your favorite source for care sheets?

IDvsEGO · 01-08-18, 09:51 AM

when you are researching potential additions, what is your favorite place to read up on proper care/husbandry?

DJC Reptiles · 01-08-18, 10:40 AM

I read a lot of articles on REPTILES Magazine, they have a lot of Care sheets for commonly cared for species. When thinking about getting an animal, it is important to check with more then one source because everyone has different opinions. From all the mixed sources you can make your own opinion on how to care for your new pet.

CameraSkunk · 01-08-18, 10:56 AM

Going to have to agree with DJC here. When I was researching my first I did research everywhere, which by the way is what lead me to this forum. I found that many sources produced a lot of differing opinions as well as some arguments for things that were on separate spectrum. For instance with my sand boa is it better to keep him on sand or aspen. This can be frustrating but what you will get is a number of parameters that are if not exact then they are close. Such as temperature and humidity requirements, size of the animal when fully grown. General Temperament of the animal.

End of the day though after you have the basics of care, it seems to me that each animal has his or her own personality and that comes with some of their own preferences so observance of your own personal animal on what they prefer, higher on their typical temp range or lower, loves being held and nosy vs prefers more solitude, uses humidity boxes vs doesn't use them, and the best one yet eats one mouse or two :P.

I get the desire to be the perfect parent, that would be me, but I'm realizing at some point you have to observe and see what your little snake wants.

Good luck!

IDvsEGO · 01-08-18, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJC Reptiles

I read a lot of articles on REPTILES Magazine, they have a lot of Care sheets for commonly cared for species. When thinking about getting an animal, it is important to check with more then one source because everyone has different opinions. From all the mixed sources you can make your own opinion on how to care for your new pet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CameraSkunk

Going to have to agree with DJC here. When I was researching my first I did research everywhere, which by the way is what lead me to this forum. I found that many sources produced a lot of differing opinions as well as some arguments for things that were on separate spectrum. For instance with my sand boa is it better to keep him on sand or aspen. This can be frustrating but what you will get is a number of parameters that are if not exact then they are close. Such as temperature and humidity requirements, size of the animal when fully grown. General Temperament of the animal.

End of the day though after you have the basics of care, it seems to me that each animal has his or her own personality and that comes with some of their own preferences so observance of your own personal animal on what they prefer, higher on their typical temp range or lower, loves being held and nosy vs prefers more solitude, uses humidity boxes vs doesn't use them, and the best one yet eats one mouse or two :P.

I get the desire to be the perfect parent, that would be me, but I'm realizing at some point you have to observe and see what your little snake wants.

Good luck!

Thanks. Reptiles Magazine has been my starting point and I use it as the comparison for all the other sources I find. I was hoping to see if anyone had any other comparison sources they trust more than me just searching the web and reading them all. Right now, here is my method..

go to reptile magazines site and read up. then I google and compare how many similar care instructions I get and watch for outliers. I generally end up with a fairly good consensus opinion t use as my baseline starting point for each animal. Then, like you guys say I watch them and see how they respond. I bought 2 kings recently and one definitely seems to like it warmer than the other one. They are at the same temps within a degree or two, and the florida stays partial burrowed on the warm side a lot. The Mexican has been all over his tub. He is probably going to a larger setup sooner than later so I can be sure his temp gradient is good.

DJC Reptiles · 01-08-18, 11:39 AM

Awesome, it looks like you have things under control. Once you have a proper temperature gradient your snakes will live very happily.

IDvsEGO · 01-08-18, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJC Reptiles

Awesome, it looks like you have things under control. Once you have a proper temperature gradient your snakes will live very happily.

Thanks. This is my first time using tubs and it is a little different than tanks for sure. Its working out well as a low cost habitat while they are in their tiny little sizes.

jjhill001 · 01-08-18, 09:57 PM

Lots of the good old databases are gone nowadays, I've found that random breeder's sites are best for finding sheets written by someone who's actually cared for the species.

Reptiles magazine's site screws up for me but when the articles load they are a great resource as well.

A lot of care sheets are copy pasted over and over and it becomes apparent pretty quickly if you're doing searches on some of the more popular species.

I would say this, always find more than one source and see if there are any glaring differences.