would your child pick up a wild snake?

[macj81]

My 2yo sure as as the sun comes up would, my 4yo wouldnt, no concept of fear or pain.
In saying that my daughter walks straight up to my snake and picks him straight up and he is putty in her hands, but only while I am handling him and neither would open the enclosures, as for getting rid of your snakes you can give them to me I'll shoulder that responsibilty at a great burden to myself.
Altthough myself I wouldnt get rid of my snakes in saying that I'm not you and only you can make that decision for the safety of your own clan and your piece of mind.

 

[herpkeeper]

i think it is different for children raised in a house hold where there are reptiles everywhere. when i said in my previous post that i encourage my children to pick wild snakes up, it is under my supervision. i go out herping 2 or 3 times a week (more an obsession than a hobby) LOL and i get both my kids to move small pythons (only) off the road once i have photographed them. both my kids have a healthy respect for snakes, as both of them have been tagged a few times by cranky little carpets ect: We live on a cane farm in Nth Qld and are frequently visited by elapids looking for a free meal, mainly browns, the odd taipan and whip snakes (yellow face / black whips) as soon as my kids see them they come and grab me, NEVER have they tried to apprehend one them selves. as i said they are well educated of the danger's and they have seen what can happen 1st hand, loss of a dog to a brown snake, a freind bitten by a brown (being careless) and another guy (a real homer simpson) i sell rats & mice to has been put in a coma a few times from his "pet" taipan.
Educate your kids, and the rest is up to them..........

 

[Dipcdame]

I have no worries there, my daughter won't even stay in the same room as a 'tame' family pet python!!!!!!!!

 

[kel]

thanks for all the replies, i have calmed down now and decided not to sell my snakes, i think what twin rivers said about dogs is so true and a good comparison

i dont think he would ever do it again he got a pretty big fright but he still wants to hold our spotteds all the time so i dont know, i guess as others have said all i can do is keep onto him about not touching snakes that aint ours and hope he has learnt his lesson

 

[PilbaraPythons]

Herpkeeper
That Homer Simpson you know wouldn't just happen to be everyones best friend Tony Johnstone would it ?

 

[redbellybite]

kids are curious by nature ,so why not encourage that in a supervised way .Instead of freaking out about it ..teach them the beauty about snakes ,but also teach them about the dangers of snakes too ..dont frighten them into keeping away ...go out find a dead one pick it up and show your child ,let him/her touch it and talk about it ,then you carefully show the child the bitey end and explain that this is very bad for you if you get bitten,you can get very sick and end up in hospital or you may go to sleep and never wake up again to see mummy and daddy,so you must never touch one of these snakes without mummy or daddy being there and saying OK ...all snakes fall in that catergory untill the child is well of the age to understand the difference between non vens and vens ...and also explain to them that picking up dead snakes isnt a good thing either as the bitey end can still be dangerous even if the snake isnt moving .

 

[palmej]

there is a lot of tiger snakes where i live and when we first moved there i was about six. i remember mum saying if you see any snake and are too close to it dont move.
well i was riding my bike up to my friends house and i saw a tiny snake on the road and i thought it was one of those little toy snake. when i stopped next to it i noticed it moved. so i didnt dare pick it up. i sat there for what seemed like half an hour just standing still until it slithered away. and that was when i was about 6-7 years old.