Hindsight, Foresight, and something else ending in sight - or - TL;DR

[Nafun]

I own two snakes. I researched both extensively before purchasing, and was still unprepared. I believe I care for them well, which is not to say I couldn't care for them better, and I have asked a few questions on this forum that, in hindsight, I was embarrassed about having to ask.

However, I look back to my childhood, and I owned many exotic pets. I was never allowed to have snakes, but I had turtles, tortoises, anoles, and several varieties of parrot. I am ashamed to say that none of them lived a full life. There were no internet resources then, and pet stores then, like pet stores now, are more interested in moving the animals out the door than making sure the animal will be well cared for. My two painted turtles likely died as a result of vitamin D deficiency. I had no idea that they needed ultraviolet light. My two box turtles were hastened to their grave by improper diet. The pet store told me to feed them lettuce, now I know that lettuce is as nutritious as wet cardboard. My anoles had a heat rock, and they cooked on it.

I have many excuses, I was young (these things all happened 15 to 24 years ago), young enough that I had a pair of lovebirds named Tweet and Twat, and no one would explain what was wrong with the name. There wasn't much information available to me, the internet wasn't the wealth of information it is today, and internet access wouldn't even come to my area until the mid to late 90's. I wish I could go back in time and educate my younger self. I hastened many beautiful animals to their graves, and there is nothing I will ever be able to do to change that.

This being said, in the short time I have been on these forums, I have seen many people asking questions that hearken me back to that time of my life. People asking questions that could have been answered by a simple google search, and should have been answered before the animal in question was purchased. Clearly the existence of the internet, and its wealth of information on animal husbandry sitting at everyone's fingertips has not changed things.

The only difference I see in pet stores, twenty years after being told to feed my turtles lettuce, is that now instead of pulling information out of their asses, they read off of a vague, and often inaccurate care sheet that encompasses exactly as much information as can be printed on a single sheet of paper.

This isn't going to change, in my heart I know it. Pet stores exist to make money. The true answer to "What does my pet need?" is "How much are you willing to spend?" and a pet store that refused to sell you that $20 iguana unless you were prepared to spend the additional $180 on required accoutrements would quickly go out of business.

To be fair, we are, ourselves, part of the problem. We promote herpetoculture. We want our hobby to be recognized as legitimate. We want snakes to be viewed as beautiful, majestic creatures and not as slimy monsters. The very act of keeping exotic pets, promotes the keeping of exotic pets. I don't know the answer to this, I'm not sure there even is one. It's a painful dichotomy that by trying to change people's views about these animals we indirectly promote an industry that sends these wonderful animals into the hands of people who aren't prepared to care for them.

It doesn't end there either. Every time someone gets bitten by a hot snake that they did not have the experience, patience, or equipment to handle, it hurts our cause. Every time someone releases a snake into the wild because it got too big to handle, it hurts our cause. Every time a news report airs with footage of half a dozen people carrying a snake out of a home, it hurts our cause. It perpetuates the stereotype that snakes are inherently dangerous. I'm not deluding myself, I know that some poisonous snakes as well as large constrictors can kill humans. However, it is improper care, recklessness, and hubris on the part of their keepers that make them dangerous. These exquisite animals are wild, and have to be treated with the caution and respect that such animals demand.

It doesn't matter that more people are killed by dogs, which have been domesticated for 14,000 years, in a year than have been killed by giant constrictors in recorded history. When a dog attacks and kills a human, there is no call to ban dogs as pets. In nearly all incidents, the police and the press rightfully look to the animal's owner. If a horse kicks a keeper, or throws a rider, it is viewed as a tragic accident. Everyone accepts that the horse was being a horse, and that these things can happen when working with dangerous creatures. Most dogs, horses, and captive snakes will never hurt anyone, and because dogs and horses have generally positive stereotypes, the exceptions to the rule are viewed appropriately as aberrations or accidents, rather than the inevitable outcome of handling an inherently dangerous animal.

If you've read this far, I feel I owe you some answers. I regret to tell you that I don't actually have any. I don't know how to change public opinion about reptiles. I don't know how to make the pet trade into a responsible industry. I don't know how to ensure people do sufficient research before purchasing animals. I don't even know how to make sure I don't inadvertently encourage an irresponsible person to purchase a reptile. I will, however, try my best to be a responsible reptile owner. I will make sure I have appropriate shelter, heat, and food for anything I buy. I will make sure I only buy captive bred animals. I will make sure I have sufficient husbandry information to understand and fulfill the needs of the animals in my care. I will do my best to encourage responsible pet ownership, and not tarnish the reputation of herpetoculture through action or inaction. I cannot undo the mistakes of my childhood, but I can ensure that I never make them again, and do my best to keep others from making the same.

[Lankyrob]

I think reading your post a lot of people will relate to your experiences - i certainly do - i have also inadvertently "killed" exotic pets as a kid throught exactly the same thing - lack of knowledge and bad pet shops giving crap advice.

I think the answer (if there is one) is forums like this and more and more responsible snake owners using their time, knowledge and experience to educate as many people as they possibly can and getting as much positive information "out there" as we can.

Finally - thanks to you for making me think!! Good to exercise the brain occassionnally

[DeesBalls]

I too have had animals fall due to this problem.. my 1st gecko the pet store said to just water it and feed it once a week some crickets... well not true at all as you all know. the sad truth is that there will always be people buying burmeeses, anacondas, retics and hots to be "cool" or to show off. and with the pet trade, i will buy animals from there i feel as if i am rescuing them lol. i do a ton and ton of research to ensure that my animals live happy and long, and most importantly healthy. as many of u know i have posted a crap ton of stuff doing research on my BRB, if this was around back then, my poor lil gecko could still be with us.

i want to thank you too. at 1st i almost stopped reading, but i kept reading and was happy i did, thanks for bringing this out and making me think

[Lankyrob]

Best thing about forums like this is that you get more than one viewpoint and more than one experience. Also we all know that the "right" way (textbook) isn't always the "best" way - over time we all adapt the textbook way to fit the situation - experience will never be beaten by reading.

[Nafun]

I want a Burmese python. I think they are absolutely beautiful and I'm infatuated with giant snakes. I don't own a Burmese. I don't have a ready supply of large rabbits, nor do I have three people to help me or spot me every time I want to handle it, or need to clean its enclosure. Sometimes being a responsible pet owner means not being a pet owner at all.

[DeesBalls]

couldn't agree more rob!!

[infernalis]

I could not agree more, and I must confess, I mauled my first hamster to death simply because I "loved it too much" small rodents are exceptionally nervous animals, and I imagine now looking back that all of my "well intentioned" handling stressed my beloved critter to death.

One reason I dedicate so much of my time to the forums, and give information so freely is that if I can at least make some of those animals out there live a better captive life, Then I have done well.

Nearly everyone here has been very helpful to each other, and helpful to the new members that I would also like to express my appreciation to all of you here for sharing the collective knowledge with the people who register to learn about these fascinating animals.

Occasionally we do encounter a person or two that just don't want the answers we give, and sadly the end result is an animal that will suffer and perish due to unwillingness to accept the information provided.

The "mass pet trade" will always be appalling to me, I avoid large chain stores since most (not all) are in the business for one reason only, the money.

If most people were aware that companies like petco buy large quantities of wild caught Iguanas, Anoles, snakes and ball pythons that hatch from eggs stolen from nests in the wild, sales would plummet and the company would fail.

But then on the other hand, I see complete dolts buy these animals with little regard for the animals well being, well that just infuriates me to no end.

I'm going to shut up now, this is a very touchy subject to me...

[shaunyboy]

i am in total agreement with you all.

imo the problem lyes in human nature itself.there will always be pet shops in it for the cash and you will always get these idiots on you tube who think its big to film their big snake hammering a live rabbit or chicken etc,etc.these short films cause so much hatred towards snakes in general also their keepers.all people see is the nice furry or feathery animal getting slaughtered by the big bad snake.theres an idiot over here that was brought to my attention yesterday.he posted a film of his burm striking and eating a live chicken.the fact that he held the bird down while the big burm had a sniff at it didnt help.also the fact the bird survived for a fair legnth of time after its head was struck didnt help.even though i keep snakes its franticly flapping wings made it quite horrible to watch.i am in no way slating anyone who feeds live as thats all their snake will eat.all i'm saying is responsible keepers dont record it then post it for the world to see.when your up against this type of crap its hard to paint snake keeping in a positive way.but we do and as long as theres forums like this and we keep on doing it then maybe eventually the general public will see that those idiots are the very small minority.also we frown on them but much more than anyone else as its our hobby these goons are messing with.

sorry for my rant,i should have just left it at i agree with you all.
cheers shaun

p.s.dont get me started on pet shops as imo they should know better,pity they dont.....!!!

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by Nafun

... Sometimes being a responsible pet owner means not being a pet owner at all.

Nothing else needs to be said except this.

[Coffee Black]

I'm new(ish?) here but I pretty much agree with what everyone has said. Touching on the subject of google searches and such I feel that at one point there was a huge lack of information and with the advent of the internet there is a lot of garbage to sift through. This forum and others i have perused over the past few years have always been more help than a good search could be. Unfortunately, pets are often an impulse buy as much as anything else. I bought my first snake with a cash advance ( at 24%!) the day I got my first credit card. It was a Gray Rat that I rushed home in a too small aquarium with CEDAR shavings and immediately put a live mouse inside. I mixed poor husbandry and poor financial choices in one go. We all make mistakes. Future pet owners will make mistakes but it is places like this that help fix and/or alleviate some of the suffering of the animals AND their distraught owners.

[Aaron_S]

Using the internet is a really good tool for researching. It can also be a problem though. Everyone needs to be aware that just because it's on the internet it doesn't mean it's right! When doing research we all need to take things from multiple sources and sift through all of it to find the good stuff.

[Freebody]

i could not agree more with everyone,specially the you tube videos,you got idiots like described by shaunyboy and also people that film there ever so gental burm or giant snake getting ridden by some small bite size little baby, i know they mean well by showing they are gental giants, but come on that just make us look Stupid and inadvertantly looks worse than the cute chick eating snake videos. I could not have said it better Sometimes being a responsible pet owner is not being a pet owner at all... sad but true, i would like nothing more than to own 2 of everything but the reality of it is just a dream....or actually come on lotto 649... noahs arc here i come

[Nafun]

There's a video out there too of a turtle eating a mouse that will turn your stomach, and turn people against reptile owners...

Don't search for it, you don't want to see it.

When you inevitably search for it anyway, I told you so.

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

Using the internet is a really good tool for researching. It can also be a problem though. Everyone needs to be aware that just because it's on the internet it doesn't mean it's right! When doing research we all need to take things from multiple sources and sift through all of it to find the good stuff.

Something I learned ages ago... That's why these forums are great, you can get a whole series of replies, and then look for the common denominators.

A word of advice to everyone, any WIKI is not to be taken as gospel.

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by infernalis

... A word of advice to everyone, any WIKI is not to be taken as gospel.

If it isn't good enough for a paper in university than it isn't good enough for your animal!