Robbie6667
12-22-04, 07:44 PM
I figured I'd share a little story with you that I thought was pretty cute.
A buddy of mine (Falcon2891) and I usually take our bigger snakes up to PetSmart every weekend. We teach people about them, and allow them to safely "pet" a snake and answer thier questions for them.
About a month ago, we had a rescused little ball python that we named Lucky. While we were in PetSmart, Justin (Falcon2891) had his bigger ball python out, and was answering some questions as this couple and thier kid walked up and started eyeballing the python. We evntually made our way over to them and got to talking.
Evidently, the father used to have a red tail and had to get rid of it when he moved into his apartment (I assume he was fairly young at the time) because of the rules of the place. Anyway, the kiddo, no older than maybe 11 was absolutly fasinated by the snakes. He asked Justin quite a few questions, while I talked to the parents.
They said he had been showing an interest in snakes for quite some time, and they had taught him all they knew about snakes, which wasn't TOO much, but not too shabby, either. After about 3 hours of talking to these people, they asked me where they could get a ball python for thier son for Christmas. I told him that we'd sell them Lucky for $50 bucks, which is MUCH cheaper than you'll every find them in this town.
They started asking me what I recommended for the encloser, heating, lighting, etc. They knew the basics, but I guess they wanted another opinion. Someone had told them that heat rocks were the way to go, and I very quickly turned them away from that, as I do not believe those are a good idea for snakes. After about another hour of further educating them, they made the agreement and are going to have us deliver the snake tomorrow, along with his cage, and the rest of the things they'll need for him.
What really amazed me was the kid was very, very good at handling the snake. I didn't even really have to coach him too much. He's been calling Justin for the past 3 weeks asking him how Lucky is doing, and talking to him about Lucky, and what not.
So, all in all, a young new-comer to the herp scene will have one hell of a christmas this year.
A buddy of mine (Falcon2891) and I usually take our bigger snakes up to PetSmart every weekend. We teach people about them, and allow them to safely "pet" a snake and answer thier questions for them.
About a month ago, we had a rescused little ball python that we named Lucky. While we were in PetSmart, Justin (Falcon2891) had his bigger ball python out, and was answering some questions as this couple and thier kid walked up and started eyeballing the python. We evntually made our way over to them and got to talking.
Evidently, the father used to have a red tail and had to get rid of it when he moved into his apartment (I assume he was fairly young at the time) because of the rules of the place. Anyway, the kiddo, no older than maybe 11 was absolutly fasinated by the snakes. He asked Justin quite a few questions, while I talked to the parents.
They said he had been showing an interest in snakes for quite some time, and they had taught him all they knew about snakes, which wasn't TOO much, but not too shabby, either. After about 3 hours of talking to these people, they asked me where they could get a ball python for thier son for Christmas. I told him that we'd sell them Lucky for $50 bucks, which is MUCH cheaper than you'll every find them in this town.
They started asking me what I recommended for the encloser, heating, lighting, etc. They knew the basics, but I guess they wanted another opinion. Someone had told them that heat rocks were the way to go, and I very quickly turned them away from that, as I do not believe those are a good idea for snakes. After about another hour of further educating them, they made the agreement and are going to have us deliver the snake tomorrow, along with his cage, and the rest of the things they'll need for him.
What really amazed me was the kid was very, very good at handling the snake. I didn't even really have to coach him too much. He's been calling Justin for the past 3 weeks asking him how Lucky is doing, and talking to him about Lucky, and what not.
So, all in all, a young new-comer to the herp scene will have one hell of a christmas this year.