When I held a friend’s snake and spent ten minutes talking to him about how to care for it, I felt certain that I was ready to own one. However, I made a massive misjudgement of how specialised these animals are and ended up putting myself, and the snake, in danger. I believe that a little learning is a dangerous thing.
I went over to visit my sister at her new boyfriend, Neil’s, house, and was excited to see that he kept snakes. He had three, in varying sizes, all in separate tanks. He got one snake out to show me and I was fascinated. It was so beautiful and warm to hold around my neck. When Neil realised how much I was enjoying playing with the snake, he casually suggested that I get one for myself. He assured me that it snakes were easy to keep and proceeded to give me a quick lecture on his routines with them.
On my way home, all I could think about was getting a pet snake. Neil had told me how to look after them, so I was pretty confident I had learned enough. I searched the classified adverts in the local paper to see if anyone was trying to rehome a snake. I was in luck; someone in the next town on from me had a royal python that he could no longer keep. I rang the number immediately and arranged to go and visit the snake the following morning.
The next day I rang the vet and explained about the snake’s lack of appetite and about his strange habit of watching me as I moved around my bedroom. The vet told me that he was very worried; he said that snake’s exhibit this behaviour when they are deciding whether or not they could eat a person, and that he was probably ignoring his food as he was starving himself ready for a bigger meal. The vet also added that this might be the reason that the last owner wanted to get rid of it.
I was devastated. I had been thinking that the snake was staring at me so much because he loved me; I didn’t think for a second that he was viewing me as prey. I felt like such a fool for rushing out and getting a pet without learning about the species properly. I had asked Neil for some information and, having spent ten minutes finding out about snakes, I was convinced that I knew enough to own one. In the end I gave the snake to a reptile expert; I simply didn’t have the knowledge or experience to care for such an exotic pet. The expert said that most of his reptile collection had formed as a result of people buying them and then realising how specialist they were and handing them over. I believe that learning just a little about them turned out to be more dangerous than learning nothing at all. After all, if I hadn’t learned anything, the chances are that I wouldn’t have bought the snake. This experience has changed my life; I have learned to be less naïve and think matters through before making decisions.
