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When to introduce a kid to a snake or reptile?

P

piebald320

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I have 4 young cousins and all of them love my snakes and always want to hold them but I feel nervous letting them because if it bites them(unlikely with the snakes I have but still) and they drop it or just get scared and drop it or if i look away one second and they lose it or something I was just wondering what some other people who have a similar situation think.
 
i find that older ages tend to be better like 8-10 maybe younger if the kid is mature, but the younger the get the more risk of dropping, "picking", pinching, and accidental freak out can occur one on one i think is the best for introduction. calm and conferrable environment are the most ideal

but working with more then one kid can be hard the best thing to do is try to calm them and taking turns and letting them hold the snake in their lap and "pet it like a kitty" is the best thing to do
 
kellylake0001 said:
i find that older ages tend to be better like 8-10 maybe younger if the kid is mature, but the younger the get the more risk of dropping, "picking", pinching, and accidental freak out can occur one on one i think is the best for introduction. calm and conferrable environment are the most ideal

but working with more then one kid can be hard the best thing to do is try to calm them and taking turns and letting them hold the snake in their lap and "pet it like a kitty" is the best thing to do
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yea i agree my cousins are nuts when there together but angels alone. I have introduced them only to my sweetest snake and when they are alone they actually do quite well with her even though they are all around 6
 
My son was introduced to his first reptile (a Leopard Gecko) at about 18 months. He wasn't permitted to hold it on his own, but we showed him how to gently pet it. I have friends with kids that are a bit older (3 & 4) and I allow them to hold baby ball pythons. The trick is to keep the kids calm, have a mellow animal and make sure the children understand the rules. Our rule is that they must be seated and keep their voices down. They understand the concept that they're babies so they must be gentle and quiet so as not to scare them.
 

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TripleMoonsExotic said:
My son was introduced to his first reptile (a Leopard Gecko) at about 18 months. He wasn't permitted to hold it on his own, but we showed him how to gently pet it. I have friends with kids that are a bit older (3 & 4) and I allow them to hold baby ball pythons. The trick is to keep the kids calm, have a mellow animal and make sure the children understand the rules. Our rule is that they must be seated and keep their voices down. They understand the concept that they're babies so they must be gentle and quiet so as not to scare them.
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thats sweet. my snake was actually a baby ball as well
 
Totally cute kid. I especially like the ruby eyes. must be a T-positive albino.
The CDC website says that children should not have reptile contact until they are 10 years old. In all seriousness, I have heard of more than one case in which small children were removed from homes by child protective services and the parents charged with child endangerment and forced to get rid of reptiles and disinfect the house before getting the children back. The way this comes to the attention of the authorities is that if a kid actually does get salmonella and the parents take it to the doctor, and lab tests show salmonella, the tests also show whether it is a reptile as opposed to a food borne strain. Just something to keep in mind.
When I let kids hold or touch a snake, the kid must be at least 6 years old, and I wash the snake off in soap and water and dry it with one of those disinfectent wipes before contact, just to remove any gross contamination. The way things are these days, I wouldnt take chances.
 
that really irritates me, as far as im concerned there are way more issues with other containments in a home then what a maintain reptile can ever produce. i personally thing reptiles are some of the most amazing things on the plaint.i wonder how many they had.
 
BobOblak said:
Totally cute kid. I especially like the ruby eyes. must be a T-positive albino.
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:rofl: No, not t-positive albino. Just a crap photo because I was rushed to capture the moment. I promise, no ruby eyes on this hatchling! :D

BobOblak said:
The CDC website says that children should not have reptile contact until they are 10 years old. In all seriousness, I have heard of more than one case in which small children were removed from homes by child protective services and the parents charged with child endangerment and forced to get rid of reptiles and disinfect the house before getting the children back. The way this comes to the attention of the authorities is that if a kid actually does get salmonella and the parents take it to the doctor, and lab tests show salmonella, the tests also show whether it is a reptile as opposed to a food borne strain. Just something to keep in mind.
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I actually had a friend who had that issue a couple months ago. One of her neighbors called CPS on her in retaliation because someone (not my friend) in their neighborhood called the police about her nasty dog running loose in the neighborhood. So CPS has to do visits on every call, no matter how ridiculous they are (we were told a story about a neighbor calling CPS because a kid's parents were "vampires") and they just took a look around at the room, made sure everything was secure and that was it. I guess they also have to disclose what the call said (but not who), and this neighbor of hers said that she was calling because she "was afraid for the safety" of my friends three kids because she, "heard they could get out." When questioned on whether or not their has been cases of them getting out, the response was "no, I just heard they can." :rolleyes: We're also not talking about anything big here...Two Cornsnakes and five ball pythons...
 

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BobOblak said:
Totally cute kid. I especially like the ruby eyes. must be a T-positive albino.
The CDC website says that children should not have reptile contact until they are 10 years old. In all seriousness, I have heard of more than one case in which small children were removed from homes by child protective services and the parents charged with child endangerment and forced to get rid of reptiles and disinfect the house before getting the children back. The way this comes to the attention of the authorities is that if a kid actually does get salmonella and the parents take it to the doctor, and lab tests show salmonella, the tests also show whether it is a reptile as opposed to a food borne strain. Just something to keep in mind.
When I let kids hold or touch a snake, the kid must be at least 6 years old, and I wash the snake off in soap and water and dry it with one of those disinfectent wipes before contact, just to remove any gross contamination. The way things are these days, I wouldnt take chances.
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Bob makes a very good point. The age of the child is also critical because older kids have developed their immune system. In addition even if you do a great job at cleaning the reptile, you are not "sterilizing" it! :)
 
I just let my 3yo niece hold a baby corn snake i have and she loved it. Shes just like me as a kid... I had a hard time convincing her my desert hairy scorpion didn't like goodnight kisses lol....
 
My little brother named Chase is 4 years old and regullarly holds my snakes, when he was a little less then 3 he was holding my baby boa and had no problems listening to what i was telling him about how to hold it, probably because I said "if you dont listen she might bite you" he knows the pain involved in a bite having been bitten by a garter snake during the previous summer so he was very keen on listening to my every word, he cradled the snake in his palms and never even wraped his hands completly around her, now whenever he wants to see them he always asks "Cotie, can i hold the snakeys?" and of course I only let him hold the friendly ones :) In my opinion children are never too young to be exposed to reptiles as long as the animals are in sanitary living conditions and are 100% healthy and the child is being an attentive listener and behaving.
 
We have let our 9 foot albino burmese python drake be around our son since he was 6 months old. He frequently rides in his stroller with him actually.
He still generally doesn't "hold" any of the snakes on his own, it's usually like.. drake snaking his head over to him and us holding the back end, or vice versa.
In our educational shows we recomend for HOLDING them the kids be at least 7-8
Our 6 year old nefew is very immature for his age, and we do not let him even generally pet the snakes.
It all really depends on the kids, and the mood of your animal. Only you can ultimatly decide if they are ready. And its true.. I never take my eyes off them for a second while they hold them. If I'm in a conversation with an adult, I ask them to give them back so I can talk.
 
kids and snakes

I personally like seeing kids into snakes instead of scared of them. I started early but I was by myself. My parents or anyone else I knew was into them so I was alone lol. But we have a friend of the family and she is 6 ( now ) and loves the snakes. Her mom is ok with her being around my snakes as long as there is always supervison. We took her to a reptile show and we were walking up to Adam Cheslas table and she said " hey josh, look at that motley next to the sunglow " Adam was stunned but she calls every albino a sunglow lol. She loves to watch snakebytes mainly to see chewy get bit. Anyways, I would never let her go into a tub or a cage but she is very gentle with them and seems to love them. Here are a few pics of her and the snakes. Also, a pic of Me and Brian from snake bytes and he is holding her picture. She loved it !!!!!!
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My son just turned 17 months and "snay-kas" was one of his first words. All I have to do is say snake and he runs to the snake room and asks to be let in. I'll let him watch and occassionally "poke" one, but I think it will be a couple of years before he holds them. He likes to test the structural integrity of everything he can grab so I think my BP's aren't ready for him, lol.
 
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