I agree with Bill too in many of his points and quite frankly I feel that it is one of his best posts in my personal memory. Very insightful and intuitive.



I too despise the type of person who bores of their herps in short time and sells or trades them off for something else only to get rid of that in a few months or years. To me this shows a lack of respect for the animals and for our duty as keepers to provide them with a good home. As for me,.. when I get snakes I give them names and bond with them as much as I can and I consider them to be pets. And as a general rule I don't sell pets or trade them off when their 'superficial attribute' novelty wears off. Because by even just a few weeks they are much more to me than just a pretty pattern or a unique color.



What I was alluding to in my original post in this thread was that I feel that people that spend a lot of time with their pets get MUCH more true experience than those that never interact with their snakes and just toss them a meal from time to time. As for me personally, I spend OODLES of time with my pythons and boas and other reptiles. As I don't have to work a real job, my time is my own and whenever I am not here I am likely spending quality time with my favorite snakes. I would venture to say that I spend at least 10 hours out of each day interacting with my snakes. I love them all with all my heart and never tire of spending time with them.



I particularly like this statement in your post Rob; "Sure that person who has kept only one snake wouldn't necessarily be seen as an expert, however, they possess something that few owners do...committment. They have learned how to develop strong observation skills, intuition, instinct and a bond that few herp owners will ever possess." I think that there is a lot to this scenario too that is often overlooked or not acknowledged and due credit is oft not given to the single herp, albeit long term, herp keeper. I touched on this in my original post as well and I think that one can certainly develop a working common sense with snakes in general even from working with only one or two snakes for a very long period. There is not a snake species on earth that I would hesitate to work with even though I have not personally kept even 10% of the existing known species.



I guess the overall point is that I just get a little sick of the people that keep many snakes, but never take them out of their cages, never hold them, and never REALLY learn about them. It's just a snake in a cage and quite frankly any moron can do that. Getting in close and personal, spending actual quality time with them and getting to know the snakes inside and out,... now that's a different story. And I think this is the only way it should be.





>>I agree with Bill. There is no substitute for REAL experience...and not just experience, but proven experience. I know many folks who have kept herps for a long time but have never kept a sinle one of their herps for more than a few years (boredom, lack of commitment, etc.)....some of these animals are kept in deplorable conditions. Those who have proven themselves to be committed to the hobby (and in my case, profession) have shown themselves to be people of passion and genuine care for the animals (and I am not patting myself in the back here, just making a point). I have FAR more respect for someone who has kept the same burm, for example, for 20 years than someone who claims to be an expert because they keep many snakes but none of them on a long term basis or in a manner that would be perceived as being knowledgeable (and there are a plethora of people like that on these forums...always looking for something better). Sure that person who has kept only one snake wouldn't necessarily be seen as an expert, however, they possess something that few owners do...committment. They have learned how to develop strong observation skills, intuition, instinct and a bond that few herp owners will ever possess. They have learned the secrets of establishing a special bond with an animal that few people will give credit to that these types of bonds can take place....but this is different than the person who keeps one burm on a very short term basis, and does it incorrectly, and then pops off in a forum that they are some self professed expert; it is fairly easy to see through these charades. It truly amazes me as to how many people keep certain herps, not just burms, without having ANY idea about that animal's natural history, conservation efforts and some of the field and in-situ research being done....makes me wonder what people's real motivation is in owning an exotic pet. Well, I'm rambling and not even sure what my point is....
-----
"If I had 365 enemies it would only take a year out of my life to settle all scores." Mia Miselfani

[ Show Entire Thread ]