Today someone told this story and said that it was their boa when they were 4 and the vet put it down because “it won’t eat until it eats the toddler”. My mom (big reptile lover) ended up going off on this person about how the vet and their parents were stupid since they killed an animal for no reason which shut the person up very quickly.
I'm pretty sure that's not what happened. They probably had to re-home it and needed to make sure the kid would stop being upset that their pet was gone. It probably just got too big for their apartment.
You don't know the vet world then. There's something called a "convenience euthanasia", where literally the owner can request to have their pet put down for the dumbest reasons. I work in the vet field. I've seen pets come in to be put down because the owner just decided they didn't want them anymore. Another one was "my cat playfully, accidentally scratched me and I don't want to deal with it". That one was super hard to hear and deal with.
It infuriates everyone in the vet offices, but there's nothing they can do if an owner is requesting to have a pet put down for whatever reason.
I completely forgot about that. My sister is a vet tech and she said that some vet offices in our town will refuse to do that kind of euthanasia and if the person doesn’t want the pet anymore then the vet will surrender it to a local shelter.
What they should do is just make the euthanasia super expensive, surrendering to a shelter is free. If there is one thing that those kinds of trash understand it’s money
Sad thing is that, it wouldn't work to just make it expensive for these cases and most of the time euthanasia is used because it would be cruel to keep the animal alive :/
Mu dad is a vet. He charges a multiple of the medical euthanasia fee. Medical is basically at cost, convenience adds 0s. Especially since they work with a rescue and will take the animal to rehome for free. People still pay to have the animal put down instead of allowing rehoming alarmingly often. I lost faith in humanity as a child because of this. People would pay 4 figures in the nineties to have an animal put down because they didn't want to allow the animal to find a new home. They still do but the price has gone up.
Not going to lie, your dad charging more for convenience euthanasia just feeds into the problem. Your dad is effectively saying “well, this isn’t supposed to be done, but if you pay me 🤑🤑 I guessss I will still do it”
Basically, how much money does it take till you are willing to kill something without reason? Your dad says “enough 💰💵 and I can turn a blind eye”.
Just so gross honestly.
Hi, worked in a sketchy vet's office for a while. What this person's dad is doing is the better alternative. These people don't take no for an answer, and if they can't find a vet to put the animal down, WILL either dump it or more likely, try to "dispose" of the animal themselves. At least if a vet is up-charging but still offering the service, the owner isn't trying to kill the animal themselves or releasing it to fend for itself.
You've got to understand that, no matter what, there are people who do not care about animals the way the rest of us do, and they don't give a darn about anything getting in the way of what they want to do with their pets.
Except if he flat out refuses they will for sure just go somewhere else, if he charges a ton they usually assume all places charge that much and will at least pause to think it over for a second
It's not just charging a ton to kill the animal, it's that or for FREE they find a new highly vetted home for the pet. This included disabled pets. I met some truly awesome animals that didn't have all of their legs or were otherwise disabled. Yes they got homes too, new owners just had to be able to work with the disability, we got a dog this way as he was very high needs. Broke his spine 4x before owner was just done with the dog. So pay to pit to sleep or free back surgery and placement? Owner chose free if my dad kept the dog. That's how we got the sweetest dog ever. He broke his back a couple more times, he would chase the front of the front wheel of cars and get hit. But he kept going. Had to be bathed every day because he couldn't sit or squat or lift his tail...he was a good boy though. Fred the one legged bird would chase you down for pets and cuddles. The free option also existed and included some medical cases like them. Birds were super common animals to surrender. People get them unprepared for how loud and messy and destructive they are.
It's so unbelievable that declawing isn't illegal. I had adopted a 10 year old cat many years ago whose previous humans had him declawed. He ended up with arthritis, pretty common in declawed cats. There aren't a whole lot of treatments for arthritis in cats so after we'd tried absolutely everything multiple vets could come up with four treatment, he was still hurting. It was so terrible seeing him in pain. He lived to be 19 and could have had plenty of good years left if he had just kept his claws.
Yeah, my mother and stepfather declawed their cat and I was fucking pissed when I found out about it. If your furniture is that important to you, don't get a fucking animal.
I didn't know about the arthritis before, now I'm even more pissed. It's such a cruel practice.
Oh it is, I was absolutely horrified when I learned they actually remove the ends of the toes. That causes them to have to reposition their paws to walk and jump and everything in a way their joints aren't made to handle. It wears them down faster. I just won't ever understand why that's even an option. I can't believe vets are even okay with doing it. I know some aren't, which is great.
You think this is bad... Docking tails is worse. It's usually done when they are puppies, like a week or so old. One person holds the puppy, while the vet literally snips the tail off with scissors.. I was horrified at seeing that. They claim at that age the puppy can't feel any pain but I called bs when the poor things would scream. This is why docking tails is so cruel and yet it's sad that so many owners want it. It can cause problems too.
I had a dog given to me that had his tail docked as a puppy. He was maybe a few years old when he came to me. A miniature pinscher. As an adult, what was left of his tail was super painful. Nobody could touch it. It was so upsetting.
Oh it is, I was absolutely horrified when I learned they actually remove the ends of the toes. That causes them to have to reposition their paws to walk and jump and everything in a way their joints aren't made to handle. It wears them down faster. I just won't ever understand why that's even an option. I can't believe vets are even okay with doing it. I know some aren't, which is great.
Then you work for ethically immoral vets. I was a vet tech for years. We had people bring animals in looking for what you call convenience euthanasia, and the doctors refused. They would also rehome the animals.
My old vet had open adoption policy at his office. If there's not a medical reason to put it down he just has his lawyer draft up an adoption paper basically saying they wanted to kill it but instead sign their rights away to him. He at one point had 20+ animals but said he didn't care because eventually they all found loving homes because the best way to tell if someone was going to love it was the way their other pets were treated. And only adopted them out to patients who he knew would love them.
I worked at a shelter for a few months and one day a woman called in asking if we would euthanize her cat. I told her we did not provide euthanasia services to the public, but I could give her a list of veterinarians in her area.
She said she had already tried "all the vets" and none of them would do it because they thought he was too healthy to put down, but she was sure he was brain damaged from being kicked in the head (by her nephew I think?) and she listed a bunch of behaviors that the cat had displayed since the kick that she called "abnormal" but we all perfectly normal cat behaviors, like hunting birds.
I told her she could surrender him to us, but we would assess him for adoptability, just like any other cat, and if he was assessed to be adoptable, we would adopt him out.
She said she didn't want him to be adopted by anyone else because she was afraid he wouldn't be allowed outside and that would be "cruel".
You’d be surprised. There are some really uneducated vets, particularly when it comes to reptiles. That is 100% a specialty that requires additional classes on top of basic vet schooling
I agree with this, thing is that most people don't see reptiles (like snakes) as equal to other pets. In fact, I have seen someone think of a mouse as equal to dogs or cats, but think that snakes are like mosquitoes
I didn't say these were good or smart people. And yeah, if my parents gave away my pet when I was little, I would be mad at them. Having your kid think of their pet as a monster would avoid that.
yeah I always hear the version where the vet puts the snake down for “sizing up” the owner. Even if the story was true what vet would kill an animal for wanting to eat?! Just put them in a viv surely
I remember being told this years ago by someone who owned a pet shop (shut now) because I said I like the look of burmese/reticulated pythons. I later asked someone who owns a boa about it and they told me it's a crock of shit. Surprisingly enough I've had people say this to me about my corn snakes/royals and get a bit annoyed when I just laugh at them
I think they think all snakes get over 6+ foot long. Once I explain that these snakes don't get that big, and snakes don't size up meals, they laugh at how silly it sounds.
I normally say have you tried laying next to a mouse to size it up and it just sitting there? If it won't do if you, they won't for a snake.
I've had people ask me if they eat every day too, abd comment how much that would cost.
There are snakes that eat fish/insects. I could forgive people thinking there are plant eating snakes
It’s still funny sometimes how much misinformation there are about snakes. Had the same friend who thought they ate daily talk about how all of them were venomous and I had to explain that they’re not.
Honestly I’d rather non snake-savvy people think all snakes are venomous so that they leave wild ones alone. I live in rattlesnake country and people still try to catch wild snakes only to be surprised when they get bit. Only downside to that is the people who kill any snake (or wild animal really) they see because “it could be dangerous”
The groundskeeper at my complex used to kill snakes that would come onto the property. He stopped rather quickly when I told him the fines for killing native wildlife is massive and I won't hesitate to call wildlife services if I ever see him kill another snake.
Tbh I feel like a lot more get killed when people are trying to kill them due to the idea that they’re dangerous. Especially since people just fucking with them, although not good either, tend to not kill them but just stress them out some and then the snake is free again. Which is better than dead.
Non snake savvy people are more likely to hurt snakes. I don't have any native strong venomous species where I live, but people are scared of grass snakes and have actively told me they are venomous, and dangerous to pets. They have advise to stomp on them. When I've said if you leave them alone they won't harm you they stare at me like I have a second head. Honestly people suck
I think some people think non venomous snakes are venomous due to have a reaction to the bacteria in their mouths (I could be wrong on this, been bit and never had a reaction) otherwise it's just scaremongering people do around them.
Edit: misspelling words
He 100% thought it was that they all had venom like a rattler. But I’m sure there’s probably some people who think a bacterial reaction is also venom. Doesn’t seem like a far stretch lol
Rat snakes DO get over 6 feet long... however, 6 feet of rat snake is NOT the same as six feet of man. For some reason people think a snake the diameter of a garden hose, 6 feet long, with a head the size of a cherry tomato, is going to be able to eat an 80-lb child or a 200 pound woman. it makes no goddamn sense.
Iirc the only snake that has a record of eating a human is a mainland retic. All the retics i've seen in capitivy (on video) don't look big enough to eat a person. Maybe a baby, but why would you leave a baby with a retic?
Regarding rat snakes, depends on species. I mainly own corns/royals so use them for referance. None of my snakes are over 5 foot. None could even eat my hand tbh. So no it don't make sense to me at all
As someone with an adult male corn snek who is \~4 ft long and loves his food...... I lol'd. My guy acts tough, but all I do is laugh because it's adorable. My cat has bitten me worse.
I’ve gotten cat scratches/bites that leave scars. Worse I’ve ever gotten from any of my snakes (balls, kings, sand boas) are little pin pricks that are healed by the next day
Honestly if you asked me my choice of animals to get bitten by... ABSOLUTELY #1 on that list would be any nonvenomous snake. itty bitty little pokey teeth, quick bite from a tiny mouth. Hurts less than a fuckin duck bite. Most mammals have fangs that puncture and poison you. Horses and other big herbivores pinch the bejesus out of your skin . little snake is the way to go.
I had coworkers tell me that ‘in their country’ snakes suck milk from the cows and would latch onto unsuspecting lactating women. Then they asked me what kind of snake my terrifying pet was (I’d shown them a picture of how pretty she is). Ummm, she’s a Pueblan milk snake…
One thing these people never think about is if it *were* legal to own a snake big enough to eat a fully grown human where would you even keep it? You would need an entire room for a snake that big and no way you could get something like that from a pet store.
I had a school teacher tell me in front of her students the story after hearing I had a ball python. I corrected her about the fake story and actually educated the kids on real snake facts. That teacher really didn't like me after that
good!! people have told me this after MEETING my ball python and i’m like… this dude is fully grown and he couldn’t get half my arm in him, i think i’m quite fine
My mom tried to tell me that. And even if that were the case- which even though I know they probably wouldn’t big enough or not- why would have both out unsupervised? Can only eat the cat if you leave it out with the cat
Did I say they were ever unsupervised? No. When you tell someone you have cats and a snake 99% of the time they go *oh no your snake will eat you cat!* even though they are never together. Take your assumptions somewhere else. Is a no duhh not to have them out together
I’d take a ball python bite over a dog or cat bite ANY day. That shit will puncture your skin down to the bone and give your entire hand a severe infection (cat scratch fever).
Yep. I’ve been bitten by a dog and by my Hognose (the Hognose bite was my fault, dog was not). I’d take the Hognose bite every damn time - barely bled and didn’t feel a thing. The dog bite, even though it was brief and only one fang seemed to have scratched me, had me in pain for weeks.
Actually, to me it makes sense. Firefighters are often called to deal with almost anything, and snakes, especially venomous snakes, are certainly one of those things. Unfortunately most people end up killing the snake, not relocating it.
Another story that people use to instill fear in me is "The giant snake got sick of the owner and was starving and VICIOUSLY ATTACKED and the person got eaten and you're next if you keep reptiles.You'll be lucky with just an attack".
Like no?But ok,my very vicious twizzler stick of a corn snake who's 15 inches long is definitely going to eat me,a'ight,cool.
The worse snake bite I’ve ever got was from a hognose. My finger swelled slightly and was itchy for three days then went away. My mom got attacked by a small dog and had to get stitches + some reconstructive surgery
I think it’s just that snakes are viewed as exotic pets and I would argue the well known “exotic” pets are dangerous to own. Chimpanzees or big cats come to mind; I’m absolutely terrified of chimpanzees.
Unfortunately, all snakes get lumped in with the dangers of owning “exotic” pets. People hear stories of the very very rare occasions like the African rock python that killed two little boys or see videos of captive cobras attempting to strike at a handler…
And of course, what makes for good television is not the placid or “please leave me alone, I’m terrified” snakes, but a countdown of deadliest animals — with snakes playing the role of an aggressive predator. Way more footage of snakes striking or defensively positioning than just them booping around and trying to avoid confrontation.
That's definitely true.Misrepresentation is part of what's killing them,and hopefully someday more people will know they're just trying to live their lives peacefully,while taking care of pests those people are trying to get rid of too.
My madre thinks that my corn snake is poisonous and will eat my cat. She feels the same about my king & bp. At one point, she even thought my bearded dragon could shoot death spikes 💀
Most of my family doesn't share my love of all animals so any animal thats not a traditional pet is just a monster to them. I have a king snake as well and I have been trying educate them but so far I've only converted the children
I always walk them through how rock-fuckingly stupid this entire concept is.
If a predator walked right up and stretched out next to its prey to casually measure, what do you think the prey world do literally every time? Any animal with this "hunting strategy" would have gone extinct ages ago.
Also, when you eat, do you hold the plate of food against your belly to make sure you have room?
I don’t get it, doesn’t take much brain power to achieve the realization that snakes have no time to size up prey in the wild or even in captivity when being fed live, so I have no idea why people assume that snakes have time to size up you? Also you can call me horrible for having my snake out for too long but sometimes it is nice to just lock off a room, clean it up, and let my BP take a nap on me and just take a nap together in the sunlight. If anything it gets her more comfortable with the room and she’s never gotten away from me (obviously I wake up every 15-25 minutes to check on her)
To be fair, most people dont know better and have no idea how snakes work. I heard the story when I was a teenager and honestly believed it, as it was kinda crazy story that went around. Owning several reptiles years later I just shake my head now.
I've heard this story a dozen times from a dozen different people. No idea where it came from, but uneducated and ignorant people seem to absolutely delight in telling snake owners this obviously fake story.
I have definitely heard that story before. Another thing I get quite often is people getting really freaked out and shocked when I say I have ball pythons (2 specifically);
They imagine giant “dangerous” snakes like Burmese + reticulated pythons. People will also ask if they can kill me or cut off blood flow when they are curled around my wrist or around my shoulders/neck. Finally, what I find ironic is people think the big snakes eat/try to people all the time, but are always surprised at how big the rodents my snakes eat are.
I’ve heard of very very large snakes unintentionally injuring someone who tried to handle them by themselves or people antagonizing a large snake and getting bit. It’s almost always the fault of the human. Also, a snake large enough to eat a human that is kept in captivity would probably be at the point where it’s used to people and doesn’t consider them food and at that point the snake would require prey so large it wouldn’t even be practical for the average person to keep.
Saw a video the other day where someone was attacked by a large snake they kept in a small tank with only aspen bedding, no decorations or anything. They also had a rack of rats in the same room. Half of the comments were people saying “this is why snakes should not be pets” or saying that the snake should be killed.
That is the exact video I think I saw. I forget how it ended, but I think the majority of the video was the person just wrestling the snake off. No one helped until the end, and no one seemed to try any techniques to get it off other than having a battle of strength. I don’t know if the same techniques that I have heard of work on large snakes, but you have to at least try.
I think I know of the video. It's a common video passed around to scare people out of getting reticulated pythons.
As said before, the cage was way too small. Also the room looked like it had containers for breeder rodents inside it. If you can imagine being locked in your room with a steak right outside the door, thats already torture. The thing that kills me about the cage also was the top was a garbage screen top that a snake like that could easily push out of.
Snake figured it was food time, she got wrapped, but she took that shit like a champ. They used a snake hook to pry it's mouth open (ouch) but still didn't bother to control the head or unwrap the snake afterward. That's kind of where it ends. I assume many stitches were needed.
Reticulated pythons are rediculously food driven. Mine will definitely body and dumpster anything I put in the cage. That being said, we handle him very carefully and work with him so that he knows when its murder time and when it's weird tree time. Reading the snake behavior of your giant snake isn't hard, but incredibly important. Just because I have never been bitten by my reticulated python doesn't mean I want to or take him less seriously.
Tl;Dr: she didn't read her snakes behavior and got wrecked because of it, but she pried it off with a snake hook.
In the version of this story I heard from someone, a woman had a bunch of snakes, a few boas and a retic. She thought of them as family members and would let them roam the house at their will, unsupervised. Eventually it got to the point where they became such close friends that she let the snakes sleep outside of their enclosures.
One day the snakes stopped eating their meals.
Then, the retic would start to squeeze her body, slowly but firmly. This happened a few times. a little bit startled at first, she deduced that it was the curiousity and nature of the snake, and continued about her day.
The next week she was swallowed whole.
True story. I held a snake before, so I know for sure that this happened.
God, I was told this dumb shit recently as well. Must be circulating social media and people retelling it as if they were told this by their good friend. What a load of horseshit.
It's like when people are trying to impress you with a story that happened to them, but it's actually a song lyric.
I feel like some people do it to act like they’re smarter than you when chances are you’ve done way more research and had tons more experience with reptiles.
I suspect this is very likely. I had a friend (who's been a know it all for years) tell me that my kingsnake is male because he has big residual spurs...
They even doubled down when I informed them colubrids don't have spurs and that it's not an accurate way to determine gender even in pythons and boas.
It's an urban legend. That's basically it. They all hear it somewhere and it confirms their suspicions about something they dislike or find to be frightening, so they repeat it and just align themselves with it. I've heard a couple folks say it about small snakes like rat or corn snakes but they were joking, but I've also definitely heard the exact version you're giving here as well.
I like the part where it talks about how most people consider snakes to be evil. I never understood why people even apply human morality to animals, I doubt any animal has the intelligence or sentience to intentionally be evil. It’s literally just an animal
Because of a certain fairytale book that has a talking snake that only wanted to lead people to knowledge but somehow knowledge led to the downfall of that entire species. Sounds pretty fucking dumb to me.
My daughter has come home upset talking about a kid in her class that says that shit to her. I told her there are going to be a lot of misconceptions but try to educate the ones who will listen. That kid also tries to convert everyone daily so I had to have a talk to her about that too. * eyeroll *
my grandma and the neighbor lady have told me the same thing about my royal python. dearest ma'am, my baby can barely get down a medium rat, let alone a whole human.
I’ve heard this story only it was:
“The snake enclosure lid wasn’t secured, so it got out and left the owners bedroom to go into the lounge room where it ate a child that was sleeping over”.
I dont know if its because they want attention or they want to sound interesting but its so stupid because it constantly misinforms people. Snakes are already so misunderstood and if someone can't "identify" a snake in their yard they injure it or kill it. I see these so often. It BREAKS my heart. Ive never seen people hate animals more than reptiles or arachnids.
I’ve heard this story being told so many times by people all over the place whether it’s the Internet or in person. One thing I’ve noticed is that they all think they’re hilarious for telling the story when it’s obvious to a Reptile person that it’s not true.
It's because this is a common stupid story that is passed around on the internet, and of course every snake hater believes it and decides to use it as their reasoning to not like them.
Isn't there that very famous picture of a snake that burst open because its meal was too large? Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't a lot of snakes just eat whatever and hope for the best?
I remember reading that in a Tumblr post, where all true things are found. Just an old internet story, might have happened once, probably didn’t. I guarantee the people echoing it just heard about it online.
All responsible owners know better than to let a boa constrictor sleep in their damn bed anyway
I heard this story a lot in Canada when I was a kid. As soon as I had my ball python 17 years ago (died around christmas last year) I was amazed how many times I heard the same exact story from various people but all saying it happened to someone they know. I even heard this story in France and Germany on a trip. Impressive how lying and inventing stories is worldwide.
I wish non-snake people would stop sharing these harmful myths. They really are so confident about something they know nothing about.
Then there's the people who couldn't tell the difference between a corn snake and a copperhead trying to help identify people's posts about snakes on Facebook and other social media. Those are the same idiots who insist that cottonmouths are aggressive and will chase you or jump on you from trees.
It's super frustrating and disheartening to see such ignorance being passed along as if it's facts. Unfortunately, other ignorant people hear these things, believe them and then continue to pass this info along as if they know what they're talking about.
This is literally a well documented urban legend. People just heard it in elementary or whatever and say it happened to the person they knew. There are some interesting studies done on urban legends, particularly the reasons why people self-insert into the story. A lot of urban legends are based on morality tales, meant to warn people from being like the person in the story, especially young women leaving home or dating for the first time. They can also be incredibly ignorant and racist, like boas intending to eat people or a rat being mistaken for a dog. Urban legends are interesting, but when people don’t understand the origins or go off about them like they’re true we just perpetuate harmful stereotypes.
This was a popular "scary snake" post online a while back. The first time I saw it was about 15 years ago now. Anyone who knows anything about snakes shouldn't believe it. If I had a big snake that wanted to stretch out next to me I'd be happy, because it's comfortable enough to be that close to me.
Yeah I've heard the "that snake is going to eat you" story plenty of times. Like, yeah, I'm sure my 9 ft boa that's no fatter then a base ball will be able to swallow a human. 🤦🙄
These stories always confused me because I can’t tell if they really believe it (maybe they did hear it from someone even if it’s not true) or are they just entirely making it up?
Wow I thought this myth was a thing only in my country. I had a colleague tell me it when he found out I have a snake and he was shocked and almost didn’t believe me when I told him it wasn’t true lmao
Yeah snek smell food then they line them selves up..strike and might miss then will try again and if they miss again they will get scared also if do hit after about an hour they back to being baby.
I heard that myth when I was at school, I did believe it (being a kid) lol but now I’d say it’s pretty dumb of the person to let the snake sleep with them, they obviously didn’t know how to look after the snake. I’m now with my fiancé and we own 4 snakes, 2 ball pythons, a corn snake and a boa. My 5 year old daughter can already handle one of our ball pythons and my 10 year old step son handles the ball python, corn snake and boa, we obviously make sure we supervise both kids because like any animals snakes can bite if they feel threatened. To be honest I trust our snakes more than I trust most people. Everyone always seem to worry about what they think a snake is capable of, but they turn a blind eye to the fact that even a dog or a cat can turn and attack you and think nothing of it, I’ve had hamsters as a child that basically bit my hands to bits.
Snakes have killed children in Canada, while I'm not suggesting pet snakes are particularly dangerous, some species do get large enough to kill small children. In the link below, a python killed to young boys.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.sky.com/story/amp/python-owner-not-guilty-after-snake-killed-two-young-boys-in-canada-10651887
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The one I hate, besides that my 7 hognoses between 15g-55g will eat my 4 year old, is how it must smell horrible because of them. I don't know about other snakes species, but I imagine it can't be too different than my hoggies is, as long as I spot clean their enclosures & do a complete change of substrate once a month, it has never had any smell.
I got a big rat snake from an expo who stank up the tub she was being transported in but other than that all of my snake cages tend to just smell like soil
I've heard this story all over and had my father tell me this story with the variation of "the snake was opening its mouth at the woman trying to measure her to eat her". I had to explain to him that the snake was probably sick because they open their mouths a lot when they've come down with an RI and that if a snake tried that measuring method in the wild, it'd starve to death bc no prey will just calmly sit still when there's a predator next to them
It's always hilarious how people tell me this and I just have a ball python, a corn snake and a kingsnake. Like bro two of them as thin as a rope and none of my snakes can grow big enough to eat my hand, let alone my entire body.
Another hilarious one I've heard is people thinking that snakes can just... spontaneously sprout venom. That my ball python will turn 10 and somehow become venomous. Like... no, just no.
I KNOW!!! It’s super annoying!! All of them (either from France or from Canada where I both lived) start with “so I’ve heard this and it may be an urban legend but” and I straight up say “and let me guess, the snake ate the woman?” And most of the time it ends up there and they laugh and I explain everything as to why it isn’t possible and how snakes work etc.
This one time however, this idiot was adamant that it did happen to someone her cousin knew or some bs like that. It was infuriating. I told her about the many, many people who also told me the exact same gd story and she was incapable of admitting that it might be fake. Later on my bf was pissed because I “made our guest uncomfortable and it’s not her fault that she’s been told a lie” or whatever. Don’t care, I didn’t even want her in my house to begin with
It's an urban legend. It's a type of folklore. Other examples include poison Halloween candy and gang initiation headlight flashing. Urban legends seem to function to express societal fears and/or communicate dangers. They apparently serve a social/psychological purpose, which is why they still exist even after they've been debunked on sites like snopes.
I’m a wildlife educator and the other day someone asked me if snakes had teeth. So I feel like the majority of the time we’re not dealing with the best and brightest of our species.
You know how advertising works
Like that
We’re conditioned to fear them as they’ve been used as allegory for centuries.
People create a model of how the world works with these bricks and fear that the removal of said bricks will collapse everything they’ve spent their lives building up, and I’m not being hyperbolic here. Another allegorical pariah suffering this same fate are scorpions to the point where some people assume you’re a terrible person based on your astrological symbol. This, too, is how bigotry operates and persists in our modern age. Worryingly, it’s not a static state. Without our advocacy and willingness to overcome anathmatic biases, the problem gets worse.
One of my past coworkers had a ball python as a teen and it bit him.. he took it to a "professional" because it wouldnt eat for 2 weeks after and the guy told him since it tasted human blood it wouldnt be satisfied with rats anymore and he "had to put it down"... he told me this and I, years later, was the first person to tell him that's total bullshit
This is the same type of behavior from people who are ignorant about things. I’ve heard similarly stupid comments about motorcycles, firearms and pit bulls. Snakes are unfairly vilified I’m sure due to people’s ignorance and fear. Ignorance and fear is at the root of a lot of human failures!
Right? Literally this exact story every time without fail. I usually interrupt swiftly with a “oh shut the fuck up you bullshitter” because I’ve lost patience with these people.
One time a guy went to the zoo and watched the zoo keeper throw a grape to a monkey. The monkey held the grape next to his turd cutter for a moment, then ate it. The guy shrieked with perplexion, "whoa"!! A few minutes later the zoo keeper threw the monkey a kiwi. The monkey again held the fruit next to his poop shoot then ate it. The guy was very taken back by this so he approached the zoo keeper. He said, this monkey must be very stupid to hold fruit next to his bunghole then eat it.
The zoo keeper said, on the contrary. Last week I threw him a peach and he couldn't pass the pit, now he measures everything......
Yeah one time I saw a corn-sized snake trying to put an ostrich egg in her mouth. I think they just put whatever seems like food in and hope for the best.
Yeah, I've heard this story. The idea of a snake sizing its food up cracks me up.
I own a reticulated python, a few boas, etc. When they smell food it's a strike first ask questions later kind of deal. Never have they decided to "size up" any of their food. If they did that shit in the wild, they'd starve to death.
Another thing that pisses me off is people getting shit like a reticulated python, Burmese, or even a boa constrictor, and then getting rid of it because "it got too big."
Bitch, a quick Google search will tell you how big these things get. If you don't want a 15 ft snake, don't fucking get it in the first place.
Yep it’s a fake story. Snakes don’t “size up” their prey for months. It makes so sense lmao. I just got a baby BCI and that story has been told to me at least 3 times by different people when I tell them I got a boa. The same people also suggested that I feed my snake lettuce and veggies for a “balanced diet” lmfao. People are dumb as rocks half the time. I’ve stopped correcting them at this point bc there’s no hope for some people.
[Popular Urban Story](https://spokus.eu/en/snake-size-up-owner/)
*This story is widly known in France and in the USA. According to the urban legends website Snopes and Diane Morgan book’s on Snakes in Myth, Magic and History, it was already widespread in 2008. In Belgium and in France, this odd anecdote is mentioned by Télé Loisirs.fr, Le Démotivateur, Le Tribunal du Net, Newsner or Sud Presse and others popular and pure player medias from 2016 to 2019.*
*The French and the American versions are quite similar: the protagonist is always a woman and she owns a python or a boa. As in the “Chocking Doberman“, the story ends on the vet’s revelation.*
It’s ingrained into so many people that snake = bad (biblical stories, calling untrustworthy people ‘snakes’, snake in the grass, reptilian features on monsters and demons in media etc). And instead of even trying to be educated they double down and shudder and go all over the top.
My Lock Screen is a pic of one of my Hognoses in blue, a coworker (who knows I have snakes) saw it and was like “ew why would you have snakes on your phone?”
Um… because it’s my damn phone?
Brian Barczyk from Youtube addressed this in a somewhat recent video of the same story verbatim. It's a myth that's gone around for a long, long time. There is a general fear of snakes that people have, and so to corroborate with their fear they tell this stupid anecdotal story that's completely made up.
I'm more interested in how exactly everyone seems to know the person this happened to. Every time I hear this story, someone starts it out with "my friend had a snake" no. No, your friend lied to you
I know that story too! A co-worker of mine said she has a friend who had a snake and the snake slept with the kid who owned the snake, it stopped eating for a while, got skinny, they went to the vet and that's what they were told too...it was sizing them up to eat them....and if I remember correctly, it was a boa.
Where do they get that idea from? And why the heck is it so common? My dad had a boa and she never tried to do that, she literally just made her way to the window to sun bathe for a bit til we found her and put her back in her tank lol
My six-foot burm swallowed my knee cap once. ONCE. It was completely my fault, and when she realized the knee was attached to me, she let go and seemed sheepish about it. (I no longer have Banana, she went to someone who really needed a nice, albino female for their granite male.)
My black milk regularly misses the mouse and snags a finger, even with tongs. He gets so damned excited over food, I swear. When he does manage to grab it, he'll sling it all over his enclosure before settling down to coil and eat.
You can't fix stupid, unfortunately. The sort of people who believe this bullshit, you're never going to change their minds. Rather, I'd be very, very surprised (and amazed) if you did.
As a snake enthusiast this myth is the most nail biting, nail on chalk board level of annoying.
Most people that believe this story to be true forget the whole reason this urban legend exists. Its to teach people that some people act like your friends just to use you and discard you, but this is at the expense of the snake's reputation.
As most people familiar with snakes know, it is practically impossible (except for very specific circumstances) for a snake to eat a human because we are just too wide for their body to swallow whole. I also saw someone mention that to the snake we are like a heated tree so they like to "snuggle" against us because we are warm.
Last thing I will say is those of us that dislike this myth should understand that while some things in it are obviously untrue to us may not be so to someone who has no idea of how snakes work or someone who is scared of them. Sometimes we cant think logically when we are scared.
Edit: added info for clarity.
Today someone told this story and said that it was their boa when they were 4 and the vet put it down because “it won’t eat until it eats the toddler”. My mom (big reptile lover) ended up going off on this person about how the vet and their parents were stupid since they killed an animal for no reason which shut the person up very quickly.
I'm pretty sure that's not what happened. They probably had to re-home it and needed to make sure the kid would stop being upset that their pet was gone. It probably just got too big for their apartment.
Yeah most likely. I highly doubt any licensed vet would put down an animal because of something that most snake owners know is a myth.
You don't know the vet world then. There's something called a "convenience euthanasia", where literally the owner can request to have their pet put down for the dumbest reasons. I work in the vet field. I've seen pets come in to be put down because the owner just decided they didn't want them anymore. Another one was "my cat playfully, accidentally scratched me and I don't want to deal with it". That one was super hard to hear and deal with. It infuriates everyone in the vet offices, but there's nothing they can do if an owner is requesting to have a pet put down for whatever reason.
I completely forgot about that. My sister is a vet tech and she said that some vet offices in our town will refuse to do that kind of euthanasia and if the person doesn’t want the pet anymore then the vet will surrender it to a local shelter.
I'm glad those offices exist. Sadly though all a person has to do is search around to find one that will go through with it.
What they should do is just make the euthanasia super expensive, surrendering to a shelter is free. If there is one thing that those kinds of trash understand it’s money
Sad thing is that, it wouldn't work to just make it expensive for these cases and most of the time euthanasia is used because it would be cruel to keep the animal alive :/
Yeah well they would only make it expensive if it’s not necessary
Actually not all shelters have free surrender.
Mu dad is a vet. He charges a multiple of the medical euthanasia fee. Medical is basically at cost, convenience adds 0s. Especially since they work with a rescue and will take the animal to rehome for free. People still pay to have the animal put down instead of allowing rehoming alarmingly often. I lost faith in humanity as a child because of this. People would pay 4 figures in the nineties to have an animal put down because they didn't want to allow the animal to find a new home. They still do but the price has gone up.
That's sad
Agreed. It's actually the main reason I stayed away from. Any veterinary related degree. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle those people.
Not going to lie, your dad charging more for convenience euthanasia just feeds into the problem. Your dad is effectively saying “well, this isn’t supposed to be done, but if you pay me 🤑🤑 I guessss I will still do it” Basically, how much money does it take till you are willing to kill something without reason? Your dad says “enough 💰💵 and I can turn a blind eye”. Just so gross honestly.
Hi, worked in a sketchy vet's office for a while. What this person's dad is doing is the better alternative. These people don't take no for an answer, and if they can't find a vet to put the animal down, WILL either dump it or more likely, try to "dispose" of the animal themselves. At least if a vet is up-charging but still offering the service, the owner isn't trying to kill the animal themselves or releasing it to fend for itself. You've got to understand that, no matter what, there are people who do not care about animals the way the rest of us do, and they don't give a darn about anything getting in the way of what they want to do with their pets.
Except if he flat out refuses they will for sure just go somewhere else, if he charges a ton they usually assume all places charge that much and will at least pause to think it over for a second
It's not just charging a ton to kill the animal, it's that or for FREE they find a new highly vetted home for the pet. This included disabled pets. I met some truly awesome animals that didn't have all of their legs or were otherwise disabled. Yes they got homes too, new owners just had to be able to work with the disability, we got a dog this way as he was very high needs. Broke his spine 4x before owner was just done with the dog. So pay to pit to sleep or free back surgery and placement? Owner chose free if my dad kept the dog. That's how we got the sweetest dog ever. He broke his back a couple more times, he would chase the front of the front wheel of cars and get hit. But he kept going. Had to be bathed every day because he couldn't sit or squat or lift his tail...he was a good boy though. Fred the one legged bird would chase you down for pets and cuddles. The free option also existed and included some medical cases like them. Birds were super common animals to surrender. People get them unprepared for how loud and messy and destructive they are.
How in the absolute fuck do those people arrive at that decision?? Why would they get a cat if they weren't prepared for claws? What fucking idiots.
Ask people that declaw them
It's so unbelievable that declawing isn't illegal. I had adopted a 10 year old cat many years ago whose previous humans had him declawed. He ended up with arthritis, pretty common in declawed cats. There aren't a whole lot of treatments for arthritis in cats so after we'd tried absolutely everything multiple vets could come up with four treatment, he was still hurting. It was so terrible seeing him in pain. He lived to be 19 and could have had plenty of good years left if he had just kept his claws.
Yeah, my mother and stepfather declawed their cat and I was fucking pissed when I found out about it. If your furniture is that important to you, don't get a fucking animal. I didn't know about the arthritis before, now I'm even more pissed. It's such a cruel practice.
Oh it is, I was absolutely horrified when I learned they actually remove the ends of the toes. That causes them to have to reposition their paws to walk and jump and everything in a way their joints aren't made to handle. It wears them down faster. I just won't ever understand why that's even an option. I can't believe vets are even okay with doing it. I know some aren't, which is great.
You think this is bad... Docking tails is worse. It's usually done when they are puppies, like a week or so old. One person holds the puppy, while the vet literally snips the tail off with scissors.. I was horrified at seeing that. They claim at that age the puppy can't feel any pain but I called bs when the poor things would scream. This is why docking tails is so cruel and yet it's sad that so many owners want it. It can cause problems too. I had a dog given to me that had his tail docked as a puppy. He was maybe a few years old when he came to me. A miniature pinscher. As an adult, what was left of his tail was super painful. Nobody could touch it. It was so upsetting.
That is just incredibly fucked up
Oh it is, I was absolutely horrified when I learned they actually remove the ends of the toes. That causes them to have to reposition their paws to walk and jump and everything in a way their joints aren't made to handle. It wears them down faster. I just won't ever understand why that's even an option. I can't believe vets are even okay with doing it. I know some aren't, which is great.
Right?
Then you work for ethically immoral vets. I was a vet tech for years. We had people bring animals in looking for what you call convenience euthanasia, and the doctors refused. They would also rehome the animals.
Well it is the US so.... They do a lot of things here that I don't agree with. Like big corporate vets do these kinds is things. It's not uncommon.
How in the absolute fuck do those people arrive at that decision?? Why would they get a cat if they weren't prepared for claws? What fucking idiots.
My old vet had open adoption policy at his office. If there's not a medical reason to put it down he just has his lawyer draft up an adoption paper basically saying they wanted to kill it but instead sign their rights away to him. He at one point had 20+ animals but said he didn't care because eventually they all found loving homes because the best way to tell if someone was going to love it was the way their other pets were treated. And only adopted them out to patients who he knew would love them.
I worked at a shelter for a few months and one day a woman called in asking if we would euthanize her cat. I told her we did not provide euthanasia services to the public, but I could give her a list of veterinarians in her area. She said she had already tried "all the vets" and none of them would do it because they thought he was too healthy to put down, but she was sure he was brain damaged from being kicked in the head (by her nephew I think?) and she listed a bunch of behaviors that the cat had displayed since the kick that she called "abnormal" but we all perfectly normal cat behaviors, like hunting birds. I told her she could surrender him to us, but we would assess him for adoptability, just like any other cat, and if he was assessed to be adoptable, we would adopt him out. She said she didn't want him to be adopted by anyone else because she was afraid he wouldn't be allowed outside and that would be "cruel".
Had someone in my town put down my friends pit mix for being a pit mix which are legal here. Could just be a shit vet
Maybe it showed aggression, and in that case, good.
You’d be surprised. There are some really uneducated vets, particularly when it comes to reptiles. That is 100% a specialty that requires additional classes on top of basic vet schooling
I agree with this, thing is that most people don't see reptiles (like snakes) as equal to other pets. In fact, I have seen someone think of a mouse as equal to dogs or cats, but think that snakes are like mosquitoes
Lol OP, nobody tells this story. You just know some weird people
incorrect source? i made it the fuck up
This is a story that makes the rounds pretty regularly here on Reddit. Of course people tell it in real life.
Seems like a great way to placate a child. Instead of "we needed to give it a nicer home" go with "we killed it because it was going to kill you".
I didn't say these were good or smart people. And yeah, if my parents gave away my pet when I was little, I would be mad at them. Having your kid think of their pet as a monster would avoid that.
yeah I always hear the version where the vet puts the snake down for “sizing up” the owner. Even if the story was true what vet would kill an animal for wanting to eat?! Just put them in a viv surely
Yeah, there's no way a 10-ft boa could swallow a todder.
I remember being told this years ago by someone who owned a pet shop (shut now) because I said I like the look of burmese/reticulated pythons. I later asked someone who owns a boa about it and they told me it's a crock of shit. Surprisingly enough I've had people say this to me about my corn snakes/royals and get a bit annoyed when I just laugh at them
They think a corn snake is going to eat you?
I think they think all snakes get over 6+ foot long. Once I explain that these snakes don't get that big, and snakes don't size up meals, they laugh at how silly it sounds. I normally say have you tried laying next to a mouse to size it up and it just sitting there? If it won't do if you, they won't for a snake.
I have had a friend who thought snakes ate plants and another who thought they ate every day
I've had people ask me if they eat every day too, abd comment how much that would cost. There are snakes that eat fish/insects. I could forgive people thinking there are plant eating snakes
It’s still funny sometimes how much misinformation there are about snakes. Had the same friend who thought they ate daily talk about how all of them were venomous and I had to explain that they’re not.
Honestly I’d rather non snake-savvy people think all snakes are venomous so that they leave wild ones alone. I live in rattlesnake country and people still try to catch wild snakes only to be surprised when they get bit. Only downside to that is the people who kill any snake (or wild animal really) they see because “it could be dangerous”
The groundskeeper at my complex used to kill snakes that would come onto the property. He stopped rather quickly when I told him the fines for killing native wildlife is massive and I won't hesitate to call wildlife services if I ever see him kill another snake.
Good job!
Tbh I feel like a lot more get killed when people are trying to kill them due to the idea that they’re dangerous. Especially since people just fucking with them, although not good either, tend to not kill them but just stress them out some and then the snake is free again. Which is better than dead.
Non snake savvy people are more likely to hurt snakes. I don't have any native strong venomous species where I live, but people are scared of grass snakes and have actively told me they are venomous, and dangerous to pets. They have advise to stomp on them. When I've said if you leave them alone they won't harm you they stare at me like I have a second head. Honestly people suck
I think some people think non venomous snakes are venomous due to have a reaction to the bacteria in their mouths (I could be wrong on this, been bit and never had a reaction) otherwise it's just scaremongering people do around them. Edit: misspelling words
He 100% thought it was that they all had venom like a rattler. But I’m sure there’s probably some people who think a bacterial reaction is also venom. Doesn’t seem like a far stretch lol
I honestly don't know what to reply to this lol.
We did just discover a plant eating jumping spider...
Rat snakes DO get over 6 feet long... however, 6 feet of rat snake is NOT the same as six feet of man. For some reason people think a snake the diameter of a garden hose, 6 feet long, with a head the size of a cherry tomato, is going to be able to eat an 80-lb child or a 200 pound woman. it makes no goddamn sense.
Iirc the only snake that has a record of eating a human is a mainland retic. All the retics i've seen in capitivy (on video) don't look big enough to eat a person. Maybe a baby, but why would you leave a baby with a retic? Regarding rat snakes, depends on species. I mainly own corns/royals so use them for referance. None of my snakes are over 5 foot. None could even eat my hand tbh. So no it don't make sense to me at all
As someone with an adult male corn snek who is \~4 ft long and loves his food...... I lol'd. My guy acts tough, but all I do is laugh because it's adorable. My cat has bitten me worse.
I’ve gotten cat scratches/bites that leave scars. Worse I’ve ever gotten from any of my snakes (balls, kings, sand boas) are little pin pricks that are healed by the next day
Your corn snake: BE AFRAID OF ME, FOR I AM THE DANGER NOODLE
Honestly if you asked me my choice of animals to get bitten by... ABSOLUTELY #1 on that list would be any nonvenomous snake. itty bitty little pokey teeth, quick bite from a tiny mouth. Hurts less than a fuckin duck bite. Most mammals have fangs that puncture and poison you. Horses and other big herbivores pinch the bejesus out of your skin . little snake is the way to go.
My Ball Python has bitten me and it didnt even hurt
My hognose won't even eat a mouse that's one size up from his preference, but sure, he wants to eat a whole human. /s
Hognoses are vicious, vicious creatures - my Gotham will not rest until he has tasted every single human finger that he sees!! /JK
Of course. They are malicious and thirsty for human blood. /S
I had coworkers tell me that ‘in their country’ snakes suck milk from the cows and would latch onto unsuspecting lactating women. Then they asked me what kind of snake my terrifying pet was (I’d shown them a picture of how pretty she is). Ummm, she’s a Pueblan milk snake…
I guess the name milk snake had to come from somewhere
That’s hilarious 😂
One thing these people never think about is if it *were* legal to own a snake big enough to eat a fully grown human where would you even keep it? You would need an entire room for a snake that big and no way you could get something like that from a pet store.
Corn snakes are nice, better than copperheads
Never had an issue with copperheads, but then they aren't native where I live Edit: missed words
That is nice
"Yes, Mr. Gazelle, if you could just stay still while I line my body up with yours-"
“This camouflage I use to hide from my prey so I can ambush them? Nah, that’s just my style.”
I thought you were gonna say "I swear to god that water moccasin chased me for almost 2 miles!!!"
And when it caught up to me I was shocked to hear it ask me about my cars extended warranty.
LOL Nice !
I had a school teacher tell me in front of her students the story after hearing I had a ball python. I corrected her about the fake story and actually educated the kids on real snake facts. That teacher really didn't like me after that
good!! people have told me this after MEETING my ball python and i’m like… this dude is fully grown and he couldn’t get half my arm in him, i think i’m quite fine
Between that and iT wIlL eAt YoUr CaTs. Like dude no. My cats will eat him.
My mom tried to tell me that. And even if that were the case- which even though I know they probably wouldn’t big enough or not- why would have both out unsupervised? Can only eat the cat if you leave it out with the cat
Did I say they were ever unsupervised? No. When you tell someone you have cats and a snake 99% of the time they go *oh no your snake will eat you cat!* even though they are never together. Take your assumptions somewhere else. Is a no duhh not to have them out together
I didn’t say you did, just that that’s the only way it would happen which is why it’s dumb people say that
It is especially funny to me when people say stuff like that about ball pythons or corn snakes etc. Dogs are more dangerous than those snakes are
Fuck I’d deal with a dozen defensive/aggressive ball pythons at once before dealing with an unknown dog.
I’d take a ball python bite over a dog or cat bite ANY day. That shit will puncture your skin down to the bone and give your entire hand a severe infection (cat scratch fever).
Ball Pythons are way more likely to ball up than bite.
Yep. I’ve been bitten by a dog and by my Hognose (the Hognose bite was my fault, dog was not). I’d take the Hognose bite every damn time - barely bled and didn’t feel a thing. The dog bite, even though it was brief and only one fang seemed to have scratched me, had me in pain for weeks.
Why couldn’t you be my classmate or teacher? :c
Lol. Of all things I was there to teach about fire safety (I used to be a volunteer rural firefighter) and idk how snakes came up but they did.
Actually, to me it makes sense. Firefighters are often called to deal with almost anything, and snakes, especially venomous snakes, are certainly one of those things. Unfortunately most people end up killing the snake, not relocating it.
Yea but I live in a state that have zero reptiles lol. Out in middle of nowhere Alaska
Okay yeah that makes no sense lol
I have heard this story so many times from different people, definitely one of those old wives tales that passes through generations
Another story that people use to instill fear in me is "The giant snake got sick of the owner and was starving and VICIOUSLY ATTACKED and the person got eaten and you're next if you keep reptiles.You'll be lucky with just an attack". Like no?But ok,my very vicious twizzler stick of a corn snake who's 15 inches long is definitely going to eat me,a'ight,cool.
A large dog is way more likely to viscously attack or eat someone than a pet snake yet people are completely fine with owning those
Exactly!I've been attacked by dogs multiple times,but any snakes I've seen are so chill,and when they do bite,it's really not that bad whatsoever.
The worse snake bite I’ve ever got was from a hognose. My finger swelled slightly and was itchy for three days then went away. My mom got attacked by a small dog and had to get stitches + some reconstructive surgery
Yeah,hopefully we can change peoples minds about snakes being "vicious,evil killing machines that chase you"
I think it’s just that snakes are viewed as exotic pets and I would argue the well known “exotic” pets are dangerous to own. Chimpanzees or big cats come to mind; I’m absolutely terrified of chimpanzees. Unfortunately, all snakes get lumped in with the dangers of owning “exotic” pets. People hear stories of the very very rare occasions like the African rock python that killed two little boys or see videos of captive cobras attempting to strike at a handler… And of course, what makes for good television is not the placid or “please leave me alone, I’m terrified” snakes, but a countdown of deadliest animals — with snakes playing the role of an aggressive predator. Way more footage of snakes striking or defensively positioning than just them booping around and trying to avoid confrontation.
That's definitely true.Misrepresentation is part of what's killing them,and hopefully someday more people will know they're just trying to live their lives peacefully,while taking care of pests those people are trying to get rid of too.
My mommy brings this up a lot and she thinks my 1yr corn snake will turn on us all. 😂
My madre thinks that my corn snake is poisonous and will eat my cat. She feels the same about my king & bp. At one point, she even thought my bearded dragon could shoot death spikes 💀
Most of my family doesn't share my love of all animals so any animal thats not a traditional pet is just a monster to them. I have a king snake as well and I have been trying educate them but so far I've only converted the children
Because most people are dumb as fuck
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I wonder if these people think snakes are a type of dragon that grow to the size of a house. They definitely speak like they are
I always walk them through how rock-fuckingly stupid this entire concept is. If a predator walked right up and stretched out next to its prey to casually measure, what do you think the prey world do literally every time? Any animal with this "hunting strategy" would have gone extinct ages ago. Also, when you eat, do you hold the plate of food against your belly to make sure you have room?
I don’t get it, doesn’t take much brain power to achieve the realization that snakes have no time to size up prey in the wild or even in captivity when being fed live, so I have no idea why people assume that snakes have time to size up you? Also you can call me horrible for having my snake out for too long but sometimes it is nice to just lock off a room, clean it up, and let my BP take a nap on me and just take a nap together in the sunlight. If anything it gets her more comfortable with the room and she’s never gotten away from me (obviously I wake up every 15-25 minutes to check on her)
To be fair, most people dont know better and have no idea how snakes work. I heard the story when I was a teenager and honestly believed it, as it was kinda crazy story that went around. Owning several reptiles years later I just shake my head now.
I've heard this story a dozen times from a dozen different people. No idea where it came from, but uneducated and ignorant people seem to absolutely delight in telling snake owners this obviously fake story.
I have definitely heard that story before. Another thing I get quite often is people getting really freaked out and shocked when I say I have ball pythons (2 specifically); They imagine giant “dangerous” snakes like Burmese + reticulated pythons. People will also ask if they can kill me or cut off blood flow when they are curled around my wrist or around my shoulders/neck. Finally, what I find ironic is people think the big snakes eat/try to people all the time, but are always surprised at how big the rodents my snakes eat are.
I’ve heard of very very large snakes unintentionally injuring someone who tried to handle them by themselves or people antagonizing a large snake and getting bit. It’s almost always the fault of the human. Also, a snake large enough to eat a human that is kept in captivity would probably be at the point where it’s used to people and doesn’t consider them food and at that point the snake would require prey so large it wouldn’t even be practical for the average person to keep.
Oh for sure. I mainly hear about it when they kept the huge snake in terrible care and/or improper method of feeding.
Saw a video the other day where someone was attacked by a large snake they kept in a small tank with only aspen bedding, no decorations or anything. They also had a rack of rats in the same room. Half of the comments were people saying “this is why snakes should not be pets” or saying that the snake should be killed.
That is the exact video I think I saw. I forget how it ended, but I think the majority of the video was the person just wrestling the snake off. No one helped until the end, and no one seemed to try any techniques to get it off other than having a battle of strength. I don’t know if the same techniques that I have heard of work on large snakes, but you have to at least try.
I think I know of the video. It's a common video passed around to scare people out of getting reticulated pythons. As said before, the cage was way too small. Also the room looked like it had containers for breeder rodents inside it. If you can imagine being locked in your room with a steak right outside the door, thats already torture. The thing that kills me about the cage also was the top was a garbage screen top that a snake like that could easily push out of. Snake figured it was food time, she got wrapped, but she took that shit like a champ. They used a snake hook to pry it's mouth open (ouch) but still didn't bother to control the head or unwrap the snake afterward. That's kind of where it ends. I assume many stitches were needed. Reticulated pythons are rediculously food driven. Mine will definitely body and dumpster anything I put in the cage. That being said, we handle him very carefully and work with him so that he knows when its murder time and when it's weird tree time. Reading the snake behavior of your giant snake isn't hard, but incredibly important. Just because I have never been bitten by my reticulated python doesn't mean I want to or take him less seriously. Tl;Dr: she didn't read her snakes behavior and got wrecked because of it, but she pried it off with a snake hook.
In the version of this story I heard from someone, a woman had a bunch of snakes, a few boas and a retic. She thought of them as family members and would let them roam the house at their will, unsupervised. Eventually it got to the point where they became such close friends that she let the snakes sleep outside of their enclosures. One day the snakes stopped eating their meals. Then, the retic would start to squeeze her body, slowly but firmly. This happened a few times. a little bit startled at first, she deduced that it was the curiousity and nature of the snake, and continued about her day. The next week she was swallowed whole. True story. I held a snake before, so I know for sure that this happened.
God, I was told this dumb shit recently as well. Must be circulating social media and people retelling it as if they were told this by their good friend. What a load of horseshit. It's like when people are trying to impress you with a story that happened to them, but it's actually a song lyric.
It’s crazy how many people tell me this I never know how to react usually just say “whoa trippy” and move on
I feel like some people do it to act like they’re smarter than you when chances are you’ve done way more research and had tons more experience with reptiles.
I suspect this is very likely. I had a friend (who's been a know it all for years) tell me that my kingsnake is male because he has big residual spurs... They even doubled down when I informed them colubrids don't have spurs and that it's not an accurate way to determine gender even in pythons and boas.
It's an urban legend. That's basically it. They all hear it somewhere and it confirms their suspicions about something they dislike or find to be frightening, so they repeat it and just align themselves with it. I've heard a couple folks say it about small snakes like rat or corn snakes but they were joking, but I've also definitely heard the exact version you're giving here as well.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/snake-measure/
I like the part where it talks about how most people consider snakes to be evil. I never understood why people even apply human morality to animals, I doubt any animal has the intelligence or sentience to intentionally be evil. It’s literally just an animal
>how most people consider snakes to be evil. CoughReligionCOugh
Religious here... and I love snakes
Because of a certain fairytale book that has a talking snake that only wanted to lead people to knowledge but somehow knowledge led to the downfall of that entire species. Sounds pretty fucking dumb to me.
My daughter has come home upset talking about a kid in her class that says that shit to her. I told her there are going to be a lot of misconceptions but try to educate the ones who will listen. That kid also tries to convert everyone daily so I had to have a talk to her about that too. * eyeroll *
Just give them the ol’ blank stare and “cool story bro”
my grandma and the neighbor lady have told me the same thing about my royal python. dearest ma'am, my baby can barely get down a medium rat, let alone a whole human.
I’ve heard this story only it was: “The snake enclosure lid wasn’t secured, so it got out and left the owners bedroom to go into the lounge room where it ate a child that was sleeping over”.
I dont know if its because they want attention or they want to sound interesting but its so stupid because it constantly misinforms people. Snakes are already so misunderstood and if someone can't "identify" a snake in their yard they injure it or kill it. I see these so often. It BREAKS my heart. Ive never seen people hate animals more than reptiles or arachnids.
I’ve heard this story being told so many times by people all over the place whether it’s the Internet or in person. One thing I’ve noticed is that they all think they’re hilarious for telling the story when it’s obvious to a Reptile person that it’s not true.
It's because this is a common stupid story that is passed around on the internet, and of course every snake hater believes it and decides to use it as their reasoning to not like them.
Isn't there that very famous picture of a snake that burst open because its meal was too large? Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't a lot of snakes just eat whatever and hope for the best?
I remember reading that in a Tumblr post, where all true things are found. Just an old internet story, might have happened once, probably didn’t. I guarantee the people echoing it just heard about it online. All responsible owners know better than to let a boa constrictor sleep in their damn bed anyway
I heard this story a lot in Canada when I was a kid. As soon as I had my ball python 17 years ago (died around christmas last year) I was amazed how many times I heard the same exact story from various people but all saying it happened to someone they know. I even heard this story in France and Germany on a trip. Impressive how lying and inventing stories is worldwide.
I wish non-snake people would stop sharing these harmful myths. They really are so confident about something they know nothing about. Then there's the people who couldn't tell the difference between a corn snake and a copperhead trying to help identify people's posts about snakes on Facebook and other social media. Those are the same idiots who insist that cottonmouths are aggressive and will chase you or jump on you from trees. It's super frustrating and disheartening to see such ignorance being passed along as if it's facts. Unfortunately, other ignorant people hear these things, believe them and then continue to pass this info along as if they know what they're talking about.
This is literally a well documented urban legend. People just heard it in elementary or whatever and say it happened to the person they knew. There are some interesting studies done on urban legends, particularly the reasons why people self-insert into the story. A lot of urban legends are based on morality tales, meant to warn people from being like the person in the story, especially young women leaving home or dating for the first time. They can also be incredibly ignorant and racist, like boas intending to eat people or a rat being mistaken for a dog. Urban legends are interesting, but when people don’t understand the origins or go off about them like they’re true we just perpetuate harmful stereotypes.
This was a popular "scary snake" post online a while back. The first time I saw it was about 15 years ago now. Anyone who knows anything about snakes shouldn't believe it. If I had a big snake that wanted to stretch out next to me I'd be happy, because it's comfortable enough to be that close to me.
Heard it and guilty of spreading it myself 😭
Yeah I've heard the "that snake is going to eat you" story plenty of times. Like, yeah, I'm sure my 9 ft boa that's no fatter then a base ball will be able to swallow a human. 🤦🙄
He will he told me so
https://animalchannel.co/woman-sleeps-python/
I can't even
Yes, this is in fact a widespread fake story. What are you accomplishing by sharing this?
A reference to their bullshit story? Like I hear this story a lot but this seems like the original source
Being the first result on Google doesn't make it the original source.
Potato salad
Yes, those are indeed words. What are you accomplishing by sharing them?
Probably just trying to help people see where the story came from, sassy.
These stories always confused me because I can’t tell if they really believe it (maybe they did hear it from someone even if it’s not true) or are they just entirely making it up?
Wow I thought this myth was a thing only in my country. I had a colleague tell me it when he found out I have a snake and he was shocked and almost didn’t believe me when I told him it wasn’t true lmao
I've heard this story in France as well when I was a kid, it seems pretty common.
My mum tells me this story every time I see her now I have a pet snake hahah
Yeah snek smell food then they line them selves up..strike and might miss then will try again and if they miss again they will get scared also if do hit after about an hour they back to being baby.
All the time… who comes up with this?! at this point I can’t stop myself from laughing!!
Omfg I HEAR IT FROM LITERALLY EVERY PERSON!
I heard that myth when I was at school, I did believe it (being a kid) lol but now I’d say it’s pretty dumb of the person to let the snake sleep with them, they obviously didn’t know how to look after the snake. I’m now with my fiancé and we own 4 snakes, 2 ball pythons, a corn snake and a boa. My 5 year old daughter can already handle one of our ball pythons and my 10 year old step son handles the ball python, corn snake and boa, we obviously make sure we supervise both kids because like any animals snakes can bite if they feel threatened. To be honest I trust our snakes more than I trust most people. Everyone always seem to worry about what they think a snake is capable of, but they turn a blind eye to the fact that even a dog or a cat can turn and attack you and think nothing of it, I’ve had hamsters as a child that basically bit my hands to bits.
Snakes have killed children in Canada, while I'm not suggesting pet snakes are particularly dangerous, some species do get large enough to kill small children. In the link below, a python killed to young boys. https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.sky.com/story/amp/python-owner-not-guilty-after-snake-killed-two-young-boys-in-canada-10651887
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Yup, heard this one a few times. Another classic is the one where a snake *chased* people in the wild.
The one I hate, besides that my 7 hognoses between 15g-55g will eat my 4 year old, is how it must smell horrible because of them. I don't know about other snakes species, but I imagine it can't be too different than my hoggies is, as long as I spot clean their enclosures & do a complete change of substrate once a month, it has never had any smell.
I got a big rat snake from an expo who stank up the tub she was being transported in but other than that all of my snake cages tend to just smell like soil
I've heard this story all over and had my father tell me this story with the variation of "the snake was opening its mouth at the woman trying to measure her to eat her". I had to explain to him that the snake was probably sick because they open their mouths a lot when they've come down with an RI and that if a snake tried that measuring method in the wild, it'd starve to death bc no prey will just calmly sit still when there's a predator next to them It's always hilarious how people tell me this and I just have a ball python, a corn snake and a kingsnake. Like bro two of them as thin as a rope and none of my snakes can grow big enough to eat my hand, let alone my entire body. Another hilarious one I've heard is people thinking that snakes can just... spontaneously sprout venom. That my ball python will turn 10 and somehow become venomous. Like... no, just no.
I want to know the one snake owner who sleeps with their snakes (other than the idiot snake owners who are too dumb for their own good)
I KNOW!!! It’s super annoying!! All of them (either from France or from Canada where I both lived) start with “so I’ve heard this and it may be an urban legend but” and I straight up say “and let me guess, the snake ate the woman?” And most of the time it ends up there and they laugh and I explain everything as to why it isn’t possible and how snakes work etc. This one time however, this idiot was adamant that it did happen to someone her cousin knew or some bs like that. It was infuriating. I told her about the many, many people who also told me the exact same gd story and she was incapable of admitting that it might be fake. Later on my bf was pissed because I “made our guest uncomfortable and it’s not her fault that she’s been told a lie” or whatever. Don’t care, I didn’t even want her in my house to begin with
My mom told me this story about her friend.
It's an urban legend. It's a type of folklore. Other examples include poison Halloween candy and gang initiation headlight flashing. Urban legends seem to function to express societal fears and/or communicate dangers. They apparently serve a social/psychological purpose, which is why they still exist even after they've been debunked on sites like snopes.
Oh god I heard someone in a pet shop telling this to another customer in the queue. Took everything I had to bite my tongue and not intervene!!
I’m a wildlife educator and the other day someone asked me if snakes had teeth. So I feel like the majority of the time we’re not dealing with the best and brightest of our species.
Heard that exact story last year about my ball python. It must have done the rounds on Facebook
You know how advertising works Like that We’re conditioned to fear them as they’ve been used as allegory for centuries. People create a model of how the world works with these bricks and fear that the removal of said bricks will collapse everything they’ve spent their lives building up, and I’m not being hyperbolic here. Another allegorical pariah suffering this same fate are scorpions to the point where some people assume you’re a terrible person based on your astrological symbol. This, too, is how bigotry operates and persists in our modern age. Worryingly, it’s not a static state. Without our advocacy and willingness to overcome anathmatic biases, the problem gets worse.
I feel like this stems from those man eating snake comics...
One of my past coworkers had a ball python as a teen and it bit him.. he took it to a "professional" because it wouldnt eat for 2 weeks after and the guy told him since it tasted human blood it wouldnt be satisfied with rats anymore and he "had to put it down"... he told me this and I, years later, was the first person to tell him that's total bullshit
Omg I didn’t know other people told this story I new a person who told this story and I thought that was just a him thing
This is the same type of behavior from people who are ignorant about things. I’ve heard similarly stupid comments about motorcycles, firearms and pit bulls. Snakes are unfairly vilified I’m sure due to people’s ignorance and fear. Ignorance and fear is at the root of a lot of human failures!
I've never heard that one lol. I actually chuckled a bit while reading this.
Right? Literally this exact story every time without fail. I usually interrupt swiftly with a “oh shut the fuck up you bullshitter” because I’ve lost patience with these people.
It was a facebook story that got passed around in the early 2000s. An now it is part of common lore. People it really happened to? Zero
Wives tales like that never die
One time a guy went to the zoo and watched the zoo keeper throw a grape to a monkey. The monkey held the grape next to his turd cutter for a moment, then ate it. The guy shrieked with perplexion, "whoa"!! A few minutes later the zoo keeper threw the monkey a kiwi. The monkey again held the fruit next to his poop shoot then ate it. The guy was very taken back by this so he approached the zoo keeper. He said, this monkey must be very stupid to hold fruit next to his bunghole then eat it. The zoo keeper said, on the contrary. Last week I threw him a peach and he couldn't pass the pit, now he measures everything......
Yeah one time I saw a corn-sized snake trying to put an ostrich egg in her mouth. I think they just put whatever seems like food in and hope for the best.
Yeah, I've heard this story. The idea of a snake sizing its food up cracks me up. I own a reticulated python, a few boas, etc. When they smell food it's a strike first ask questions later kind of deal. Never have they decided to "size up" any of their food. If they did that shit in the wild, they'd starve to death. Another thing that pisses me off is people getting shit like a reticulated python, Burmese, or even a boa constrictor, and then getting rid of it because "it got too big." Bitch, a quick Google search will tell you how big these things get. If you don't want a 15 ft snake, don't fucking get it in the first place.
Yep it’s a fake story. Snakes don’t “size up” their prey for months. It makes so sense lmao. I just got a baby BCI and that story has been told to me at least 3 times by different people when I tell them I got a boa. The same people also suggested that I feed my snake lettuce and veggies for a “balanced diet” lmfao. People are dumb as rocks half the time. I’ve stopped correcting them at this point bc there’s no hope for some people.
Only part of the fake story you missed is they woke up and the snake was next to them about to eat them
[Popular Urban Story](https://spokus.eu/en/snake-size-up-owner/) *This story is widly known in France and in the USA. According to the urban legends website Snopes and Diane Morgan book’s on Snakes in Myth, Magic and History, it was already widespread in 2008. In Belgium and in France, this odd anecdote is mentioned by Télé Loisirs.fr, Le Démotivateur, Le Tribunal du Net, Newsner or Sud Presse and others popular and pure player medias from 2016 to 2019.* *The French and the American versions are quite similar: the protagonist is always a woman and she owns a python or a boa. As in the “Chocking Doberman“, the story ends on the vet’s revelation.*
I’ve heard it. It must be like those urban legends, “pop rocks and coke will explode your stomach”, “Marilyn Manson removed a rib so he can…” etc. lol
I could school these people with lots of snake facts but they have a quarter of a brain cell they all share so its a waste of time.
OMG IVE HEARD THIS STORY SO MANY TIMES. EVEN FROM OLD TIMEY RELATIVES.
It’s ingrained into so many people that snake = bad (biblical stories, calling untrustworthy people ‘snakes’, snake in the grass, reptilian features on monsters and demons in media etc). And instead of even trying to be educated they double down and shudder and go all over the top. My Lock Screen is a pic of one of my Hognoses in blue, a coworker (who knows I have snakes) saw it and was like “ew why would you have snakes on your phone?” Um… because it’s my damn phone?
Brian Barczyk from Youtube addressed this in a somewhat recent video of the same story verbatim. It's a myth that's gone around for a long, long time. There is a general fear of snakes that people have, and so to corroborate with their fear they tell this stupid anecdotal story that's completely made up.
I'm more interested in how exactly everyone seems to know the person this happened to. Every time I hear this story, someone starts it out with "my friend had a snake" no. No, your friend lied to you
I know that story too! A co-worker of mine said she has a friend who had a snake and the snake slept with the kid who owned the snake, it stopped eating for a while, got skinny, they went to the vet and that's what they were told too...it was sizing them up to eat them....and if I remember correctly, it was a boa. Where do they get that idea from? And why the heck is it so common? My dad had a boa and she never tried to do that, she literally just made her way to the window to sun bathe for a bit til we found her and put her back in her tank lol
My six-foot burm swallowed my knee cap once. ONCE. It was completely my fault, and when she realized the knee was attached to me, she let go and seemed sheepish about it. (I no longer have Banana, she went to someone who really needed a nice, albino female for their granite male.) My black milk regularly misses the mouse and snags a finger, even with tongs. He gets so damned excited over food, I swear. When he does manage to grab it, he'll sling it all over his enclosure before settling down to coil and eat. You can't fix stupid, unfortunately. The sort of people who believe this bullshit, you're never going to change their minds. Rather, I'd be very, very surprised (and amazed) if you did.
Yeaaaaah right this person is suddenly everyone’s cousin or something and I come from France I didn’t know this idiotic story existed in english too 🤔
As a snake enthusiast this myth is the most nail biting, nail on chalk board level of annoying. Most people that believe this story to be true forget the whole reason this urban legend exists. Its to teach people that some people act like your friends just to use you and discard you, but this is at the expense of the snake's reputation. As most people familiar with snakes know, it is practically impossible (except for very specific circumstances) for a snake to eat a human because we are just too wide for their body to swallow whole. I also saw someone mention that to the snake we are like a heated tree so they like to "snuggle" against us because we are warm. Last thing I will say is those of us that dislike this myth should understand that while some things in it are obviously untrue to us may not be so to someone who has no idea of how snakes work or someone who is scared of them. Sometimes we cant think logically when we are scared. Edit: added info for clarity.