Helping Others With Fears Of Specific Animals

I would post this on Arachnoboards but I'm on my school laptop and the school has that blocked. However, this website feels fitting enough as everyone here as experience with animals, so I am posting here because I would like to see your input on the topic.

Now that I have that out of the way, How do you help people who are afraid of animals. Ex. Snakes, Arachnids, and insects.
Ever since I joined the reptile hobby I have had to deal with the old, "I HATE snakes and when I see them I go out of my to kill them!" I have the same experience with my spider and such, "If I had one of them in my house I would set it all on fire!"
Every once in a blue moon people will approach me and ask for help with their fears, I love the feeling when people ask me this.
I have always wanted to help people with their animal fears and would love to make that a part of my job in the future. When I can make people love what they once feared I feel amazing.
My cousin who is really young maybe 5 or 6 have been told about how scary these animals are and all that stuff. He came down for a week and I showed him my snakes and now he loves them. I absolutely love that I was able to do this.
I have been working with my step-mom whose #1 fear is spiders, I have gotten her to handle both of my Ts at one point.

My question to all of you other animal lovers is, how do you help people who hate/fear certain animals?
I have another question for fish keepers, do you ever have to deal with people who will not come to your house because of your fish? I haven't seen many people who are scared of fish. Maybe sharks, piranhas, and other large and/or "dangerous" fish, but what about other fish?
Does anyone else have any stories that they are proud of because they were able to help someone with fears? If so please tell the story.

 

I probably will not have that much input on this, but I think showing them the good/cute side of the things they’re sacred of helps a lot. Take Lucas the spider for example, people who are terrified of spiders really like him and some are starting to get over that fear because of him. He’s based off a jumping spider and he looks pretty close to it, so it’s not like he looks comepletely different which can help when they see a real world spider. If that makes sense. Of course there are some people who have had bad experiences with certain animals that’s why they have a phobia/fear of them, because they got hurt and learned they were bad. Those people would probably be much more difficult to get to understand they aren’t all bad, because there experience really was. But when it’s just someone who has heard they are bad and has adopted the belief, then it’ll be much easier to learn that they aren’t bad and simply showing the cute and good side can help significantly.

 

My grandma is REALLY scared of birds. She came to our house once for my high school graduation and then left immediately after the ceremony; my grandparents were supposed to stay overnight. We had 3 parrots in the house at the time. There was no way we could ever help her get over her fear.

My co-worker is terrified of birds too. She got attacked by the family rooster when she was 3 years old and was spurred pretty bad by it. We took our moluccan cockatoo in and all she felt comfortable doing was just looking at him. She wanted to pet him, but was too scared to. He lost a feather during the visit so we gave that to her. She kept that feather for years at her desk till she retired last year.

Most people know their limits on their fears and it really should be up to them on how much they have to face them. I'm scared of heights; just looking out a window on a two story building used to make me physically ill. I've slowly gotten better with it. Flying in a plane still scares me, but I've realized that my fear was holding me back from going to fun and interesting places. I just deal with my fear and realize that I will be ok. Plus, I remind myself where I'm traveling to and all the enjoyable things I am going to do or that I did do on the trip.

 

I used to be scared of snakes and spiders as well, but I eventually got over that fear. When I was young I was always told to be cautious of certain animals. When I caught my first snake I was pretty scared of it. Because I had kept reptiles in the past and done research on them, I wanted to get over that fear so I slowly worked with my garter snake. One day I got bit, I was a bit concerned at first but a few minutes later I started to laugh it off. After that my fears started to vanish very quickly. I started to research spiders after I got comfortable with Diablo my garter snake. When I took a trip to Georgia I found my first scorpion, I was so excited and had no fear. I had never seen one before so I didn't even think about the dangers. After that spiders was really easy to get used to. Now I have three scorpions and a tarantula, sadly my snakes have passed. I have been bit by spiders and stung by scorpions and can certainly say that they do not scare me. So in some cases I believe that a bite or sting helps more than harms. This is only in certain cases though.

 

I think, and this has nothing to do with animals specifically, the worst thing you can do it brush it off. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had people (and family) scoff or outright insult me because of my phobia of needles. Yeah, it might not scare you, but it scares the you-know-what out of me. As funny as it sounds being afraid of something like a friendly puffy dog, I had one come at my face and only a short chain stopped him. You better believe I did not like dogs near me for a long time and I was head shy for a few years. I’ve gotten over it now, but that took a long time. Even balloons. Had one blow up in my face, and I just about lost it when I was stuck in a car full of balloons. Keep them away from me.

 

I believe that the first and most important step to helping people with fears is convincing that person to have a desire to get over their fears. For example, when I was scared of snakes I wanted to get over my fear because I wanted to enjoy all animals. Also, having an open minds helps a lot. It is easier to help someone who wants a pet spider but is terrified of them rather than someone who is proud of their hatred of spiders. That is way too common around where I live. "When I see snakes I hit them with my truck or cut their heads off." The internet hasn't helped much either. "Look at this, this is the tailless whipscorpion, half scorpion, half spider, 100% terror." People who are proud of their fears are a big problem, parents who are scared of an animal doesn't help either.

 

I can't get eels, my dad is scared of them

 

I can't get eels, my dad is scared of them

I can't get cockroaches, my step-mom is scared of them.

 

I am afraid of snakes....but it is weird. I'm not afraid of the ones that could actually kill me, I'm afraid of the ones that are usually harmless ( garden snakes). I believe it is because I was exposed to bigger snakes as a child (pythons and boa's), and was able to hold them and even interact with them. I've heard and have been told that slow introduction to the thing that you are afraid of, can ease the fear and make it go away, but some people are just not "wired" to even want to do it.
If someone asks you to help, then do a slow introduction...but you'll never hear me ask. Your pythons and boas are fine with me but you bring a corn snake or a garden snake near me and i'm running away faster than you can even see my feet move lol.
I've never had anyone not want to come into my home because of my fish tanks.

 

Centipedes are the only thing that I am "scared" of. I have been exposing myself to them. I always try to find the largest centipede I can and then I attempt handling. Hopefully sometime in the future I can find someone that has a scolopendrid that I can handle. I want to keep some of the larger species in the future as well.

 

This may sound weird but I'm afraid of plecos even though I have one (bristlenose pleco) the only reason I'm afraid of it is because I would not want to get pricked by it or I would not want It to suck on me I'm always scared it's going to do it during a water change

 

I Thought that I wasn’t afraid of snakes.

The other day, I was doing yard work. I somehow hit the fence. A 3 foot snake fell off and hit the ground. I ran for my house.

 

I Thought that I wasn’t afraid of snakes.

The other day, I was doing yard work. I somehow hit the fence. A 3 foot snake fell off and hit the ground. I ran for my house.

Lol sounds like me. I love snakes. I want to own ball pythons and king snakes and boas one day. However, last summer I was helping my mother in law move some flower pots. I picked one up and under it was a snake. I gently put the pot down and moved as quickly as I could without running back into the house and didn't go back into the back yard for about a month.

 

This may sound weird but I'm afraid of plecos even though I have one (bristlenose pleco) the only reason I'm afraid of it is because I would not want to get pricked by it or I would not want It to suck on me I'm always scared it's going to do it during a water change View attachment 411390

I used to be afraid of plecos myself! I remember as a child having to insist my parents flush a baby common pleco down the toilet due to my fear (horrible, I know, but we didn’t know much about fish keeping then. I presumed it would be in paradise with all the algae it could ever want) I got over my fear simply via looking at albino plecos, which are much less creepy to me. Eventually I got used to them, although really big non-albino plecos still weird me out a bit. You could also try wearing rubber gloves, so if your pleco DOES attach to you, it’ll only attach to the gloves. And it’ll probably be wanting to keep away from you while you’re working.

I’m also terrified of leeches, and I don't think I’ll be able to get over my fear any time soon. I still can’t understand why they started breeding a giant foot long leech that was critically endangered. I wouldn’t mind a world without giant leeches, would you? At least it doesn’t really effect me, you’re just not gonna get me to wade barefoot in swampy areas.

 

Don’t look up lampreys MrBrackishGuy

 

Don’t look up lampreys MrBrackishGuy

There is a cheap horror movie made about them.

 

My parents are afraid of (Most of these are species I want)
Snakes
Spiders
Rats
Mice
Cockroaches
I'm only scared of leeches lol

 

I’m terrified of frogs and roaches. There is no helping me. I don’t want any help.

 

 

I’m terrified of frogs and roaches. There is no helping me. I don’t want any help.

I don't get the fear of frogs. lol I used to lifeguard at an outdoor pool with a girl who was afraid of them. One day she accidentally put her foot on one and almost shot up to the sky. I thought I kid was drowning but it was just a poor little frog. lol

 

When I was little I used to collect them from my pool. I made a box "Lounge" a solo cup 'restruant' and more. Of course, they didn't survive. RIP little guys.

 

I don't get the fear of frogs. lol I used to lifeguard at an outdoor pool with a girl who was afraid of them. One day she accidentally put her foot on one and almost shot up to the sky. I thought I kid was drowning but it was just a poor little frog. lol

I used to love frogs and toads. As a kid, I had fond memories collecting them from ponds, and then releasing them back later. Then I grew up, and now they just creep me out.

Part of it was my time in the army. I spent a month training in the swamp, and the place smelled like poop. And I was either knee or waist deep in mud, except it felt like moving through raw sewage. Guess what there were a lot of? Frogs. They were everywhere, and it was absolutely disgusting to me.

I did a lot of night vision training, while there. My unit would go on mostly night missions. Hundreds of frogs would come out onto the roads at night onto the trails and roads. It was unavoidable that we had to walk, or run through them when getting fired upon during an exercise. Come dawn, you'd see flattened bodies everywhere. Later in the day, the summer sun gets them nice and cooked.

When I see a frog, I see a slimy, fat creature with wet bug eyes staring back at me accusingly. Maybe my phobia is partially from disgust and partly from guilt.

 

Believe it or not, I once dated a girl a long time ago who was seriously afraid of Dinosaurs! Yes, Dinosaurs. She lived with this irrational fear that a dinosaur was going to come and eat her. Needless to say that was enough to stop dating her...

 

I used to love frogs and toads. As a kid, I had fond memories collecting them from ponds, and then releasing them back later. Then I grew up, and now they just creep me out.

Part of it was my time in the army. I spent a month training in the swamp, and the place smelled like poop. And I was either knee or waist deep in mud, except it felt like moving through raw sewage. Guess what there were a lot of? Frogs. They were everywhere, and it was absolutely disgusting to me.

I did a lot of night vision training, while there. My unit would go on mostly night missions. Hundreds of frogs would come out onto the roads at night onto the trails and roads. It was unavoidable that we had to walk, or run through them when getting fired upon during an exercise. Come dawn, you'd see flattened bodies everywhere. Later in the day, the summer sun gets them nice and cooked.

When I see a frog, I see a slimy, fat creature with wet bug eyes staring back at me accusingly. Maybe my phobia is partially from disgust and partly from guilt.

Well, and that's a perfect reason to want to avoid frogs. Forgive my initial lack of empathy and it's amazing how strong someone has to be in the army.

 

Well, and that's a perfect reason to want to avoid frogs. Forgive my initial lack of empathy and it's amazing how strong someone has to be in the army.

Oh, I wasn't upset, so there's nothing to forgive . I just get too wordy sometimes.

 

Snakes. Snakes. I just cannot do snakes... I just lose it, even over little ones. I'll speak to a crowd, go to the dentist, get a needle, stand down a bull, but let a snake slither across my path and I lose it.

My mother was terrified of snakes. I still remember her screaming hysterically upon finding one in the garden. Thanks, Mom.

 

Snakes. Snakes. I just cannot do snakes... I just lose it, even over little ones. I'll speak to a crowd, go to the dentist, get a needle, stand down a bull, but let a snake slither across my path and I lose it.

My mother was terrified of snakes. I still remember her screaming hysterically upon finding one in the garden. Thanks, Mom.

I love snakes. Maybe a little too much. I have to conciously stop myself from grabbing one I come across in the wild, not knowing whether it’s venomous or not. The things I’m afraid are usually harmless, and the things I should be afraid of, I’m not.

 

Logically I understand what you are saying and I'd be saying the same thing to someone else about dogs, rats, emus, or whatever, but it's like my logical mind (what little of it there is) shuts down upon seeing a snake and fight-or-flight takes over.

PS: Please do not send me a box of snakes to work with!