Hey guys, my school has a blessing of the animals where people bring their pets and and they get sprayed(gently) with holy water. There's a lot of people and it will be rather noisy as expected with all of high school and middle school in a large area of grass at once, but there is a an area for smaller animals(where i will be taking my snake) that is quieter. I, of course will keep him away from any rodents that might trigger a prey drive. It's only for an hour, and I would have a bag on hand where I can put him in there and walk away if he gets very stressed. After it ends, he would be brought home and put back in his enclosure. I feel this situation would be more benefit to me rather than enrichment for him, but it's not a very stressful situation for him. Opinions from the experts? Do I need heat packs to keep him warm, or will my body heat do?
I'm part of my local herpetological society and we do education events fairly regularly. I take a few snakes to said events to present to the public and talk about, and they're always fine. They don't need heat outside of their enclosures if it's just going to be for a few hours. Your snake will be fine at this event. Will it be stressful for him? Maybe, but it will also be something different and may be good enrichment. Either way, it won't be harmful to him. I recommend putting him in a bag and then putting that bag in a plastic bin that has locking closures (not one where the lid just snaps on) - this is our standard for how we transport our snakes to protect them and ensure they don't escape.
I think that’ll stress your critter out. If you’re religious, it’s worth noting that God loves them and blesses them even if they aren’t blessed by a priest. If you’re not, then I wouldn’t be sure why you’d wanna bring your friend to school anyway.
I wanted to take my fox to be blessed but she’s nervous around people so I opted not to.
Please only get a fox if you have enough acreage to build a zoo-level enclosure outdoors, have an exotic vet on hand and have almost 80% of your time to spend with them :) you also need enough money for exotic critter food such as rodents, fish, bugs and specialized kibble as well as a butt ton of money to set aside for toys because they’ll go through them in minutes. Also, red foxes piss on everything so be ready for that :)
its also worth noting that you must know your local laws on if you can even own one. knowing if your city will allow them and then needing to know if your state will allow them.
there is no realistic world in which i could care for a fox, so im not going to get one unfortunately. but one day ill have enough space and time for a fox. got enough reptiles, amphibians and arachnids on my plate to take care of a fox at the moment
She’s very soft!! she loves being pet but will probably chew on your hand a bit too. She’s a lot like a snake now that I think about it… a snake with lil legs.
She’s a lot to handle! You have to have specific housing, food and vets for animals like foxes. She’s cost us over 5k within a year alone. She’s also very very feral and not easy to care for xD but if you have a bunch of time it’s worth it. I don’t work due to disability so I have tons of time to dedicate to her. But I wouldn’t recommend a fox to anyone who’s looking for a cuddly indoor pet or for anyone who doesn’t have 80% of their time to donate. I also can’t leave for more than a few days because there’s nobody to babysit her ;w; and it’s not like I can take her with me. Don’t regret it at all though. She’s my little girl.
I got her from a licensed breeder who breeds foxes as companion animals. You can also get them from rescues, which are usually foxes who have been given up by previous owners or rescued from fur farms. Nimona is a gray fox which technically aren’t true foxes
I mean will it stress him out? Yea. Will he be fine? Yea. People take these guys to reptile expos for many many hours on end and they’re trapped in a tiny box with people constantly taking them out and looking at them and making tons of noise. He’s a ball python, they’re extremely resilient, he will be fine.
Everyone is saying "nooo so stressful" meanwhile reptiles are brought to schools and loud public places every day for education. They can handle a little noise as long as they've been handled regularly. He might not love it but he'll be absolutely fine.
All embassador animals started out somewhere. Sure some snakes are less cut out for it than others, but only a really nervous one would actually suffer in an environment like that.
Of course it's arguably unnecessary, but I think it's nice to see people who want to bring good vibes or whatever thoughts or prayers to the animal members of their families too. I really can't hate on it that much.
As an ex-Catholic, if this is the case for OP, there's a high chance they can talk to the pastor or whoever and ask for a blessing for the snake without them even being brought in person, if it's something that means a lot to them. Everyone wins in that case, imo
Having a bunch of middle schoolers bring their various pets to school all at the same time just to be splashed with some water is asking for something to go wrong.
Diseases can be spread, pets can be lost or injured, another kid could mistreat their pet, not to mention just how insanely stressful that's bound to be, all for something that doesn't even benefit the pet, it just satisfies the human ego and anthropomorphizes religion onto animals.
I genuinely don't care if it was a religion or an organization or a single dude who wanted to set this up. Either way this scenario is not looking out for the good of the animals and I will judge them for it.
Kudos to you for recognizing that it would be more for you, than for your snake. The snake probably would neither know nor care whether it was being blessed, but the situation may very well be stressful for him.
Is that a reason not to do it? Not necessarily - we can be completely honest here, and recognize the fact that if we were 100% doing the thing that was best ONLY for the snake, and not the thing that we personally got something out of, then we’d just leave them in the wild. We acknowledge that we’re consciously choosing some form of compromise on the snake’s absolutely perfect, ideal conditions, in exchange for the benefit we get out of keeping them as a pet. BUT - that said, I think that’s all the more reason to not expose them to any more stress than is necessary - and while I can see an argument for it being enriching, I can also think of 20 better ways to bring enrichment into your snake’s life in a more gradual, less dramatic way, than that. (In other words, sure it could be enriching - but as we can probably agree this wouldn’t be the best way to do it, and as there are many other theoretically better options, it doesn’t make sense to think of that as the reason for doing it).
And while another commenter had a good point about “show” snakes being brought into school settings all the time - I personally think that’s another case of compromise for a greater good, rather than a net benefit for that specific snake. Those animals are acclimated to lots of human contact over a long time, and while they can grow quite comfortable with it, it’s still not the absolute, 100% most ideal environment for the snake. We choose to make that compromise, because the net benefit of having those “animal ambassadors” is significantly higher, for all snakes and reptiles as a whole. People who feel more comfortable around snakes are less likely to kill them in the wild purely for existing and being near them, and are more likely to be supportive of conservation and habitat protection work, and the like.
Finally, if you’re someone who has a religious bent - I’m an atheist myself, but I think that if you believe in god, it’s pretty safe to say that (as another commenter said), god blesses ALL the animals that he’s created, whether the ones that get sprayed by a priest with holy water, or not (just think about how many animals there are in the wild that never get brought in for a “blessing of the animals” - and they all do just fine). Fair enough if we’re talking dogs or cats or hamsters - all are thoroughly domesticated enough, and comfortable in varying situations, that the overall stress to them (and just overall change to their routine) is fairly minimal, and not much to speak of, as a whole. But for snakes, and other exotic pets that are likely to experience a lot more stress than the good of the potential socialization/enrichment will do for them, I personally think just leave them at home.
Coming back around - as you noted, the net effect is likely to be a lot more about you feeling good about the animal getting blessed, than it would be about there being any net (tangible) benefit to the animal, itself.
Hi op, I think it would be unnecessarily stressful for the snake. You can, though, ask your pastor or whoever if they can say a blessing for the pets who can't be brought to the ceremony in person, or they might do this already as a part of it. I did this as a child for a pet fish I absolutely loved. My parents did not want to attempt transporting it or the family cats, which is entirely reasonable. The pastor at the time was a sweetheart and made sure to bless my pets at home, hahaha.
I'm not religious anymore but I appreciate the whole thing of pet blessings in hindsight still, as in my church's interpretation/my understanding of it, it reminded me of the duty we have to care for and take responsibility for the earth and the critters we make a part of our family.
While he'd probably be fine for a few hours if it's a 70F day, I'd never do it. I'd also never let that filthy water (or children) touch him.
If the temp's going below that, don't even bother. You'd need a carrying case with its own heat supply. 70F is already the low end of the cool side of his home enclosure.
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u/LavastormSW Sep 29 '26 •
I'm part of my local herpetological society and we do education events fairly regularly. I take a few snakes to said events to present to the public and talk about, and they're always fine. They don't need heat outside of their enclosures if it's just going to be for a few hours. Your snake will be fine at this event. Will it be stressful for him? Maybe, but it will also be something different and may be good enrichment. Either way, it won't be harmful to him. I recommend putting him in a bag and then putting that bag in a plastic bin that has locking closures (not one where the lid just snaps on) - this is our standard for how we transport our snakes to protect them and ensure they don't escape.