Convincing a parent who will not allow a pet snake due to fear and prejudgement?

[OReilly]

Hey guys, I've spent months trying to talk my mum into allowing me to get a snake and I don't seem to be getting through to her... I can't even believe the "I only need to feed it once a week and i wouldn't require you to feed it like you have to feed the beardie when I'm away" didn't work. She's also a little scared of my beardie but manages to feed it when she remembers...

Enough about me. Out of your experience and expert opinions, how can i convince my mum that it's okay for me to have a snake and to trust me on this?

 

[Eddie2257]

well i just bring snakes home dont tell her im getting them and she has no choice lol i make sure i have already paid for them and already put them on my licence.

 

[abnrmal91]

What sort of snake are you trying to get. If its something small you would have a better chance convincing them.

 

[Defective]

yeah, something like a stimmie.
i had a bit of convincing to do with mum when it came to getting my beardie but when she saw him she gushed over him and keeps trying to re-name him 'wizzard'

 

[snakeluvver]

Get a childrens or stimsons python. Tell her that they are small and docile. You can keep it in your room so she never has to go near it and you only feed it once every 1-2 weeks.
Let her watch shows like steve irwin, that helped educate my mum from a typical snake hating queenslander to a snake respecter. Also take her to reptile parks and let her touch and hold snakes, get her comfortable with them. I did this with my mum and she let me get a snake

 

[MathewB]

I over whelmed my parents with knowledge

 

[OReilly]

Yea i was thinking of a stimmie or something like that. But i don't want an overgrown worm if you know what i mean? Like blonde macs. The real snake i'm after is a Woma, but they're fairly expensive and i doubt if i did get a snake a woma would be my first.

Yea, i think i'm just going to have to start small if at all.

 

[Bez84]

Build an enclosure that is cleverly concealed inside a wardrobe... lol

 

[abnrmal91]

You can just keep trying and convince them that you would be capable of looking after it properly. If you have beardie I would of thought they would have been pretty accepting. Just keep trying. Best of luck

 

[feedthepanda2]

I eased Mum into it. Got a Blue Tongue (her sister had a couple as pets back in the... 60s?), then another, then a Shingleback. Once my Cockatiel flew away, I told Mum that she held significant sentimental value and talked her into paying for half the cost of my BHP + setup (then again, beating Mum in an argument/convincing her of something is no biggy. In gaming terms, I'd put it at the same level of achievement as passing a speech check of 10 or 15. o_0)

She was a little uneasy at first (she still doesn't like the idea of a having a fully grown 8-12ft snake in the house in a few years time....) but after seeing this thing sleep in awkward positions/instantly fall asleep once put into peoples' laps and never strike... she snatches Shar outta my hands whenever I bring her out for wander, cradles her and starts talking to her like a small child. o_0 Seems that once she saw that she was in no danger of waking up halfway down the throat of this creature, she warmed up to her. =/

All I can really offer as advice is.. show her videos of chilled out snakes... even if you know anyone who has one already/have access to one in a petstore, take your Mum down there and show her it's not as horrible as she makes it out to be.... pretty much what others have already said.

 

[snakeluvver]

Ask if you can have a legless lizard, if she says yes then get a snake and tell her its one

 

[redlittlejim]

just get a hatchie and hide it in your closet for a while

 

[noved]

you best shot is ti find a friend who has a childrens or something similar and beg him to let you borrow it for a few weeks then tell your mum that your friend is going away and is in desperate need of someone to baby sit it,if your mum changed when she saw a beardie she will be fine once she meets a python..........

 

[guzzo]

Ask if you can have a legless lizard, if she says yes then get a snake and tell her its one

Haha wish I had thought of that when I was a kid.

You could try going alomg with her to the next pet expo

 

[OReilly]

Thanks for the responses. I made another attempt earlier at trying to discuss the issue and she just kept shaking her head and saying nope.

When's the next expo? As far as i know there's the SOFAR expo but that's already been this year.

 

[Banjo]

Maybe buy a couple of books and do some study on reptile husbandry to show you are keen and that it is not some passing fad. I know if my kids did this it would go a long way to showing me how interested and genuin they are.

 

[Renenet]

Maybe buy a couple of books and do some study on reptile husbandry to show you are keen and that it is not some passing fad. I know if my kids did this it would go a long way to showing me how interested and genuin they are.

I second Banjo's idea. You could also do a poster or a book or something to demonstrate to your mum all the things you've learned. Add a few pictures of hatchies - sometimes they melt hearts. (And to that end, talk about babies, not hatchlings.)

Good luck.

 

[Snakeluvver2]

I just came home with snakes as a kid haha.
Red bellies and whip snakes.

But truly get her to watch a few shows on reptile education or if you can, get her to touch a python.

 

[D3pro]

Release some rats in your house, then tell your parent the only way to get rid of them is by buying a snake

 

[Joey]

Release some rats in your house, then tell your parent the only way to get rid of them is by buying a snake

youre an ideas man.

never had to deal with it personally as I bought my own place and now fill it up with animals, mum comes over freaks out and gets over it within 10mins.