0:00
My kids live with almost 200 snakes
0:02
Our parenting style is unconventional. Everyone put all the snakes on me
0:06
Some of the negative things that people say, that I should be put in jail, that I'm not a good father
0:13
I really don't ensure that it's safe because these are wild animals. And yes, they can bite
0:19
There been any incidents with the snakes and your children? Want some watermelon too
0:26
My name is Maximus. Where's Ari? Should we go see her? All right, let's go
0:33
Hi. Got some food for you. Oh, thank you. My name is Socrates Christoforo
0:38
and I own about 200 snakes. My wife's name is Jane Christoforo
0:42
We've been together coming up almost close to 10 years. I have two kids
0:47
My son's name is Maximus. He's five years old. And my daughter's name is Ariana
0:52
and she is nine years old. If I were to describe our family
0:56
I would say we are extraordinary. These girls are literally best friends, I can tell
1:01
This was the second snake that Ari got, was a ball python. Ariana, how many snakes do you have
1:06
So in my room, I have 18 snakes. Ariana was one years old when she first held her first snake, which was Snowflake the corn snake
1:16
What's your favorite part about the snakes? Everything, they're like so pretty
1:20
Their faces are cute. That's what you always say. I first got into snakes when I was around six years old, and I caught my very first snakes
1:29
It was a copperhead. So my parents come from Cyprus, and in Cyprus, there's huge snakes and there's venomous snakes
1:39
and they always taught them that snakes can kill you. My family made me very scared of snakes after that
1:48
And then? And then I fell back in love with snakes. Because his friend had a snake and he was like, whoa, can I hold this
1:55
What first started as a fear of mine actually became a passion Everyone put all the snakes on me and then you can take your snakes back Our parenting style is unconventional
2:06
We definitely do a lot of things that are not by the book
2:12
I'm actually giving my kids options and choices instead of me telling my kids what to do
2:19
Kittos, are you hungry? No. Yeah. Yeah? No. No, I don't know
2:25
This is his girlfriend, Fancy. His future girlfriend. So, I'll tell you a little about it
2:34
No, let him be! I'll tell you. Let him be a bullet! All right, you're going to be
2:40
Sit up. Oh, I love Nagy. He's so sweet. He's chicken to five
2:46
I know. How many feet is he now? I don't know. He's probably seven and a half
2:52
Is it normal to have the snakes in your living area like this
2:56
At this point, it is very normal for us to hang out with the snakes. Yeah, absolutely
3:01
They're so chill, though. They, like, you can literally watch a movie with them with no problem
3:06
People think snakes are slimy and mean, but they're not. When people come over, most of them freak out
3:12
But when they get to touch them and hang out with them, they're very comfortable with them
3:17
Is Maximus comfortable with the snakes or does he, is he still adjusting
3:24
Maximus at the beginning, he wasn't very comfortable with the snakes, but then he adjusted pretty quickly
3:29
He loves them now. You never forced it on him. Which is your favorite snake
3:35
Megatron. I think it's safe for my kids to interact with snakes like this
3:38
I trust my husband. He knows his animals and I think it's totally safe
3:44
How do you ensure it's safe? So I really don't ensure that it's safe because these are wild animals and yes, they can bite
3:53
but I don have a snake in here that has a capability of eating my children Is there any snake you would never have or would be very cautious to have No because I really love venomous snakes I wouldn keep those venomous snakes here because I have kids
4:09
That would be a totally different story if I kept cobras. And even then, you needed licenses
4:16
You have people coming to check that you have to have a lock and you have to have a door with another lock
4:22
There are certain guidelines. Yeah, it's a totally different story. venomous snakes I mean I don't think anyone would trust a kid going in there I have a venomous snake
4:30
but I have a lock on my door I have a sign that says venomous and it's locked and they come every
4:36
year and they check absolutely absolutely all right so this is the snake room we have the
4:45
individual enclosures each of them has plant helps with humidity but also with oxygen these appear
4:55
are Amazon basins. They have the largest teeth of any non-venomous snake, so they can get up to two
5:01
inches. Ari's been bit a couple times by baby snakes, but it happens, you know. I've never had
5:15
a snake escape. When I was little, I was very nosy. Baby Amazon basin that was sick, and then I
5:22
it opened the cage and I was mimicking it and then it decided to go bite my tongue
5:28
and then there was blood all over my tongue. But babies don't hurt when a baby bites you
5:33
And I didn't cry though. It's getting bit by a dog, like a pit bull
5:36
or even a little dog. They will cause more damage than the snakes that I have here
5:41
These are all green tree pythons. All these are snakes that I've created over the years
5:47
So when we breed, the great thing about green tree pythons is that they are all, it's almost like a box of chocolate
5:53
You never know what you're gonna get. So I probably spent around on snakes but this room also costs about 100K I started sharing my story online because I just think that these snakes are absolutely breathtaking I
6:10
had negative comments I personally just don't pay attention to them so some of
6:15
the negative things that people say because my wife tell me is that I'm not
6:20
a good father that I should be put in jail these people are crazy the snakes
6:28
exercising the kids up to eat them. As you can see, this is not just me keeping a snake
6:35
in some little tank, but there's a lot of education, a lot of research, a lot of years and hard work
6:42
that has been put into this. I put my kids safety first
6:47
I would never put my kids in danger. Like, it's just, they are my life
6:52
So I don't have a favorite snake. I like all of them equally
6:56
So things that we enjoy doing together is obviously hanging out with the snakes
7:02
We are a very active family as well. Who are you at your best in your energy, in your work, and in your love
7:08
For my energy, I am an amazing gymnast, cheerleader, jiu-jitsu person, and crossfitter
7:16
Okay, beautiful. That's a good energy. What about you, Maximus? And boxing
7:21
Yep, and you're a lion, right? And soccer and traditional practice. Ready
7:31
Whoa! I know what type of father I am. I know how I want to push my kids
7:37
I want them to be leaders. What I hope the future holds for my family is just positivity and us educating not just about snakes
7:46
but about living an extraordinary life, living to your fullest potentials, and living your life, no one else's
