How I became a reptile keeper.

[zachbaker]

Hey everyone I thought I would give you all a little info about exactly how I became involved with reptiles.
I for one have always loved and cared for animals. I received my first reptile at 10 years old. This animal was a King Snake. I never was much of a snake person so I later adopted him out around the age of 13. My grandparents were a huge part of me early in life and they took me to lots of zoos and wildlife reservations. I recently told my grandmother about me breeding dragons. She tells me this. You know Zach you always have been a reptile lover. I asked her how she noticed my liking to reptiles. She says that when I was around 7 years old her and my grandfather took me to the lake to go fishing. She let me run off as usual to go swim and just play not thinking I would get into anything dangerous. She says next thing she sees is me running up to her saying "Look grandma it a snake". She turns around and their I am holding a Western Diamondback rattlesnake right by the head. She says she never saw me pick it up or did she ever hear or see the snake. She said that I had it right at the head and I never let go as it thrashed around in my tiny hands. I was never bitten that day but grandpa ended up killing the snake after he pulled it by the rattler out of my hands and tossed it to the ground. I was told this was heart breaking to me and I cried she told me. Grandpa always watched The Discovery Channel and read National Geographic magazine which I later picked up on when old enough to read. I liked looking at the pics and watching Steve Irwin and others catch animals on tv. Thats how she knew what I was going to be interested in.

Another interesting story
My mother just got married in August of last year right before Labor Day. They went to The Cayman Islands for their honeymoon. They did many things on their trip. Later this year her and I sat down and watched some of the video they took on their trip and looked at pics. I came across this pic of her and my stepdad swimming with a stingray. I didnt think much about it but later on that night I was thinking about the time of the wedding and honeymoon. I soon realized they swam with the stingrays the exact same day that Steve Irwin was killed by one. I told her about that and it just creeped her out that she never realized that at all. The pics taken proved it due too the time and date posted on the bottom of the pics. This was weird to be sitting there and realize that she had done that the same exact day. WOW. Just creepy.
Thanks thought I would share about myself and my infatuation with animals.