Posted by:
HappyHillbilly
at Tue Oct 23 23:00:32 2007 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by HappyHillbilly ]
I've been trying to fade out of the picture on this but felt compelled to mention a few things.
I have a nice big smile on my face that's not a smirk, but a genuine, friendly smile.  I will make no assumptions, insinuations, accusations or anything likewise, I promise, so I ask that everyone not take anything I'm about to say that way.
Rarely do debates change the minds of the debaters. That is not what debates are about, what they're supposed to do. Debates are for two or more people to present their arguments, to layout the reasons for their way of thinking, for everyone else to see, in hopes of giving people what they need to make an informed decision.
Our political jackarses are not trying to convince each other during their debates, they're trying to convince us that they've got the best solution. I can only hope that everyone else sees what I see; That at least 95% of them are absolutely clueless to what the real world is like.
Anyway......, I'm sure that several hundred, if not thousands, of people have read these latest discussions, and at least that many more will do so before much longer. Hopefully they will somehow benefit from the discussions.
Donning a thick skin while participating on forums will serve us all well.
Someone stated; "for every article that I am told to look at, there's another article saying the exact opposite."
A lot of times that's true. On the same token, many times "the experts" will say something, only to do an about-face years later. That tells me that even "the experts" are human, they make mistakes, too. They get it wrong sometimes.
I've got three books on a particular reptile species I'll not mention sitting right here in front of me. Most people would unwittingly say that they each were written by "experts." Yeah, and Al Gore is an expert on global warming. How to consume 20 times the national average of household energy, maybe. Go, big Green! A Nobel? Hahahahahaha!!! 
The books are fairly good books with a lot of good information, but neither of them are totally accurate. In fact, they each mention the fact that other books contain inconsistent & inaccurate information.
The reason some books contain inaccuracies? Because they're written by people that study the animal for only brief periods at a time, not dedicated keepers of that animal.
There are, of course, some books written by scientific keepers, long-time dedicated to the species they write about. But even these will vary in opinions on one thing or another, from author to author, expert to expert.
We have to keep in mind that there are "facts" and then there are "opinions." We have to be able to distinguish between the two.
I could point out what's facts and what's opinions of what has recently be discussed but I'm not here to do everyone's thinking for them. I'm here to try to help, share, and learn. I'm not here to create enemies or friends, to try to look intelligent, build up my ego, look & feel important, or anything other than positive benefits for the forum members/readers and myself. Friendship is a bonus, one that I enjoy & value. In my case, it's what's in a name: Happy Hillbilly.
For the record, I welcome differences of opinion. If everyone thought like me it would be a perfect world, and we couldn't have that, could we? Hahahahaha!!! Just kidding, of course.
Last but not least; One thing that will most always cause problems, friction, is misquoting someone or stating things out of context. Most of the time it is unintentional, carelessness, but it still causes problems just the same. Ya'll, if you're gonna quote someone, say that they said "such-n-such", please make sure you get it right. Many times, on different forums, I've seen misquoted statements and statements taken out of context snowball into damaging devices.
Example:
It was said by someone that "Happy Hillbilly quarentines for 1 1/2 weeks..."
The fact is, I never stated that I quarantine for 1 1/2 weeks. The fact is, I never said how long I usually quarantine an animal.
To set the record straight, once again, and for the last time, the "1 1/2 weeks" referrenced stems from the photo session of my rescued burmese & my long-term captive male burmese. THIS is what I said: "The snakes only came into contact for about 2 minutes, max. They aren't housed together, although I wouldn't hesitate to do so if i wanted to or had a need to."
In the same post, a few paragraphs down, I also stated: "I've always said that if a person can't tell that a reptile has any health problems within 2 weeks, then they've still got a lot to learn."
Let's just say that an inexperienced, mentally inept individual, for some unknown reason, looks up to me, considers me to be fairly knowledgeable about reptiles. (I know, that's quite a stretch of imagination. Ha! Ha!)
They only read something falsely attributed to me and take it as gospel from me. They only quarantine their newest reptile for 1 1/2 weeks and it spreads a deadly disease that wipes out all of their reptiles. Not good.
When most people see a beautiful digital image they notice the vibrant colors. What they don't see are the millions of dots per pixel that make that image.
Here's the deal with my rescued burmese. The snake was the single reptile in the household for all of it's seven years of life since purchased as a baby. No contact with any other snake prior to my acquisition of her. Based on what I know I believe the odds of IBD had come & gone. After closely observing the snake for 1 1/2 weeks, normal water intake, normal defecation & passing of urates, good physical condition, etc..., with my level of experience I was not, am not, concerned with any of the shorter incubation period illnesses because I feel certain they don't exist.
With the two snakes coming into contact for the minimal time that they did during the photo session, I believe that I stand a better chance of getting struck by lightnin' while runnin' naked as a jaybird across the mountain tops at exactly 11:19pm tomorrow night than either one of the snakes contracting an illness from the other. Ha! Ha! No, I don't always go streakin' thru the mountain tops, only when Billy Bob comes home early. JUST KIDDING!!! Hahahahaha!!!
So, just how long do I quarantine new captives? Independently based. It all depends on many factors. That rescue is still in her own cage.
Some "experts" suggest 3 months, while other "experts" suggest 6 months. So who's right?
Given the low level of knowledge & experience with most of today's keepers, I, personally, suggest most of them quarantine somewhere between two to three months. People are posting left & right saying, "Hey! I just bought such-n-such from a pet store today and I need to know what to feed it, what to keep it in, temperatures, etc... Can I keep this gecko in with my gator?" Yes, by all means, do it a favor and do so.
Ya'll have a good one!
HH
-----
Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American
[ Hide Replies ]
|
RE: Acceleration of beneficial microbes - HappyHillbilly, Tue Oct 23 23:00:32 2007
