Shira Loa of Snake Therapy discusses her journey with snakes - from her initial fear of snakes, her first snake purchase, to her work in snake education and husbandry advancement. She shares details of how her first interaction with a snake led her to a journey with her own snakes, as well as beginning interactions with other people in order form a connection with them and snakes. Her passion for the therapeutic benefits that reptiles can bring to their keepers shows as she discusses the various mental health benefits that have been seen in both neurodivergent and non-neurodivergent individuals. Shira also discusses the Neurodiversity and Reptile Keeping Survey that she created in hopes of understanding more about what reptile keeping can offer neurodivergent people, leading to talk about the potential for overconsumption of reptiles and traits that neurodivergent people have for keeping reptiles more efficiently.

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LINKS FROM THE EPISODE:Survey: https://bit.ly/SnakeTherapySurveyhttps://www.youtube.com/@snake_therapyhttps://www.patreon.com/SnakeTherapywithShiraLoahttps://shiraloametalwork.com/pages/snake-shed-metal-art-jewelryhttp://www.instagram.com/snaketherapy_shiraloahttps://www.thelittlezoo.org/

We Discuss:0:00 Coming Up1:44 Welcome Shira - Her History With Snakes5:05 Purchasing Her First Snake8:59 From Fear to Fascination - How did it happen?11:35 Shira’s Home for Snakes - 9 Total!13:50 The Start of Snake Therapy18:45 Interactions With Animals Is Therapeutic21:25 Shira’s Work With The Little Zoo Non-Profit23:20 Helping People Connect With Snakes25:55 The Therapeutic Benefits That Snakes Can Give28:32 Caring For Animals Helps With Mental Health30:24 The Response From Social Media32:35 The Bio Dude - Substrates and Diets33:37 Neurodivergence & Reptiles45:42 Neurodiversity and Reptile Keeping Survey57:24 Reptiles Don’t Have To Just Be For “Reptile People”59:43 Overconsumption of Reptiles1:04:47 Neurodivergent Keepers Can Make Better Keepers?1:07:18 The Content’s Purpose and Reach1:11:13 Animal Welfare and Our Connections1:14:05 Shira’s Next Projects1:17:25 Shira Loa Metal Work1:19:03 Closing Thoughts