If you take a boy to petsmart (and other ways school days get "ruined")

[Ann.without.an.e]

If you take a boy to Petsmart before school, just for a quick puppy nail filing...

 

He might see the snakes and want to look at them.

While he looks at the snakes the worker may come to feed them....

This may spark a long conversation on the drive home about different snakes and how they rank in deadliness.

You may say "I don't know" a million times.

This will lead to research.

He may research the deadliest snakes by rank.

A video might pop up about a python and a cobra and he may need to watch it to see who wins.

Three videos later, one about an anaconda eating a man might pop up and you might say, "Ok we are done".  :thumbdown:

Before you can actually be done, 

a mongoose video appears.  Ok, one more video about a mongoose taking down a cobra.  Happy thoughts.

This may lead to more conversations about a mongoose.

Said boy may end up reading Rikki Tikki Tavi in lieu of other reading.

In the end, all that was officially accomplished was spelling and some phonics.

If you take a boy to Petsmart  :001_rolleyes:

Edited May 5, 2017 by Attolia

[Job121]

It is funny. DS #4 read me Rikki Tikki Tavi, I don't know, 10 times only today? While I was washing dishes after lunch, while I was making dinner, while I was in the bathroom. You name it. 

 

What is this obsession between boys and snakes, and oh, other deadly stuffs? Good thing our Petsmart is next to grocery shop. When kids beg to go in there, I say "ice cream will melt if we don't go home now". Snakes or ice cream? Hmmmm.

[Ann.without.an.e]

It is funny. DS #4 read me Rikki Tikki Tavi, I don't know, 10 times only today? While I was washing dishes after lunch, while I was making dinner, while I was in the bathroom. You name it. 

 

What is this obsession between boys and snakes, and oh, other deadly stuffs? Good thing our Petsmart is next to grocery shop. When kids beg to go in there, I say "ice cream will melt if we don't go home now". Snakes or ice cream? Hmmmm.

 

 

:lol:

 

Yes, from now on we will go after grocery shopping and have ice cream that will melt.

 

Snakes freak me out.  

Edited May 5, 2017 by Attolia

[JudoMom]

Snakes freak me out, too.

 

They do not freak my boys out.

 

"Mom! We caught a little snake! Don't worry, we're pretty sure it's not a rattler."

 

(It wasn't. It was a baby bull snake which does a heck of a rattlesnake impression. Or so I'm told. I didn't go near it.)

[Dmmetler]

If you take a girl to Petsmart, you may spark an interest in snakes which leads to doing Herpetological research and attending professional conferences. You have been warned :).

 

(Seriously, the "MiniZoo"-the pet store small animal section and the "Zoo" were my DD's favorite places from age 2-5. By age 7, she wrote her first paper ever to explain how to care for a pet snake).

[Ann.without.an.e]

If you take a girl to Petsmart, you may spark an interest in snakes which leads to doing Herpetological research and attending professional conferences. You have been warned :).

 

(Seriously, the "MiniZoo"-the pet store small animal section and the "Zoo" were my DD's favorite places from age 2-5. By age 7, she wrote her first paper ever to explain how to care for a pet snake).

 

 

I was honest to goodness waiting for you to chime in  :lol:

 

 

ETA:  I thought of you this very morning as DS begged to have his own snake.  You are hands down the better person...I said no way.

Edited May 5, 2017 by Attolia

[Dmmetler]

Oh, and a small plug-if your kids want an opportunity to learn more about and talk about snakes and other creepy crawlies, DD12 is leading an 8 week online workshop on Herpetology at Athena's Academy starting in October. :) . No snakes required :). (This actually was something of an issue-we bought a Herpetology Curriculum designed for teachers to use, and the first instructions required the instructor to obtain quite a few live animals. We figured that few parents would be willing to let it be quite THAT hands on...).

 

http://www.athenasacademy.com/mod/page/view.php?id=101886

[Jess4879]

This thread made my day.  :laugh:

[Dmmetler]

I was honest to goodness waiting for you to chime in  :lol:

 

 

ETA:  I thought of you this very morning as DS begged to have his own snake.  You are hands down the better person...I said no way.

 

Just don't make the mistake of saying that you can have a snake when you show us you're ready to get one. It's hard to say no when a kid who normally fights putting three words on paper hands you a detailed proposal, explaining exactly what is involved in care for three different species, including a budget, location of nearest vet office, and an explanation as to how she plans, at age 7, to earn the money to feed said snake!

[SebastianCat]

My brother had pet snakes when we were growing up (mostly red rat snakes that he named after football players).  My mom, who was totally freaked out about the idea at first, ended up deciding that snakes were the easiest and best pets ever.   They didn't bark, didn't mark on anything, didn't scratch anything, only needed to be fed once a week, only pooped once a week, and when you clean the weekly poop out of the cage, you refill its water bowl at the same time.  

 

Of course, his snakes had a habit of getting out of their tanks every once in a while, which wasn't so much fun.  I sometimes opened my dresser drawer to find a snake curled up on my clothes.   Once a snake got out and was gone for months, only to reappear by trying to crawl up out of my mom's shower drain, while she was in the shower at 5:00 a.m. on a work/school morning.   That freaked her out something awful.  

 

In the end, all that was officially accomplished was spelling and some phonics.

If you take a boy to Petsmart 

 

I would have counted that trip as covering science, literature, and research skills.   Maybe even computer literacy.

[Ann.without.an.e]

Just don't make the mistake of saying that you can have a snake when you show us you're ready to get one. It's hard to say no when a kid who normally fights putting three words on paper hands you a detailed proposal, explaining exactly what is involved in care for three different species, including a budget, location of nearest vet office, and an explanation as to how she plans, at age 7, to earn the money to feed said snake!

 

 

Love this so much.  I have been warned.  Thanks for the heads up  :lol:

[sweetpea3829]

Just don't make the mistake of saying that you can have a snake when you show us you're ready to get one. It's hard to say no when a kid who normally fights putting three words on paper hands you a detailed proposal, explaining exactly what is involved in care for three different species, including a budget, location of nearest vet office, and an explanation as to how she plans, at age 7, to earn the money to feed said snake!

 

Also don't make the mistake of promising a nearly 7 yr old boy, "Sure, I don't see why not" when he asks for a corn snake for his birthday.  At least never make such a promise without first understanding that corn snakes do not, in fact, eat crickets.  

 

Because if you DO make that mistake, you may find yourself with a corn snake who does NOT eat crickets, but instead eats pinky mice (at $2 a stupid pinky)...which will thus necessitate you deciding, "Well, I have a hamster...pinky hamsters are the same thing as pinky mice, right?"

 

This, of course, will then lead to you having a female hamster, a male hamster, and a whole HOST of other interesting issues such as, 'What to do when your pregnant female escapes and IS NEVER FOUND'.  And the wonderful, 'How to explain to your kids that sometimes the female eats the babies.'  And also, 'Ways of keeping a cat from terrorizing the hamsters'.  Can't forget, 'How to explain to your kids' friends' horrified parents that you have so many hamsters and babies because, well....the snake has to eat.'  

 

Also, 'Explaining to your children that an older hamster does not like to be startled and doing so can actually cause it to have a heart attack'.  (Good times on that one).  

 

I will say this for the corn snake...she is kind of cute.  I drew the line with snakes though.  The youngest boy wanted a tarantula.  There's a CountryMax store near us that sells them.  We went, 'just to take a look' and the employee took a look at us, and said to me sympathetically, "Um...well...a tarantula really isn't a great pet for kids anyways sooo...."  

 

Thank you, CountryMax man.  Thank you.  

[Dmmetler]

We made friends with a snake breeder who breeds rats for her snakes. She has all sizes available, basically all the time, and charges much less than the pet store. Both of DD's snakes were adopted as adults, so, thankfully, we've never had to find pinkies, or worse, reds. One reason DD got adult snakes (besides that in both cases there were homeschool moms who had snakes who needed homes) was because I never want to have a snake that needs live rodents, and the best way to insure that is to get an older snake that has been on frozen/thawed ones for years. Wadjet the corn snake is now about 8, and Pinkie Py(thon) is about 28.

 

I was never so relieved at a pet dying as when DD's final frog croaked (pun intended) and I was able to give up keeping live crickets for the frogs to eat. The outdoor frog ponds feed themselves.

 

She has baby turtles to head start now, but they are happy to eat small bits of shrimp, fish, and, as they get older, green vegetables.

[sweetpea3829]

We made friends with a snake breeder who breeds rats for her snakes. She has all sizes available, basically all the time, and charges much less than the pet store. Both of DD's snakes were adopted as adults, so, thankfully, we've never had to find pinkies, or worse, reds. One reason DD got adult snakes (besides that in both cases there were homeschool moms who had snakes who needed homes) was because I never want to have a snake that needs live rodents, and the best way to insure that is to get an older snake that has been on frozen/thawed ones for years. Wadjet the corn snake is now about 8, and Pinkie Py(thon) is about 28.

 

I was never so relieved at a pet dying as when DD's final frog croaked (pun intended) and I was able to give up keeping live crickets for the frogs to eat. The outdoor frog ponds feed themselves.

 

She has baby turtles to head start now, but they are happy to eat small bits of shrimp, fish, and, as they get older, green vegetables.

 

 

It's pretty awful but...I feel this way about my son's corn snake, lol.  A few months ago she escaped and I was all, "Awwwwww, I'm...just...SO SAD!"  

 

But then we found her so....back to breeding hamsters.  

[Dmmetler]

Corn snakes have a long life expectancy, too. A lot of corns live into their late teens or early 20's in captivity, once they're past the fragile hatchling stage.

[sweetpea3829]

Corn snakes have a long life expectancy, too. A lot of corns live into their late teens or early 20's in captivity, once they're past the fragile hatchling stage.

 

 

So basically, I may be breeding hamsters for this corn snake after my son leaves for college?  Awesome.  

[Dmmetler]

Potentially. DD says she is going to take her snakes to college, but that seems unlikely. (Although she's had a couple of Bio departments tell her they can work something out). Both of DD's snakes came from homeschooled teens who had graduated, left home (one had left the country for a year long exchange) and the parents told them that it was time to find a snake a new home.