I held my rosy boa at the expo before I bought him. He bit me. I just kinda stood there and waited for a minute, then asked if the vendor had a business card handy to safely remove him when he didn't let go. He was the first and only snake I held that day. Paid for him minutes later. Folks who aren't prepared for the reality that they might get bit have no business holding other people's snakes. I'm sorry for your loss.

People are unpredictable and unsafe. That's why many zoos have had to stop all guest-animal interactions. It's not that the animals are dangerous, it's the people. Busch Gardens in Florida lost a flamingo, "Pinky", who was an animal ambassador and beloved because of her dancing, and a guest just reached his arm into the enclosure and broke her neck.

My man, you didn’t „weep like a baby“ you cried out of loss OF your baby, and that is completely justifiable. You were such an amazing owner and had only the best intentions, only for one person to ruin it all. I‘m so insanely sorry that something that nightmarish happened to you and Gwen, and I hope you never have to experience anything even close to it ever again.

I'm so sorry about Gwen. I always let people hold my snakes to help them get over their fear, but hearing what happened to him has completely changed my perspective. Thank you for sharing your story and the warning. My condolences for your loss. 🕊️

We have an ambassador snakes that we love dearly too and I can't imagine how devastating it would be to lose him. I will have to share your story with the rest of my family and see what changes we need to make in order to keep him safe. Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm so sorry for your loss that's horrible.

Oh man, that's heartbreaking. Your reaction was 10000000% justified. Thank you for this video.

This broke my heart. I am so sorry that happened. And I thank you for being brave enough to share all the things that can happen.

"They can't protect themselves" is a sentiment I've held for years about snakes. Even with venom, with exceptionally strong bodies or bites, snakes are still fragile. Like anything else. And people don't realize that. I feel like the phobia of certain animals makes them seem unstoppable and unnatural when in reality, they're not much different than us. Sickness, injury, poor conditions, all of that affects us the same way. And understanding that, realizing how vulnerable and unguarded they really are in a world that fears them just for being alive, it cements the necessity to protect them. I wish more people understood that.

So sorry for your loss, brother. Thank you for sharing. Respect from Royal Clown Brew, Indonesia.

I’m so sorry about your baby. My first ball python is also perfect and I let people handle her sometimes to overcome their fear. I’m now rethinking that. Thank you for sharing.

It can feel awkward, sometimes to say no to kids, especially disabled kids but refused to allow yourself to be guilt tripped.  I certainly learned my lesson in that-when my now 16-year-old dog was pretty young, I was at my Dad‘s company picnic and was approached by a woman with a severely disabled kid in a wheelchair, and the kid was clapping her hands and squealing, looking at my dog and the mother didn’t even ask me and started talking to her daughter and was like “oh you want to see the puppy?! you want to hold the puppy?!” and tried to reach for my dog to which I snatched her into my arms and said absolutely not because you could tell my dog was not comfortable and she was very tiny as she’s only 9 1/2 pounds now full grown. She tried to guilt trip me with her kids medical condition to which I responded that I was sorry but no matter what was going on with the kids health it didn’t mean I was going to put my dog in a bad position. Well guess what? My Dad needed help with something later on that day and I handed Oreo to someone I trusted, and the next thing I know the woman snatches Oreo and tries to put her on the kids lap, and Oreo freaked out and ran. By the time I was able to catch up and die for her and barely catch her leash on my finger, we were feet away from the road. Suffice it to say that I went absolutely ballistic, used every four letter word in existence, and at one point almost physically attacked not only the idiot woman and her kid, but the person who was supposed to be keeping Oreo safe.  She could’ve gotten away and gotten hit by a car or gotten lost-all because that moron wouldn’t take no for an answer. Now if approached by any kid or anyone in general that I know, my dog doesn’t want any part of, i firmly say no once. If they continue, I make it clear that if they or their kid even attempt to touch my dog, one of us is gonna wind up very hurt and one of us is going to be going to jail and since I’m not sure which one of us is which, it would be better for everyone if they would keep their hands to themselves.

I'm sorry for your loss 😢 Thank you for sharing Gwen's heartbreaking story. Some of my Royals and other species are education ambassadors and go to the classroom, but this year I didn't incorporate my snakes into any lessons other than 2 school events because I didn't think that some of the students would be respectful. I just had a feeling, and even though a few of my lessons would have been amazing with some of my ambassadors, it just didn't feel right this past school year.

I watched this video a couple hours ago and I can't get it off my mind. My heart is broke for you. Gwen was so sweet. I'm so sorry that happened to him.
You've also unlocked a new fear in me now about my snakes! You have definitely given me a new perspective on ppl holding them

"weep like a baby at the loss".. That's love and men are allowed to cry. ❤

I’m so sorry for what happened to Gwen.  When we do shows, we sometimes allow handling if things aren’t too busy.  But we require that anyone under 15 have an adult present, they use hand sanitizer, and we have a chair for them to sit.  We don’t allow people to stand while holding our animals, and one of us is always right there supervising.  If it’s too busy for that then we don’t.  It’s such a hard balance between protecting our animals and being ambassadors to help bring people into the hobby.

I worked a short while at a zoo in high school. Not being able to safely handle animals is why I never pursued the career. Animals are simultaneously stronger and weaker than you. You cannot be afraid of breaking them, because that fear, that uncertainty, is precisely what kills them.  It's a very difficult skill to learn, and my weak little arms and jumpy mind were NOT up for the task.

I'm so sorry about Gwen.

This is heartbreaking. I'm so sorry for your loss.

I am so very sorry for your loss of Gwen! 😢

For me, I only hold snakes I am genuinely planning to purchase at shows and always sanitize my hands.  At the last show we attended I didn't hold our new ball python at all because I had held a boa earlier in the day, just to be safe, even after sanitizing.  We usually only hold snakes to check for kinks, health issues etc.

I’m so sorry for the loss of your beautiful boy. His story touched me and made me laugh when I first “met” y’all. Now I have tears in my eyes. He will be missed and was loved by this random internet stranger. ❤😢

There’s a local pet store that sometimes allows people to hold the animals. I’m a regular there for roaches to feed my frogs. I was warned against holding a very ornery blue-tongue skink. I looked the man in the eyes and said “I don’t care if he bites me.” Sure enough, I got bit. I laughed, very carefully returned the skink, and sanitized and put pressure on the wound before it could contaminate anything or anyone else. If you are not prepared to get bit, never handle any animal you don’t know, be it a cat or a reptile.