My Last Response

[MDT]

Daniel,
I typically don't respond to these things.. but you gotta stop being so hard on yourself. You are young... you will gain experience and learn. I'm 51 and still learning. One would assume that you joined the forum to educate yourself. That's good, that's what these things are for. Keep learning.

Here's a boring story that old people tell, but listen man, I was you as a kid. Trust me, I was the "snake kid" in school, and I dealt with a lot of crap. I had all of the "book facts" on every snake you could think of. I was eating, breathing, sleeping reptiles. My folks were horrified, but finally they succumbed when I caught my first snake at the ripe age of 12. It was a Lined Snake. I named her Margo. Anyway, as I got older, I knew I was going to be a herpetologist. I even communicated with a real-live herpetologist at Oklahoma State University- I wrote him a letter asking how I could be one. I received an awesome letter back, detailing what it really meant to be a herpetologist. As the years went by, I gained more and more experience with different local species. Soon, I was keeping exotics. I made a ton of mistakes. Unfortunately, many of my captives paid the price. But I learned from my mistakes and I realized where my shortcomings were. Continuing on, I later attended Ok State and actually took a herpetology class by the very same Dr. Stanley Fox that had written me back many years earlier. The class was great, the field trips were great, but I then knew I didn't want to pursue a graduate degree, but instead wanted to go into medicine.

Here's the thing...situations and decisions in my life have given me the opportunity to continue with my love of snakes, and afforded me the ability to continue to learn from some really smart people. From the relationships I've forged on these forums, friendships with local zoo keepers, my studies in toxicology and animal venoms, and just like-minded people at reptile expos. I would encourage you to remain and learn, maybe you won't have the latest down-low on research yet, or the most current change in husbandry practices just now... but you will. Give your interest time and room to grow and realize you may not have the answers, realize that "listening" is just as important as "doing"- that is the mark of a truly wise person. That doesn't stop you from soaking up all the info that people are willing to impart.

Seriously man. It's all good... just allow yourself some time. Trust me.