Wisdom and joy are right where you left them.

[Gary D.]

Wisdom and joy are right where you left them. Providing of course they are not the names of the snakes you forgot to close the lids on. (Hey that might make a good signature.)

Situations in my life have been changing pretty dramatically since June. And lately alot for good friends too. I foud that when given the opportunity to acquire some new animals for purposes other than breeding I was acquiring some that I recalled from my youth and that first introduced me to reptiles. A while ago Ryan and Sheila sold me a tegu which was a large part of the educational program I was doing. But became a huge part of the family as much as any domestic pet. Recently I had purchased some green anoles for more nefarious purposes, and rediscovered how enjoyable they could be (Anoles were my very first reptile). And have been actually noticing and enjoying more posts on various forums concerning them. My son now keeps a pair in his room much as I did years ago.

I also have the good fortune to be getting some fantasitc animals for our display from SCALES Zoo, but what Ryan didn't realise was the wisdom that was coming with them. Through conversations with Ryan I began to realise that I was finding that I was not enjoying my animals as I once did, (even the anoles) and with new aquisitions, that pit was only getting deeper unless I made conscious efforts to not get trapped. As such I am making that effort and now having the time of my life.

So I will pass on some of that wisdom to members here. Go out and buy an Anole or what ever brought you into the hobby. And when you do your cage cleaning and attend to your other duties look at it and use it as a reminder to put the scoop and water jug down and enjoy the animals you
had then and have now for a minute or two. Some times we need to stop and remember why we are in this game in the first place. The only guranteed way to avoid burn out.

GD

[corr]

Great post Gary. Thanks!

[marisa]

Nice post! I have at times wanted to even get out of kingsnakes because they are money suckers but then I realize,,,,what the heck am I thinking? I am only into snakes BECAUSE of kingsnakes!

Marisa

[Scales Zoo]

Nice post Gary, but those are just feeder Anoles man, get Brent a real pet like a figi island iguana or something for his room.

The above post was meant to be tounge in cheek. That was a very good post Gary.

Ryan

[justinO]

great post.. Sometimes it is hard to remember why you got each animal.. or how that paticular snake is a pet as well as a breeder. once or twice a week, i try to just take one out and enjoy it, even if its making cage cleaning more difficult!

definatly have to stop and smell the roses again sometime.


Cheers,
Justin

[Scales Zoo]

Just the other day, when I was rushing around to get permits for our outgoing snakes, I stopped and realized that I had been keeping the animals of my dreams, for years, and I never took the time to fully enjoy them. This, of course, was my fault, and it is too late to do anything about it now. I wallowed in self pitty for a while, actually cried, and then vowed to never let the animals become a "neverending chore", ever again. I had too many, for too long - and have been playing with burnout and depression for months.

A couple of months ago, a guy out here who is known for liking to take his time, came to the zoo to watch the feeding. I was running around trying to make the pile of rats and rabbits dissapear into snakes, so I could start feeding the animals at home, and he said "slow down, I want to watch each one eat start to finish".

So we did, and I realized this was something I hadn't done in a long time, and it was always one of my favorite activities back when I had just a few snakes.

My favorite part about my favorite thing, I had started to view as a chore. I can never get back the last couple of years, and I did enjoy keeping all of the reptiles - but I kept myself from enjoying it as much as I did when I had 3 cornsnakes.

Ryan

[Paleosuchus]

This is great post. Other day while holding one of my adult male ball pythons i was thinking about how great of a breeder he would be and how much i could get from him. I get thoughts like this every now an then and thought i was the only one and did not deserve to really be in this hobby. Although i would give and arm and a leg for every single reptile in my home or in general ..thoughts like this always come into mind and becomes all about the money. Recently i have been able to prevent this by watching a whole feeding like Scales Zoo mentioned and just taking my time. Its not about the money, the time wasted, its all about these animals and i am glad this post made me realize this once again.

[zero&stich]

Good post.
Everytime I have my animals out, sometimes I think back to when I was a kid running around catching frogs, salamanders, toads, tons and tons of colubrids in my back yard and how it sparked my interest in keeping herps. When I got back into the hobby in early 2000, I actually did make myself a solemn(sp) promise that I would never forget the drive, passion and the real reasons why I wanted to get involved with them, which I'm sure is everyones reasons such as myself.

[Gary D.]

I had a lady come to our pre-display location yesterday while we are doing our preview of things to come. Anyway she was just in time to catch one of the Afrocks starting to shed out. She sat fixated and amazed at the process like a child seeing this for the first time watching from begining to end. Again another event we take for granted all to often.

Mind you I almost bust a gut trying to stifle laughter when the same snake began to deposit 18"+ of horse size fecal matter right against the glass where she was sitting. An event I definatley did not ever recall with fondness or nostalgia (until now).

GD

[zero&stich]

n/p

[Manitoban Herps]

I have a green anole myself, and there real nice display animals, very cool