this thread is so fun to read

I was not born with a fascination for just snakes... but all things scaley or with more than four legs. When I was in grade school... I was "bug girl"... I had a special fondness for mantids and I also kept numerous giant millipedes, hissing cockroaches and my favorite was a lubber grasshopper.... a large clumsy black and yellow grasshopper from i have no idea where. I cried and cried and cired my eyes out when she died!

I think my parents kind of jumpstarted it for me.. when I was 5 they got me my first pet, a Tarantula! It was a male and sadly he didn't last long. What do msot kids get? a hamster. I got a hamster next. I hated it. that was my last hamster.

When i was something along the lines of 10 years old... I saw a garter snake on the lawn. Me being me of course, I already knew it was a garter snake from my little field guide and I grabbed it. It was a huge oafy garter and it must have bitten my arm 10 times... blood everywhere!! My mom was horrified... me? that was it for me!!! I let that one go, but I ended up finding a separate garter that very same day and she was soooo friendly. Her name was Slither.. even my mom was fascinated by her. I will never forget seeing my mom hold a snake for the first time.. and seeing slither's reflection in her sunglasses. the image sticks with me. Slither came home with us.. and as summer grew old, slither produced 11 little slithers that thouroughly confused my dad who was the only one home. At that time, my parents decided to release both slither and all her young.

After that point, It took me FOUR years to get what was at that time the snake of my dreams: a california kingsnake. To me they were the most beautiful snake on earth. After four years and saving a bunch of change, at 14 years old I got Bandit, whom I still have and whom I call my first snake because, he was my first REAL snake that I really knew what I was doing. I was so happy. All of my friend could not understand why I was SO happy to get Bandit.

My collection slowly grew... I got a second cali king, i rescued her, her name was spooky. she was a big girl. Her time was short with me but she is missed dearly to this day.

Then as I continued to learn more about the reptile world, I read in reptiles magazine about reptile shows and learned that tehre is one an hour from my house! so i went to my first hamburg show and beleive it or not.... my parents bought more than i did!!! I have actually gotten my parents into snakes... not to the point where they read about and buy them, but they appreciate them and take interest. And when they would take me to shows, my dad would always go off on his own and end up buying some random corn or king! On his own, he bought a total of 2 male pueblan milksnakes(sold), 2 adult corns(sold), one baby cali king (never made it), my leucistic albino texas rat, an albino banana cali king (sold) and my pair of okeetees het snow that bred this year!

So that is how i got into snakes.... whew... epic post!