would your child pick up a wild snake?

[kel]

i was walking behind target along the road at gunnedah today when my almost 4yo son reached for a dead brown snake in the gutter that i hadnt even seen, if it wasnt dead he would have been bitten, i lost a good ten years off my life i swear, i think from his first reaction he thought it was a toy, it was roughly 60cms long

i was totally gutted as i have never let my kids have toy snakes or toy guns i just dont think they are a good toy and i drill into my kids everyday the dangers of snakes, we live in the bush and see them often

if someone asked what i thought theyd do if they saw one i would have bet money that neither would have touched it, i have a 6yo girl too, i would have said my kids would run and tell an adult, this is what they have been told to do



i am really distressed about the hole thing, im thinking about selling my snakes till they are older and wiser

i have attached a pic of the snake to show what it looked like


id do a poll but i dont know how, if you think your child would or not

 

[liberty]

hell no even if u are 100% that its non venemous.

 

[kel]

i wasnt asking if youd let your child pick one up rather if you thought they might, if you have children

 

[dickyknee]

My young bloke will hold my snakes when i have them out , but he has a rubber rbbs and he is scared if it ...which is good IMO .
You can never tell though with kids , i never thought he would put my xbox remote in the toilet but he did today :shock:

 

[Rainbow-Serpent]

Hmmm:|

I've picked up carpets, (When people have asked me to remove them from that particular area), but I stay away from vens.

I even avoid picking up carpets as much as I can though., Only if the situation demands it, otherwise I leave them alone, sometimes take pics, but mainly leave them

 

[spilota_variegata]

I've taught my 2 year old daughter that all snakes bite. Whenever I'm holding them or cleaning their cages, I always say to her "bite" and she has a healthy respect for them. If a snake bites me, I always show her the blood and make a bit of a deal about it just to reinforce the message. I don't want to take any chances in a place where 90% of the snakes she's going to see are deadly.

 

[Mudimans]

Its a hard one kel. We have a 2 1/2 year old niece who visits often, We never let her touch our snakes as we (and her parents) don't want her thinking its ok to go up and touch them in the wild. But we don't want her to grow up terrified of snakes either. We think we're at a happy medium-she's quite interested in them but always tells us to 'be careful cos it might bite your nose'. But really, who knows what they will do seeing one in the wild-kids are just so unpredictable. I can imagine how you felt though!! Scary stuff.

 

[Trouble]

I have tried to teach my cousins not to touch them, but I tell them my snakes are good, the ones outside are bad (just so they wont touch them).

I remember when I was about 8 or 9, I was helping my parents in the yard, and dad was moving a Biiiig rock... all of a sudden he dropped it and jumped back 10ft ! (lol okay, maybe not that far). He lifted it again, and underneath was a baby RBB... unfortunately it had been squished.
he was saying 'maybe mum is around somewhere, we should keep an eye out'... while he was doing that, I picked up the RBB, and moved it out of the way... Dad almost had a heart attack!
Me not knowing, I was like 'what's wrong? I was only going to feed the chickens' . Thank goodness I wasn't bitten.
Now I try to tell my cousins not to touch.

Who knows what kids will do

 

[mysnakesau]

My youngest is 7 now. She was 4 when I bought my first snake. I drummed it into her that she cannot touch any snakes that aren't ours. I have even quizzed her, "What would you do if saw a snake outside that looks like Opals" and she tells me, "Stay away from it because it can bite." So I just hope she will remember that if it ever happens. I am a wildlife carer, too but she has never attempted to open doors on any of our snakes. Just last week, I allocated one of our yearling bredli as her own snake. She asks before she opens the door. So perhaps you might be able to drum into him, but then, even a dead brown snake could have still envenomated him if he pierced his finger on its fang. So its really your call, and I am sure you will earn much support whatever decision you made.

 

[Emmalicious]

This is actually a really good topic, Because it has never crossed my mind! I let sooo many children hold my snakes.... even took them in for show and tell for a prep grade.... and kids are naturally curious so I think its really important to aware them not to pick up snakes in the wild! I know many children that most likely would pick them up!

 

[Grunter023]

You can never tell though with kids , i never thought he would put my xbox remote in the toilet but he did today :shock:

haha. Sorry dicky but I thought that was pretty funny. My youngest atm is 5 so he knows better,but we have a third child due in may and when it gets a little bigger it may be a different story

 

[ryanharvey1993]

snakes.... yuk, why would you even want to go near them

 

[Rainbow-Serpent]

snakes.... yuk, why would you even want to go near them

Ryan, yuk, why would you even go within a hundred mile radius of him?:lol:

Just kidding!!

 

[mrs4d]

Thats a hard one I thought I too had told the kids to leave all snakes and to tell an adult I just asked them what they would do? and was stunned to here them say pick it up and move it to a safer place?:x

I love the idea of saving the snake but I now worry that they havn't listened to a word I have said!!! my girls are 10 and 11 years old , you'd think they would know better!!

 

[WombleHerp]

You can never tell though with kids , i never thought he would put my xbox remote in the toilet but he did today :shock:

BAHAHAHAHA!!! thats awesomely funny :lol:

 

[Bob2]

My kids won't touch a snake that is not ours unless they have been given the OK by myself or my partner. We have had plenty of snakes come through our yard recently which has put them to the test. They always let us know and if it's just a childrens or water or something I'll let the oldest (10) take them to put them over the fence which is all scrub. My 4 year old has not known life without having pet snakes in the house. I don't think having pet snakes is going to make them pick up any old snake they see. They just need to have it drummed into them not to touch them without their parents being there. I teach them what to do if they are near a wild snake,ie stand still until the snake has moved away and then go get an adult. I have also sat the oldest son down and pulled out the bandages and done some snakebite first aid practice. Should get the 4 yo in on that too I spose.
Don't be too sure it's because you have pet snakes, there are plenty of kids around without pet snakes that will just try and grab them. At least you can educate yours to have a healthy respect for them.

 

[xycom]

Our youngest who is 3 is still unpredictable but our oldest who is 5 I have full trust in. She occasionally comes on snake calls with me and has showed me that she knows what to do around snakes. She always keeps her distance and asks first if she can come near me or the area where the snake has been. If she steps near anything she thinks may be a snake she will stop and call me over.

The youngest who being a boy is very unpredictable and needs A LOT of work. I've had him out on snake calls but he falls asleep in the car and sleeps through the whole thing. He got pecked between the eyes by one of our chooks the other day because he was tormenting them. He was bleeding between the eyes and complaining about the chooks pecking him, he's very lucky he didn't lose an eye. (it's all a game till someone loses an eye). This is something he has been in trouble for many time before. I may never be able to trust him around snakes but we shall see how he goes in the future. He does however have a healthy respect for our 6 foot olive.


Per

 

[=bECS=]

I let a hatchie bite my 5yr old son, so he knows they WILL bite and not to touch snakes, he has also seen the results of an adult pythons bite so he knows not to touch.
Same with the fire place, when he was younger i let him touch it while it was heating up so he KNEW it was hot, he only did it the once.

Sometimes its better to let them experience what you are talking about so they know its not all bluff and when you say 'stay away and dont touch it, it will bite you' or 'its hot, dont go close to it' you are serious.

At the same time, when he is asked what to do when he sees a snake, he will tell you to keep still and quiet if its close then after its gone or far away to go and tell an adult.

 

[Ariande]

Sometimes its better to let them experience what you are talking about so they know its not all bluff and when you say 'stay away and dont touch it, it will bite you' or 'its hot, dont go close to it' you are serious.

You know, I completely agree with this mentality... I can't stand parents that won't let their kids climb trees/skateboard/etc because they might fall/hurt themselves. They are doing the kids more harm than good.

Not that I have any kids myself [being only 21], but when I do I hope I'm not like this!

 

[mark83]

Good topic. I worry about this too. My daughter is only a baby and i want her to grow up liking snakes but I'm worried about what she might do if she sees one in the wild. How can you teach them to stay away from snakes in the wild but love the ones at home?