Things you've learned the hard way??

[ChristinaM]

I was wonderring if ya'll could spill the beans on some mistakes you've made, lessons learnt, etc. as you enterred the reptile keeping world.

I learned one today.

- Came home and checked on the snakies. Noticed my hoggie's tank was messed up, very unlike her. Opened it up and found my sweet little baby with the thermometer sensor stuck on her head :o

I use the indoor/outdoor probe thermometers. The probe part on some has a sticky side so you can stick it wherever. I had mine stuck in her container, and somehow she had "opened" the sensor, so that the sticky part was still sticking to the wall, the sensor itself was in the tank, and the casing of it was stuck on her head, just barely above one eye.

LUCKILY, this part was not as sticky as the piece stuck to the tank. But still, she needed a soak and very gently I was able to peel it off with no damage, thankfully.

I never even thought this could happen. :(

Lesson: be very careful as to where you put a thermometer probe....../ remove anything that could stick to your animal. etc.

[Bartman]

Lesson: any crack, gap, or hole in a snake tank will become noticed and used!!

Lost my snake twice, and luckily both times i woke up and heard him knocking things over lol

[KrokadilyanGuy3]

Dont wash your hands in your croc pond.. And Never let your tortoise taste your cat.

[SerpentLust]

Never stick tank background to the INSIDE of a tank as tape is NOT your friend when it comes to snakes

[urd]

Originally posted by KrokadilyanGuy3
Dont wash your hands in your croc pond.. And Never let your tortoise taste your cat.

LOL:D

[condabroad]

balls will find a way out of any enclosure.

[condabroad]

LOL just realized what I wrote.

[crazyboy]

dont put the enclosures near a heat vent even if it is closed.

[JimmyDavid]

What a dirty mind, condabroad...
Remember to keep the humidity high with retics, if not it will build breathing problems through time and could become too late at some point.

[lostwithin]

1) Even the biggest ball can fit through a tiny hole, and at the same time, just because your snake doesn’t bother trying too escape for over a year doesn’t mean she wont one-day venture out a small hole. 2. Pet store animals are VERY poorly treated and should be avoided. 3. Turtles are not slow animals, and AMAZING escape artists, never turn away even for second if they are unconfined. And 4.Some turtles seem too LOVE jumping off stairs.
Devon

[snakehunter]

Never reach into an under water crevice you cant see into when your chest deep in water and only think you know whats in there!

[Iceman]

never try to take a dead rat away from a burm just because you think she wont eat it...

[JimmyDavid]

Triple the caution on that for a retic...

[KingFfaj]

dont brumate male snakes unless you want to breed them, horney male snakes are VERY noisey.
A 6 foot high fence is no match for "action tortoise", they are suprisingly good climbers

[mykee]

Ditch loose substrate, snakes are good burrowers and can get belly burns very easily.

[K1LOS]

lesson learned:

One reptile always leads the way to getting another. Leopard gecko's are actually "gateway lizards". Don't get ANY reptiles unless you are prepared to dedicate all your free time to maintaining the ones you have, and researching the ones you want.


good thread.

GEoff

[Knightmare113]

The first thing I learned is not to set the water bowl directly on top of the substrate. Snakey burrowed under it and managed to dump about half the water out. I used apen shavings in my tank so when I woke up in the morning the area around the water dish looked like oatmeal. That was not very fun to clean up.

[Leviathan]

Never date someone who doesn't like your reptiles or at least tolerates them!!!

[Tim_Cranwill]

A tough lesson I had to learn a couple times...

"Proven breeder pairs" are not always what they are cracked up to be. They are often being sold for a reason. Make sure they are HEALTHY and properly sexed.

Another good one....

Don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions before you buy a snake... even from a "well respected" breeder. Ask for the animal's history, why it's being sold (unless it's a hatchling), if it's feeding, what it's feeding on, how well it feeds, if they have feeding records and etc... know exactly what you're getting to avoid disappointment.

[M_surinamensis]

2. Pet store animals are VERY poorly treated and should be avoided.

That kind of universal statement is just plain wrong. While you might have problems with your local petstores, there are PLENTY of amazing pet shops with high quality animals that will result in a much better purchase than most wholesalers or jobbers... heck, many of them will result in a healthier animal than breeders. There are obviously *some* bad petstores... don't take that and decide that ALL petstores are the devil incarnate, you just make yourself look ignorant.

As to things I learned the hard way... Only probe or pop snakes with your mouth closed... Sometimes frog bites can hurt... Always aim away from face (I don't care what it is, animals have at *least* two dangerous ends that you don't want involved with your face).

[KrokadilyanGuy3]

Something I learned yesterday.. Just because it's fat and looks slow doesn't prove true.. Uros can sure move..

[lostwithin]

M_surinamensis, you are completely right I’m sure there are pet stores out there that have perfectly healthy animals, and care for them properly.

You also brought up the frog which I have also learned, a frog CAN hurt, I witnessed a large bull frog actually bite the flesh completely off the tip of my friends finger and have had the same species (actually same frog) latch into my hand, OUCH.

[Darren179]

a baby corn will bite you a 100 times and it wont hurt an adult boa will bite you once and it will hurt

[Oliverian]

This has basically been said already, but NEVER use tape in an enclosure when you can help it. It almost never ends up very well. And, don't handle snakes when you smell like lunch.

-TammyR

[ChristinaM]

Excellent lessons. Some I didn't realise.

tape or anything adhesive with snakes is NOT a good idea :(
-doublecheck, triplecheck, and then do it again, that the lids are on tight for your rubbermaids. Most, along the sides, if you try with one finger you can lift it up enough that a snake could easily do, and buh bye snake ( learned that one, but LUCKILY, I found my snake)

- I definately agree with Tim.
Question those you are buying from.
Most breeders and sellers will respect your questions and answer willingly. Any question you have, ASK. Just because they are an experienced breeder, does not mean you will always get quality animals.

[vanderkm]

Definately agree with Tim -

Sex everything you buy personally - I don't take anyone's word for it any more.

mary v.

[TheRedDragon]

Well, no lessons learned for me the hard way yet, but, Invictus learned the hard way that corn snakes like to use him as a toilet! :p

[Oliverian]

... And don't try to microwave rodents..... or leave them under heat lamps and forget about them. Both not very fun things to do!

-TammyR

[Matt.B]

kaboom lol :D
Matt

[Oliverian]

Yep, definitely. Not a fun thing to clean up.

-TammyR

[ChristinaM]

Leave VISA at home when going to herp shows :o
as well as any other means of quick money.

[Babysnake]

1. To reiterate part of lostwithin's post, DON'T get complacent about your caging. My female ringed python squeezed out of her ironically named Stay-in Reptile tank and froze to death this winter after somehow finding her way under the floor of my next door neighbor's house. She had lived in that tank from hatchling size when I got her in back 2000.

2. Bearded dragons have very sharp, sharklike teeth, strong jaws, and bad aim when going after food, so don't hold treats for them in your fingertips.

3. A white lipped python's tooth pattern makes an interesting temporary tattoo.

4. Take amost everything you are told about an animal with a grain of salt. Do your own research, work with your animals, and observe, observe, observe. Anyone can be wrong about some things.

[sapphire_moon]

1.) listen to obviously good advice no matter how "right" you think you are, an animals life is at stake here.

2.) Don't get grouchy or upset if people correct your husbandry, or correct something you say. They only have the best of the animal at heart.

3.)some people just don't listen to advice you give them, and they still mistreat their animals. There is NOTHING you can do about it.( short of something illegal, lol)

[Lrptls]

dont give reptiles prey you think might be too big, ususally if you think its too big and feed it any ways, you'll have a nice stinky mess to clean up in the next few days.

alwasy keep your eyes on red tail boas. always watch their head and their tail. whatever the neck or tail gets around becomes a perch for the next 5 minutes (i can't just yank my 6 foot boa off of things, i end up having to tickle her tail to make her let go)

i'll repeat it again, watch turtles! they really are great escape artists, i'v lost count of how many times my red belly has gotten out of his tank and got a free few hours in the herp room

hognose snakes are good escapers too. never think there bad climbers.

be careful housing canibalistic snakes together, you might find one day that one is missing and no, it didn't escape (great plains garters for example)

always seperate snakes when feeding ALWAYS!

dont get a pacman frog unless you like geting peed on every time you hold it

[Classic]

1. If you are using a lid on your water dish...make sure the hole in the center is large. Make sure that the water will not fill to the top of the lid when the snake submerges itself.


Brian

[BoidKeeper]

The pain of glass in the front of your front opening 5' boa cage will not suport your weight while kneeling on it.
Oh and always have a place to put a 6' Colombian if you forget the first part of what I wrote because you're 5' wife gets board fast while holding a 6' snake.
Cheers,
Trevor

[marisa]

I'll second this posted by Lrptls

"i'll repeat it again, watch turtles! they really are great escape artists, i'v lost count of how many times my red belly has gotten out of his tank and got a free few hours in the herp room"

Yes! My RES Mikey is housed in large rubbermaid type bins in the winter. Last winter was no problem. This winter I switched type of bin and I walked in a week later and saw Mikey on the ground sitting near my cham cage. LOL. I have no clue how he got himself up and out of the cage.

Marisa

[wyz]

- No matter how well you plan home made cages.. have them looked at by another herper friend.. Chances are there are some important things you forgot :) Don't build cage on a tight fixed budget.

- If you budget your herp spendings... add 50% to your plans :)

- Unless you have lots of experience and money..don't take in rescues.. leave it to the experts.. It's not because you were able to save 1 skinny leo that you can save everything, everytime.

- If you have a female lizard.. she can prodice eggs without any males around... be sure to allways have someplace where she can lay.

WYZ

[bubba]

do not assume the DOR rattlesnake you just threw in the back of your jeep is gonna stay DOR!

[Oliverian]

Personal experience bubba? That would suck.... Zombie snakes.

-TammyR

[justinO]

Originally posted by Babysnake
3. A white lipped python's tooth pattern makes an interesting temporary tattoo.


Lol, don't I know it.
first day i got my white lip home, i was putting her in her tank and i got tagged 2x in the 30 seconds it took to get her in.



on a sad note, something i've learned the hard way, if ever an animal escapes in the car, DON"T PANIC and watch where you step or kneel:(

[Kara]

Mealworms of all sizes and butter worms can and will chew through any bags that you leave them in for a few hours. I was finding butter worms for weeks!!!......and I was told that they don't live long without a constant food supply!

Leads into #2: take everything said to you with a grain of salt, I know its been said all ready but really good advice.

[Will]

Only probe or pop snakes with your mouth closed...

Too funny... I'll keep that one in mind...

[bubba]

don't set bagged snakes on a chair where some fat *** may sit on them!