of spending time with my snakes. Finally, I sat back one day and looked at everything I had going on in my life currently. I work 55-60 hours a week. I've always worked long work weeks. And when I'd come home, that's when I'd spend time in the reptile room. Well, when you come home and your 2 year old son runs up to you and wants to play with you,......you don't even think twice about it. You'll play with him as long as you can and end up forgetting about the snakes. After a while of doing that, the only time you really spend with the snakes is when you're either feeding them or cleaning them. If that's the only time you spend with them,.........it gets a little boring. And quite frankly, it makes you lose your interest in it. That's the reason I got rid of my reptiles. Not really due to safety,.....it was simply due to me being a father now and wanting to spend every moment that I can with my son.
I agree with what everyone else has said on here. But the main idea that I think everyone will tell you is once you hold your child for the first time, the snakes will become secondary and might end up being more of "job" than a hobby. I fully plan on getting back into reptiles. But not until my son is old enough to work with me in the hobby. I think that will be the ultimate reptile keeping experiance for me.
Good luck with your decision.
Congrats on becoming a father.
God bless you and your family.
|
| |
|
RE: Children and venomous?
|
Reply
|
|
by Buzztail1 on August 27, 2010
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
You have received an awful lot of good advice in this thread.
I already had venomous when my wife and I got together.
Our children grew up in a house that constantly had snakes, lizards, turtles, tortoises and other more "conventional" pets. There were times over the years when we did not have venomous due to other considerations (living in military housing, etc) but not because we had kids. My children grew up knowing that venomous snakes were dangerous and at very early ages could identify indigenous venomous, much to the annoyance of ignorant adults who were often upstaged by my kids.
All that said, my cages were top-notch, locked and locked away from my children. My herp room was not entered without me while venomous were present. When I was deployed or away from home for extended periods, I passed my venomous on to venomous-keeping friends. It was not my wife's passion or responsibility to care for my venomous or keep our family safe from them.
Ultimately, there is no-one who can make this decision for you. Only you can assess your ability to keep yourself and your family safe and whether your passion for venomous keeping weighs that heavily in the equation.
Good luck either way you decide and congratulations on the pending arrival of your child.
R/
Karl
|
| |
|
RE: Children and venomous?
|
Reply
|
|
by agkistrodude on August 27, 2010
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
I agree with wanting to spend time with your kids takes precedence over your reptiles, but in my case with my daughter, when she was up and walking and talking, as soon as I'd get home,she didn't want to play "Barbie", she wanted to go out to the snake room.(that REALLY worried my wife, to have 2 reptile fanatics in the house!) I'd take her out there, she had a little ball python I bought her she named Melinda.(?)And a Bull Snake she named "Timber". And she would hold them and feed them,and help me feed and work with my other non vens. Then one of my copperheads had babies, and she wanted one SOOOOOO bad! So I let her pick one out, and we kept it for a long time. I never let her handle it of course, but by God it was hers! She named it "Copper". She had to be there whenever I fed it, cleaned the cage, etc.After about 6 years it died mysteriously, and she kind of grew more into horses, which is where she is now. Sigh..... If your kids ever want horses, say NO WAY! And just donate 1/2 of every paycheck to a worthy cause instead! JK, LOL! Horses and horse people are a good thing to be involved in. We still have "Timber", he's a big boy now.
|
| |
|
RE: Children and venomous?
|
Reply
|
|
by agkistrodude on August 27, 2010
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
One more thing, today, at 17 years old, Meagan can hook, tail, etc., a GA venomous with skill and confidence. (always under my close supervision)She still loves reptiles, but is into barrel racing and stuff more right now. As far as my collection is concerned, I'd trust her hooking/moving any of my snakes with the exception of a couple of large canebrakes and one EDB that give ME an "experience test" every time I work with them. And she would probably even be OK with them, but my nerves can only handle so much! Our son, is 22, and never showed an interest in reptiles. And that's fine. I've always done other stuff with him. Take care, Marty
|
| |
|
RE: Children and venomous?
|
Reply
|
|
by Bitisman77 on August 27, 2010
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
Ive been keeping venomous for a while, never said anything about 4 years!!!! As far as that goes i think im pertty knowledgeable though.
|
| |
|
RE: Children and venomous?
|
Reply
|
|
by Bitisman77 on August 27, 2010
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
As far as experience goes, ive had elapids.crotalids,viperids.I have a building devoted to my hobby.But, keeping indigenious snakes aint really in my vocabulary, due to crofab prices and everything.I honestly dont push my limits or my knowledge when handling this animals, and if you think getting bit is a bad thing, hears what i got to say,LIVE AND LEARN,no i didnt wanna get bit, but it was a learning experience.Those around me say im a fool.Whats a man to gain if he fears the world?David weathers,and others know what it is like to get bit, and understand the risk involved.IF YOU WALK INTO THIS HOBBY AND PLAN TO NEVER GET BIT,THEN YOU GOTTA ANOTHER THING COMING.THANKS FOR ALL THE HELPFUL RESPONSES EVERYBODY.
|
| |
|
RE: Children and venomous?
|
Reply
|
|
by StevenO on August 28, 2010
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
They got the 4 years out of your profile not your post. My daughter is 6 and I still have my hots. I built them a temp controlled "house" out back. All in locking cages in a locking building. There are ways to do it safe. It just takes work to get it setup right.
|
| |
|
RE: Children and venomous?
|
Reply
|
|
by Bitisman77 on August 29, 2010
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
Call me a fool,but if i get rid of this animals, then thats it no more.yea i noticed that sorry for that folks.I dont have and major elapids, or viperids for that matter.(lol) The farthest i willing to is maybe acanthopis,or Dendrospis(MAYBE).People say snakes are to unpredictable.Well if we could predict them, who would want them.Plus,People are just as unpredictable, they will love you one minute and cut your throat the next,all for a dollar.ALL SNAKES ARE JUST TRYING TO SURVIVE.
|
| |
|
RE: Children and venomous?
|
Reply
|
|
by LuckyStrike on August 29, 2010
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
Wow, that last post is the reason I no longer frequent American venomous forums. The Europeans are able to convey their thoughts (in english) much more effectively than the majority of the people I see posting on this board. That last post was incoherent nonsense. Anyone remember way back when this was the premier venomous information portal on the internet? I do.
|
| |
|
Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to this topic.
Subscribe!
My Subscriptions
Subscriptions Help
Check our help page for help using
, or send questions, comments, or suggestions to the
Manager.
|
