[Neuling]

Some people keep snakes, giant spiders, etc. Why do they do it?

In my opinion people usually keep pets because they want to take care of and love a living being (pretty much like parents), and have the feeling of being loved and needed. That is why most people like cuddly, cute-looking animals.
But with reptiles, spiders, scorpions, etc. there is no such relationship. They lack the brains to think and feel the way mammals do. Nor does it make sense to hug them There is no reciprocal emotional bond.

Is it all about wanting to be different from the rest? Like with cars, most people drive normal cars, but some want to demonstrate their individuality by driving exotic cars.

[CAM2]

Originally Posted by Neuling

Some people keep snakes, giant spiders, etc. Why do they do it?

But with reptiles, spiders, scorpions, etc. there is no such relationship. They lack the brains to think and feel the way mammals do. Nor does it make sense to hug them There is no reciprocal emotional bond.

Is it all about wanting to be different from the rest? Like with cars, most people drive normal cars, but some want to demonstrate their individuality by driving exotic cars.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I suppose some people enjoy having a pet that is different than many humans have. Maybe a conversation starter when out & about to have a snake wrapped around your arm or a spider on your neck etc.

As far as brains, some people may just like reptiles because they are lower maintenance than most of the mammals. Some occupy less space.

Reptiles may not feel & act the way a mammal does. That does not make them less, my opinion, as they are still a living creature. As far as brains, some could probably teach a human a thing or two about life & survival.

[foxywench]

actually many snakes enjoy human companionship just as much as dogs and cats do...they just dont show it the same way...
the guy i buy some of my raw supplies off breeds large snakes and has one very large boa whos just his pet...she has her own bedroom, and free ranges the house supervised the rest of the time, and i wouldnt have belived it if i handt seen it myself, she came to her name, you walked into the room and shed come 'running" (or slithering) and want to see you and she genuinly seemed to enjoy not only the company of humans, but being petted, rubbed and picked up. shes follows him around the house (and not in a im hunting you kind of way) i swear if she had the ability to wag her tail like a dog, it would never stop.

but also, these unusal mabe not so interactive pets bring fdifferent thigns to people...

its like asking me why i have a fish tank? i have a fishtank because i find fish beautiful animals with interesting personalities (each one of my fish has very distinct personalities) and also because i find it very relazing to watch them swim...
its a different kind of bond...they dont show effection liek a dog or cat (or even some larger birds) might, but to say they dont have the brains to form complex emotions is ridiculous...unless you can read a snakes mind, how do YOU know what its capable of in terms of emotional thought patterns?

and ontop of it all im sure many people have them for reasons of 1: interest, some people are just plain facinated with them, 2: the Unusual factor, mabe they enjoy them more as a conversation peice than a typical pet...and 3: im sure there are many that have them for the gross factor...just to see the reaction on peoples faces when they tell them they have a pet tarantula or something.

this goes for ANY animal though...
i know many poeple who dont get why someone would have an animal as obivoulsy emotionally "needy" as a dog...or an animal as aloof as a cat...
or an animal that when spooked could toss and kill you like a horse...
people dont understand why we have chickens, sure the eggs are a yummy breakfast, but in all honesty we have the chickens because we enjoy watchign and interacting with them, cant realy hug and pet them like you can a dog or cat (though many people do lol) but they have their own personalities, their own charms...


personally i wouldnt own an arachnid...i dont find them interesting (many are artisitcally fascinating...) but for me they just dont do anything for me...
but to someone else, their odd looks, their behaviours and mannerisms and how they react to the world around them might be intreuiging enough to make it the perfect pet.

i mean you can ask the same question to anyone that has any pet...
why have a rabbit, a guinneapig, a horse, a goat, a snake, fish, dogs, cats, hamsters, tarantula...

i even understand peoples atraction to large potentially deadly exotics...i dont agree with keeping them (overly large or venemous snakes, apes, monkeys, big cats wolves ect) BUT i understand the attraction to these animals.

i guess i have a unique behind the scense experience that makes me able to see why, that many others wouldnt have...ive been lucky in my life to interact with many animals that wouldnt normally be considered 'pets' (and many of them are NOT and never should be considered as pets...) but after interaciting with these animals, i can honestly see why some people are just hyper attracted to owning them. they are UNUSUAL.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Foxy, if I could rep you again, I would! Your post makes good sense.

[PacificFlights]

Originally Posted by Neuling

But with reptiles, spiders, scorpions, etc. there is no such relationship. They lack the brains to think and feel the way mammals do. Nor does it make sense to hug them There is no reciprocal emotional bond.

There are many owners of these animals that will dispute your statement. Having non traditional pets, I can tell you that there is a reciprocal emotional bond in many animals to their human caretakers. To a person unfamilar with these animals, you don;t see it, but to a person living with them day in and day out, (and are not trying to see cat & dog emotions in a spider or scorpion) they can point to the reaction just like you can identify a purr of a kitty. Just because we are not familar with the "overt emotional reaction" of these non traditional pets, does not mean it's not there. Unless you know the way these non traditional pets show their emotions, how can you say they don't have any?

[NaleyRocks]

How quickly we are forgetting the snake that ate the two year old child? That one was just like a pet too.

Sometimes people have more money than brains. Like the woman with the chimp who attacked and deformed the neighbor.

[Neuling]

Hm, of course I can only speculate as I have never had such an animal and probably never will. So, how does a tarantula show its emotions towards its owner? By not attacking or not running away?

I am observing doves quite a lot recently, I think they do kind of know me by now and are not afraid of me anymore, which is already quite a lot for an animal. After all animals are supposed to distrust all other species in order to be safe.

[Neuling]

Originally Posted by NaleyRocks

How quickly we are forgetting the snake that ate the two year old child? That one was just like a pet too.

Sometimes people have more money than brains. Like the woman with the chimp who attacked and deformed the neighbor.

There was also a guy who had lived with a group of bears for years and felt safe with them. But one day all of a sudden one of them attacked and killed him.
One can't even be sure one's own dog or cat will never attack, so one might be even more careful with animals that are still kind of wild, despite living in an apartment.

[foxywench]

theres also been thousands of people mauled and killed by domestic dogs, many people who have lost the use of limbs due to cat bites (cats have the most bacteria ridden mouths of any animals, the only mouth "dirtier" is a humans...and the bacteria cats carry in their mouths can be deadly.

a "pet" snake killling someone is no different than a "pet" dog killing someone...
both are the result or irresponsible ownership and stupid people.


in terms of arachnids "showing affection" the one person i knwo with arachnids says her spider (a tarantula, i cant remember what subspecies but its blue...yes...bright BLUE!) recognizes her, if other people come into the room it hides in one of its many webs, but when she walks to the vivarium the spider comes out of hiding, aproaching the glass, curious, mabe searching for food form the hand it recognizes feeds it.

you are right, many of thes EXOTICS are still much more wild than the average domestic dog or cat (but remember, fancy rats and mice, ferrets, hedgehogs ect are all considered exotics too) and require different handling skills...
and many, as i already said, of the large exotics shouldnt EVER be kept as pets (the stamford chimp episode was 100% the fault of an owner who didnt respect what she had in her home...a very strong animal with very complex emotions, instead of treating him as a chimp she treated him as a child, and when her child had a temper tantrum her frined (the unfortunate woman without a face now) tried to also treat him as a child...bring a gift to try and bribe him...but he wasnt a child, he should never had acess to the keys ot get out of the house in the first place, and in his tempertantrum he was a CHIMP and acted as chimps do...)

if a private owner wants to keep an exotic they should be kept under strict conditons, and that person needs to understand its NOT a pet...these horrible situations should never happen, they are direct results of HUMAN error.
all animals, in the end are that...animals.
while capable (in my opinion) of complex emotions every animal is powerd primarily by INSTINCT, be it a cat or dog or elephant...

[SheridanPDC]

I enjoy "exotic" pets.

Right now, we have a leopard frog named "Hopper"- named by our five year old Hopper is just as loved by us as our "cute & fuzzy" pets. We enjoy observing him, feeding him, talking to him. When we turn on the radio, he sings along. When we had to travel 1,000 miles across the country last summer for an emergency & couldn't find anyone willing to feed him, we brought him along with us. He's now a very well-traveled frog

In my lifetime I've owned or helped care for snakes, birds, fish, cats, dogs, ferrets, turtles, lizzards, frogs & toads, spiders & other insects, crawdads, hermit crabs, rodents from mice to rabbits and almost everything inbetween... Every one of them was interesting in their own way, had their own habits/personalities, ect. Some I thought made fantastic pets, some not so much.

To each their own